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A Twisted Goodbye

11/26/2020

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I’ve been putting off writing about this because it makes me so sad. 😢 My favorite Fiber Festival, online and LYS Twisted Fiber Art in Mason, MI will be closing its doors the end of December. I can’t believe it. I have been a loyal customer for at least 10 years. My dear friend Kay Reeves introduced me to TFA, I visited the shop and fell in love. I’ve visited the shop. . .
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I’ve attended Yarn Tasting events. . .
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I’ve visited them at Fiber Festivals. . .
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And I’ve visited the online shop more times than I can count. I love the staff. . .
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Meg, the genius behind the revolutionary Evolution dying technique.
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Hazel, Meg’s daughter
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Anne, Meg’s mother
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And Beth, the most amazing sales, idea and customer service person I’ve ever met. She has fixed my ordering mistakes, found the perfect yarn cake for me and done it all with a big smile.
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This is my favorite TFA colorway, Roy G Biv. It is the first cake of TFA I bought and I made this hat designed by Anne. I remember seeing Hazel wearing this hat at a Fiber Festival and I begged for the pattern. At that time Anne hadn’t written the pattern down. So began my stalking and begging until I finally got the pattern. I love it. Every time I wear it, people stop me and comment.
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This is Bandito my second favorite TFA pattern. I have made this scarf so many times. It is perfect travel knitting made with the yummy Catnip Evolution.

​I have participated in TFA Clubs and received brand new colorways others may never have. It is from a club I was introduced to Lucky Penny. I’ve purchased 2 grab bags every year for a Christmas gift for my sister and me. Without looking Kathy decides which package is mine and which is her’s. It’s so much fun.

I have written about Twisted Fiber Art more than any other LYS. I published more pictures of the amazing Evolution (which became my addiction) than any other yarn. I remember going to Joselyn Brown’s (Detroit News Handmade columnist) Knitting Detroit day. It was one of the best days of my knitting life. There were 20ish of us invited to spend the day sharing stories and yarn. (Or sharing yarns and yarn.) We were supposed to bring a skein of yarn to trade. Needless to say, I brought a cake of Twisted Fiber Art Evolution. I told the TFA story and participants were clamoring to trade for my cake. When Jocelyn wrote about TFA in Handmade, I always hoped I had something to do with it.

Right now I have 5 HUGE tubs of TWA cakes. I am so glad. I must say writing this is making me a little teary. I just received what may be my last TFA order.
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It’s Lumberjack in 3 of my favorite yarn bases.
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This is a tub of all of the samples I’ve received from TFA over the years. I had no idea what I would do with them, I just knew it would be unconscionable to throw them away. Now I know! I am winding them into a ball which will be come a cake which will become the most amazing treasure in my knitting history. I will keep it, devour it with my eyes and remember the magic that was Twisted Fiber Art. Twisted Ladies, I will so miss you and your magical yarn that brought me so much happiness and joy. My secret wish is some day Twisted Fiber Art will be back and I will be able to renew my love affair.
38 Comments

Changing The Color Changes Everything

11/1/2020

1 Comment

 
You know that Linda and I having been meeting online every Thursday night during Social Knitting From Afar. We have finished four treasures and are working on our fifth. For the first treasure S Curve, we used exactly the same yarn.
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For our next three (The Moon and Other Satellites and Spice Market twice), we used very different colors producing very different looks. When Linda and I first became knitting buddies, Linda was a teal girl and I loved anything with lots of vibrant color. Some things never change. I want to share with you how a change in color changes the look of a pattern.

First is our first Spice Market.
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Then the second Spice Market
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There they are. Four different ways of interpreting a single pattern. All beautiful. I would knit this again and again and it would look different every time. Color is everything. Now let’s look at The Moon and Other Satellites.
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There they are. See Linda’s The Moon And Other Satellites. Her teal is back. I can’t tell you how much I love discovering how our different color interpretations make our treasures our own and unique. Sometimes you see pattern and you can’t imagine using a different yarn or different color. I say IMAGINE. Take a walk on the wild side. Quite frankly, sometimes walking up to the edge of color doesn’t work. You might thiink, “What was I thinking!” You also might look at it, sigh and fall in love. I think it worth the risk.
1 Comment

    jan parson

    This blog is dedicated to Mary Helen Growt my first knitting teacher and the woman who changed my life.  The mission of Knitting: A Love Story is to preserve, share and promote the love of knitting.

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