It's Really Only Eye Candy....
A little idle time on the internet always yields food for thought. My latest wandering, as usual, started with following a blog link. I ended up viewing the spinning inspirations of a fiber artist - who I shall not name.
Let me begin by saying that if spinning consistent singles and uniformly plied multis is 'classic' spinning like Raphael, Vermeer and Salvador Dali are 'classic' painters then the product of the diligent efforts of this particular spinner are more along the lines of Picasso.....
I 'borrowed' these pics from her blog, just to show you what I'm talking about. The middle pic is about the tamest skein I could find. As for the rest, I'd say totally rad Little Bo Peep hit a Christmas tree and then fell into a spinning wheel.
Now I want to be completely clear here - I'm not criticizing, per se, I am only commenting, like the viewer of any art form tends to.... I have an extensive background in theatre, music and art. As far as her descriptions of what inspires her and how that translates into what she spins, I 'get it'. The interplay of light, color and texture is amazing, beautiful even. Ecclectic, enlightened, offbeat, invigorating, mentally stimulating! But is it "yarn"? Did I see anything on her site that made me want to vigorously (or languidly) wrap it around my needles and contort and command it into something wearable? Or useable? That made me say, "Oh I have the perfect project for that!"? Anything that enticed me to extract some tactile pleasure by reaching out and caressing or fondling it? Considering some of the synthetic twinkly goodies she incorporates into the myriad fiber combinations this would never qualify as soft, squooshy, comfort-zone make-me-a-sweater yardage to be sure.... all of which begs the question, Then What is It For?
So I asked myself, if I had a 60 yard skein of this, what would I do with it? A scarf? With all the doodads in it, it wouldn't feel nice around my neck. A vest, maybe, but only if the intention was visual accessory, not garment, and it would certainly qualify, for some tastes .... Frankly, I could see it best used as a wall hanging, woven, perhaps, (of which I've made a few in my day) maybe even just wound loosely between 2 hanging rods about 30 inches apart with appropriate lighting. It's elevated fiber art produced by a dedicated and inspired artist. A visual feast...... but I don't think I'd call it yarn....
Let me begin by saying that if spinning consistent singles and uniformly plied multis is 'classic' spinning like Raphael, Vermeer and Salvador Dali are 'classic' painters then the product of the diligent efforts of this particular spinner are more along the lines of Picasso.....
I 'borrowed' these pics from her blog, just to show you what I'm talking about. The middle pic is about the tamest skein I could find. As for the rest, I'd say totally rad Little Bo Peep hit a Christmas tree and then fell into a spinning wheel.
Now I want to be completely clear here - I'm not criticizing, per se, I am only commenting, like the viewer of any art form tends to.... I have an extensive background in theatre, music and art. As far as her descriptions of what inspires her and how that translates into what she spins, I 'get it'. The interplay of light, color and texture is amazing, beautiful even. Ecclectic, enlightened, offbeat, invigorating, mentally stimulating! But is it "yarn"? Did I see anything on her site that made me want to vigorously (or languidly) wrap it around my needles and contort and command it into something wearable? Or useable? That made me say, "Oh I have the perfect project for that!"? Anything that enticed me to extract some tactile pleasure by reaching out and caressing or fondling it? Considering some of the synthetic twinkly goodies she incorporates into the myriad fiber combinations this would never qualify as soft, squooshy, comfort-zone make-me-a-sweater yardage to be sure.... all of which begs the question, Then What is It For?
So I asked myself, if I had a 60 yard skein of this, what would I do with it? A scarf? With all the doodads in it, it wouldn't feel nice around my neck. A vest, maybe, but only if the intention was visual accessory, not garment, and it would certainly qualify, for some tastes .... Frankly, I could see it best used as a wall hanging, woven, perhaps, (of which I've made a few in my day) maybe even just wound loosely between 2 hanging rods about 30 inches apart with appropriate lighting. It's elevated fiber art produced by a dedicated and inspired artist. A visual feast...... but I don't think I'd call it yarn....
Your title says it all. It's lovely to look at, and it amazes me what some people can do with fiber. I don't even like bulky yarn, and really hate thick and thin yarn. I'm with you here, wouldn't know what to do with it, except look at it. I guess some people who like free form crochet and knitting could use it easily, those pieces look chaotic anyway, if colorful and as this yarn nice to look at.
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I'd knit overmitts from it...you know, heavy mitts with the ribbing done in finer yarn. For long walks. With string, so when you had to shove them off to use your hands in the lighter mitts, you wouldn't loose them.
A hat band on a felted hat??
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Hooray! Another victory for creativity! (or is that making lemonade out of lemons? LOL!!)
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