marybegone:

argonauticae:

argonauticae:

Things That People Have Said To Me Since I Started Working In A Yarn Shop

• “i need more of the rowan felted tweed, i’m making some first-world-war balaclavas and i’ve run out”
• “i’m making my husband an x-files themed jumper for christmas and i can’t find a good colour for the spaceship”
• “do you have any wool/acrylic blends on sale, i’m making hats for the seamen’s mission to give to sailors and i know they say to use acrylics because they’re cheap but it gets awfully cold at sea and i worry”
• “i need some black wool for gloves, but it has to be flame-proof because i’m making them for the beltane fire-jugglers”
• “could you see if you have another copy of this pattern for a baby shawl, i’ve knitted it in different colours for all of my six children and twelve grandchildren but it’s started to fall apart a bit"
• [from a blond, six-foot surfer dude] “yeah, do you have any really light needles, i’m going backpacking around argentina and i want to do some socks while i’m on the coach but there isn’t much room in my rucksack”
• “which of these colours do you think would be best for a knitted corgi”
• “do you have any patterns for dog hats”

like honestly you don’t even understand how happy this makes me, like half the time these women are really self-deprecating about it – “oh this is probably a really silly question”, “you’re going to think this is really weird but -” – and i’m just like no!! this is amazing!!! yes, we do have patterns for dog hats!!! please tell me all about why you’re knitting a dog hat!!!! 

and i mean, some of the stuff they make is unbelievable. there’s one lady who knits wedding-ring shawls, these enormous lace shawls they do on shetland that’re about six feet across and made out of yarn that’s basically thread, which you can pull through a wedding ring because they’re so fine. and there’s another lady who knits dolls about three inches tall and she’s like eighty and she’s done maybe two thousand of them and i found this out yesterday when she came in for a pattern for an entire knitted nativity scene, including the animals and the star. and there’s all the ladies who knit clothes to donate to the refugees and tiny, tiny clothes for premature or stillborn babies at the maternity unit and hats for the seamen’s mission and jumpers for the homeless, and all the ladies making this incredible stuff for their friends or their relatives or just because they feel like it, and it’s just, they’re my favourite, every single one of these people is my favourite

lovely.