Why I Love Yarn People (An Observation)

It's always great hanging out with other crafty people, especially the yarny ones.  There's just this sort of... solidarity, I guess?  Everyone understands what you're doing.  They understand which work is simple and which is worthy of praise; they know when to offer advice and what to say; they don't mind sitting quietly, listening to the yarn and hooks/needles in each other's hands.

And, one of my favorites, they always know when to make appreciative noises.  When I'm at a craft store/LYS/craft group, whenever someone mentions baby alpaca or cashmere, there's invariably a chorus of "Mmm"s and "Ah"s.  It's just the understood reaction.  The same thing goes for some of the more difficult knitting/crochet techniques-- mention one and there's always "Wow!"s and "Ooh!"s.  That's just something non-yarny people can't understand, and it's something that always makes me feel like I'm part of something special.

This is why I love helping at College for Kids in the summers-- a friend of mine that I met through the program teaches knitting, crochet, and weaving to kids in grades 3-8.  It's so exciting to help spread the yarn love to younger generations!  Every year, the kids get so into their work and learn so much-- it's just the best to see what they make and help them develop new skills.  I usually learn a lot, too.  Just today, I finger-knit for the first time.  It turned out a bit weird and loopy, but I liked it.  I've also really developed my weaving skills-- more on this later.

And also, arm knitting?  I had no idea this was a thing.