Hello and welcome to the first installment of Tea and Yarn Hour. I'm sitting here with a delicious cup of Foxtrot tea, one of my favorites that we have available. I have a sock sitting to my left to pick up and work on while we talk. This first installment will be a sort of meet and greet. I’ll go first.
My name is Tracy. I run Tea and Yarn LLC out of my home in Wisconsin. I started my crafting journey with crochet about 20 odd years ago. The most common yarns available at the time were acrylic, I think I mostly knit with Red Heart yarn back then. I made a lot of blankets crocheting with that yarn. I attempted to learn knitting from a book before YouTube was a thing. It did not go well; my yarn was always too tight on the needles. I decided to set aside knitting and continue with crochet. Well, one can only make so many blankets. I ended up putting down crocheting for a few years.
I started crocheting again in 2015. I was amazed by the patterns available online and the wide range of yarns. I didn’t even know there were different weights of yarn before this. I also discovered CALs, crochet-alongs. Oh, the beautiful patterns and stitches. I was in awe of the beautiful items I could create.
Finally, with the help of YouTube videos, I was able to learn how to knit. Pretty sure my style is mirror knitting because I'm left-handed, and I’m definitely a thrower. Knitting has become my favorite hobby. I’ll sit on the couch in the evening with a cup of tea, turn on the TV or a Podcast, and knit. It helps me to relax, and I get to create something. I’ve knit shawls, socks, sweaters, blankets, hats, and I’m even working on some leggings.
I have tried spinning with both a drop spindle and a spinning wheel. I like it but need a lot more practice drafting the fiber. I’ve also started weaving on a rigid heddle loom. I find weaving to be a quick way to create but have a hard time thinking of projects other than scarves. I get excited for a project, get the loom set up, weave a bit, and then put it aside.
I keep coming back to knitting. It's my favorite fiber art. I’ve fallen in love with all the beautiful yarns available to knitters today. So many fibers I had never even imagined. I think what tends to draw me to a pattern are the colors used. I enjoy bright colors and the way colors are paired.
My love of the bright colors and color pairings led me to start dyeing my own yarn. I'm always excited by the colors I end up with. I love experimenting with different color combinations.
Well, I definitely talked a lot about my love of the fiber arts. I'll take a break for now and enjoy my tea and knitting while you all have a turn. How did you get started on your crafting journey? What is your favorite fiber art? I'd love to hear your stories in the comments.
3 comments
Thanks for commenting Tammy and Frances. Tammy, I don’t currently have a physical location. We are strictly online, but I’m in southeast Wisconsin. Frances, I’d love to see your summer sock camp socks. Aqua crush was a favorite color to dye, and I love the elderberry tea as well. I posted this blog post without having enough knowledge of how it works on the website. I was very disappointed to find I couldn’t respond directly to your comments. I’ve since added an option to use a Facebook plugin for comments. That will allow me to directly respond to comments. I can’t wait for more discussions on tea and yarn.
Hi! I’m a Wisconsinite too? I love knitting and tea! Where are you located? Maybe I’m close enough to come visit your shop??
Thank you!
Tammy
Hi Tracy! I think it’s pretty common for a lot of us to have started in crochet. I did that for a few years before i let my mom teach me the secret ways of knitting. She was a lever knitter and of course I’m now an English thrower.
I would love to learn to how to spin and dye my own yarn as a hobby, but for now I’ll just keep trying to improve my knitting, which I far prefer to crochet at this point. I rarely pick up a hook anymore.
By the way, the elderberry tea is ace. I love it. And the your aqua crush set I’ve been hoarding is all caked up and ready for summer sock camp! I’m so excited to use it.