Dancin' With The Camel What Brung Me

Well, here it is, the camel confetti disaster. How did such an amazing batt become such a muddy, lumpy mess?

There’s an old saying about sticking with relationships…’Dance with the fella what brung ya to the dance’. I stuck with it. I danced and whirled and leapt and spun even though I could see it was headed toward disaster and someone would be crying when it was over. And in doing so, I learned. Oddly, I found the lessons surprisingly analogous to experiences I’ve had in interpersonal relationships in the last year. I learned that :

Look Before You Leap
Just because you CAN mix a whole bunch of fibers and glittery stuff into one batt, doesn’t mean you should. You should take pause and think it through before you just start blending.

Oil And Water Don’t Mix
Sometimes things that look good together on the surface just aren’t. If some of the fibers are slippery and some aren’t, things just aren’t going to go smoothly. It’s going to lump and bump along and end up as a reasonable facsimile of yarn, but it won’t be a healthy, robust skein you can be proud of.

All That Glitters Is Not Gold
All the glitz and shiny distractions can’t save the fact that the combination is doomed to fail. Anything with that much glitter and shine is overcompensating for something.

It Is What It Is
You can manipulate and spin and smooth and try your darndest and it may still fail. If both parties, the fiber and the spinner, don’ t cooperate, it’s going to go bust. It doesn’t make you, personally, a failure. The product failed.

Camel Batts Can Be Real Ass Hats
You love your camel batt. It’s soft and sweet and lovely. It looks perfect. It says all the right things. Then once you’ve been working with it a while, it’s dirty little secrets come out; guard hairs, burrs and snarls. Sometimes a camel can be a real ass and you don’t find out about it until it’s too late.

Sometimes The Best Part Is The End
Ok, so you danced with the camel what brought you. It was good. It was bad. It ended in disaster, but did it really? With so many lessons to be gleaned from the experience, it can’t be written off as a total flop. Next time you’ll know what to look for in a batt; Look past the pretty and the shiny, look at the core and see if it’s the same color as the outside and doesn’t have any big lumpy things that will impede the spinning process. Can they be combed out or should you just keep looking? Oh you’re still fond of your lumpy bumpy skein of camel ass yarn for what it was and is. It’s no longer useful for a project but it ‘s an invaluable primer for future spinning.

Comments

Cimorine said…
I'm not going to lie: that skein is pretty ugly. But, is it soft? If it's not acrylic, then I don't see it as a total waste. Make something like a scarf, or a pillow, something that's your "I'm miserable and I need comfort" item! It'd be perfect!
Kitty Mommy said…
"Camel ass skein" = love(1,000,000)
Michelle said…
Test a bit to see if it fulls, and if it does make a little fulled purse with it. Then you and your camel can go get Camels together or something! (Make it "or something." You're too funny to die from lung cancer!)
Elizabeth said…
I think you're being a little hard on it. But yeah, I had a sample batt from the Phat Fiber box sent to Knitcircus for review that was as you say: a disaster waiting to happen. I think a lot of people get into the batt business without really understanding what makes good spinning fiber.
Lisa/knitnzu said…
Meh, I don't think it's that bad! It has a lot of potential... Can you work it with another color for a hat or mittens? (hats and mittens being my #1 and #2 choices for skeins I don't know what to do with, NOT that I do much with those skeins, just think about it...).
MadCityMike said…
Personally, I don't think it looks bad at all. I like the dark, ominous colors....call it "Thunderclouds or Storm at Sunset"......something like that. Is there enough yardage for a pair socks? Short socks?
Me thinks you are being too hard on it........
I kind of like it, but if you don't, maybe you can make something that will be loved all the more for its ugliness, maybe a little stuffed toy. Or that one scarf from Knitty that is lace weight buy every so often has a row of something thicker.
Cindy G said…
Hmmm, I kind of like the colors, but can't tell if they would look dramatically moody when knit up or just end up muddy... (like some purchased variegated yarns I have know and not loved).

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