— faithinpoison.com:

it’s funny when i think about my spinning, and how much it’s changed since i started. when i first started out, i was enamored of art and novelty yarns, their bright beautiful colors, and their slubbiness because … well, they’re delightful! but also because that’s what i could spin, and that’s what most of my spinny friends were spinning. when i started wheel shopping, i was speaking to more experienced spinners (because those are the people who are usually selling wheels), and they were telling me i needed to look for a more versatile wheel that would spin more than just chunky novelty yarn. i said “absolutely not! i will never spin sock yarn. it’s out of the question.” and i chose a wheel that would produce different types of yarn simply because of the price and the fact that it was a “good beginner’s wheel.”

flash forward to now, and look at what i’m spinning. thin sock yarns are all that i spin anymore. how did it happen?

i remember that for a while there were frequent, occasionally nasty debates in the spinning community about whether art and novelty yarns had any value or any use outside of art or trim applications. some of the master spinners there were saying that with the influx of new people picking up spinning, there were many people who could only spin art and novelty yarns, and that they were sort of doing a disservice to themselves having only that skill. i remember someone (there are always some high and mighty douches in forums) making the comment that one shouldn’t be allowed to even call him or herself a spinner if he or she could not spin a yarn to certain specifications. they said, if someone asked you to spin a laceweight 2-ply yarn, could you do it? if you can’t, don’t even call yourself a spinner.

of course this person (these people, actually, since there were a few who agreed with the original toolbag) was extra rude and insulting about it, and though i completely disagreed with them (i think anyone who can make fiber into any kind of yarn should be considered a spinner, regardless of how well they do it), the point was made. so, though i saw myself primarily as a novelty yarn spinner, i secretly became obsessed with spinning the perfect sock yarn.

and here i am today. with this yarn i’ve posted today, i think i’ve finally reached a point where i believe that i’m really good at it, and i can kind of move on. sure, i’m still going to spin thin sock yarn, because really, how many chunky crazy pom pom/sequin scarves and hats and shawls can you really make? but it’s no longer a quest to validate myself TO myself as a spinner. it’s just become what i like to look at.