Life is Full of Rabbit Holes

and curiosity knows no bounds

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I wanted to rekindle my love of hand spinning this year. Well, look what I did!

This is 460 yards, 224 grams, of 3-ply merino and silk. It's about equivalent to a DK weight. The white silk and the pink wool were not thoroughly blended in carding, creating those white streaks and spots throughout the skein, which I love. I think it softens the aggressiveness of that hot pink. I have no project in mind for this yarn—the yarn itself was the project! For now, it will go into the cedar chest with the other handspun. I'm confident that the right project will present itself eventually, and that I'll enjoy knitting this yarn when the time comes.

I've been knitting a lot, but I can't show you any of it right now. My current projects are design commissions for yarn companies, and they retain the right to reveal the finished designs when they are published. Two more weeks (maybe three) and I'll have time to work on projects I'm free to share. I have some new yarns on deck, and I'm looking forward to making swatches and giving you the scoop.

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Welcome new subscribers! I'm glad you're here. And many thanks to both Louise Tilbrook, who writes the excellent Everyday Knitter, and Kavitha of While I was knitting, for recommending me to their readers.  

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In the meantime, I've added a new feature to A Good Yarn. I thought the occasion might arise when you remembered a book I wrote about but couldn't recall the title. Rather than have you search through past posts looking for that nugget of information, I've begun to keep a list of the books I've read in 2024. You can find the 2024 Books list here. I'll keep the list updated as the year goes along. It has its own navigation tab at the top of the website, so you can return to it any time.

Strange as it may seem, I've never before kept a book list. I'm looking forward to seeing 1) how many books I read over the course of the year, and 2) what, if any, themes appear. So far, I'm reading more women than men, and fiction far outweighs non-fiction (though I read a lot of non-fiction in December, so it feels more balanced).

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I love books that do a deep dive into the origins and impacts of things we take for granted. Yes, I am the person you want on your pub trivia team.

This past weekend, I finished reading Much Depends on Dinner by Margaret Visser.

Building around the framework of an ordinary meal (corn with salt and butter, roast chicken with rice, lettuce dressed with olive oil and lemon juice, and ice cream), Visser digs into each of the ingredients in turn. She clearly relishes falling into rabbit holes. The edition I listened to was published in 1986; much of the nutritional and environmental impact information was badly out of date. But the author does a wonderful job of exploring the horticultural and linguistic origins of each ingredient. The depth of her research really shines in the sections on the religious, mythological, social, and cultural significance of these foodstuffs. A new edition of this book was published in 2010, with a new introduction by the author.

To go even deeper, you might enjoy Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky.

I read this book about ten years ago and found it fascinating. I was surprised by the degree to which our desire for and need of "the only rock we eat" has driven human society.

Color: A Natural History of the Palette by Victoria Finlay takes a similarly broad approach to color.

If you've ever wondered about the ultramarine blue used for the robes of the Virgin in renaissance paintings, or why Robin Hood's cape was green, you'll love this book. The context provided by Finlay's book has served to enrich my relationship with color, both in my work and in life.

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I have no doubt I’ll read more books in this vein over the next year. I love the glimpses into people, places and lives from the past. Let’s call them Books for the Endlessly Curious, shall we? (It sounds so much better than Books for Trivia Nerds.) If you know a book along these lines you think I’d enjoy, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

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Some things that caught my eye

• I just received this lovely calendar made by Lorene Forkner, who writes the excellent A Handmade Garden.

Each month is printed on high quality card stock. At the end of the month, you can trim off the date information and be left with a 5” square print suitable for framing or for use as a postcard—the back is printed with a postcard layout. So clever. The one I bought is sold out, but she still has some of the shells calendar discounted at 50% off the original price.

• Malabrigo Yarn has announced a new knit-a-long. They'll be making a pretty shawl designed by Jill Tamminen using one of my recent yarn crushes, Dos Tierras. You can't go wrong with this yarn.

Are you a fan of knit-a-longs, crochet-a-longs, book clubs? I’d love to hear about your experience. I’ve always been a bit of a lone ranger, but I’m curious about why knit-a-longs and similar group making and reading activities are so popular. Tell me about it in the comments.

Thank you for reading. Knowing you are there on the other side of the screen keeps me thinking and writing (instead of talking to myself). I appreciate you!