Happy Local Yarn Store Day!!! I hope you've visited your local favorite(s) and shown them some love. We (fiber artists) appreciate you all, (LYS owners and employees) and look forward to many happy returns to shop and visit!!
On to today's blog post, about tension.
Tension, in the world of crocheting and knitting, is best defined as an "invisible force" which is foundational to our (crocheted or knitted) creations. It's also described as being that balance between tight and loose stitches, which eventually form the look, fit and feel of our finished pieces.
In some pieces, the tension is CRITICAL, such as in sweaters, vests, hats and the like. In other pieces, it's less of an issue such as in afghans, scarves, baby blankets, etc. Some of us detest the gauge swatching that is regularly recommended (guilty!) while others of us have found the great benefit in know the resulting gauge before investing hours and yarn into a project.
No judgment - we all do what we can do in the moment, and sometimes that includes a swatch and other times, we really just need to spend some time with yarn and needles or hook and aren't going to swatch, but,... this isn't really a blog post about swatching, tension or gauge.
Recently, I found myself in the middle of a tough week - as we all do at times. The struggle was REAL that week, and I needed to take some action to turn things around. I have written before about washing the dishes or folding laundry, but I had already done all that and STILL felt yucky. That's when I turned to my yarn stash for some inspiration.
My impulse at these times is often to engage in some retail therapy - at the craft store, of course. This time I decided to dig through some projects already begun, or WIP's (Works In Progress). I found a Granny Ripple blanket that I had started a couple years back, in Red Heart Retro Stripe yarn.
Say what you will about the mass produced, cheaper yarns; the colors in Red Heart's Retro Stripe, especially, are a balm to my soul. Just seeing those colors coming together was a welcome pick-me-up in that moment. As I returned to this project, I felt some of the tension of my current angst start to ease, and began to ponder what was involved in that shift.
First of all, as I noted, the COLORS of this yarn are what I call "happy colors". Their bright tones are delightful and never fail to make me smile when I see them - whether in a skein on a shelf in a big box craft store, or in my own yarn stash.

Secondly, there is something almost healing about being able to pick up an existing project (WIP) and just begin to stitch. We don't have to think about finding a pattern, deciding why we are making it or who we may gift it to. At some point when we began the project, we did that mental exercise, and while those intentions may have evolved or changed, we can suspend final judgment and just keep stitching.
There's ALSO a feeling that I like to call "anti-guilt".
I don't know a sewist or yarn enthusiast who doesn't feel occasional uncertainty around the size of their "stash" and maybe even a twinge of guilt when bringing home new yarn or fabric. This can be due to the money spent, or to the realization that we already have a craft-store-sized collection of yarn or fabric in the house. Knitting, crocheting or sewing with supplies we ALREADY OWN gives us a sense of peace in this regard, and can neutralize any guilty pangs that sometimes pop up around our fabric/yarn "inventory".
When we are feeling out of sorts, blue, or just BLAH, it is tempting, and VERY accessible, to buy something, and we will almost always feel better after we do. Scientifically, this is known as a dopamine rush. In layman's terms it refers to our brains being flooded with feel-good brain chemicals. Interestingly, while shopping and buying something at a store or shop or festival indeed triggers this dopamine rush, the research suggests that anticipating a reward, such as when we shop online and wait for it to arrive, triggers an even BIGGER dopamine release and subsequent good feeling.
The article I linked above notes that online shopping provides more of a dopamine rush because the anticipation is built in. We ORDER something, and then we wait (the anticipation) which is more dopamine-intense and sustaining than a direct purchase.
For example, buying a purse at the store will give us a rush of the feel-good chemicals, but they begin to ebb, perhaps as soon as we take the bag and walk away from the counter. Buying online extends the presence of the feel-good chemicals in our brains.
Let's look at our yarn/fabric shopping habits in the context of the dopamine rush.
When we purchase craft supplies, including yarn and fabric, there is the acquisition of the items, but there is ALSO that increased feel-good flush tied to our ANTICIPATION of the finished product. We get a DOUBLE DOSE of those brain chemicals. Now, consider some common activities: raffles, yarn crawls and other related adventures which include the anticipation of a future reward. That's a dopamine extravaganza and it is highly likely that these factors play into many of us having extreme fabric and yarn stashes in our homes. I began to think about this tension between what we have and what we would like to buy and wrote my thoughts (here) at the conclusion of our local crawl last year.
As an educator, I believe that knowledge is power. Since I often struggle with the whiplash emotions when looking at my stash while simultaneously being tempted to buy new fabric and yarn; I am grateful to learn that these emotions are just basic neurology and not a character flaw.
Does that mean that I will shop with reckless abandon? No, but it doesn't mean that I'll stop shopping cold turkey, either.
I have often told my kids (and grandkids) that everything in life is a trade-off. For me, understanding the science behind that feel-good rush when I buy fabric or yarn helps me better balance the tension I sometimes feel around what I want to do,....and what I feel I should be doing. And as the best knitters and crocheters (& sewists) around will tell you: adjusting to the right tension in a project is key to a well-made finished piece.
Whether from your stash, the local craft Co-Op, Big-Box store, or your favorite Local Yarn Shop,... GO GRAB SOME YARN!
(C) 2024 Stitch 'n DIsh
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