Love of the Day: The Yarn Section of John Lewis

You may have noticed that knitting has had something of a revival in recent years, along with other 'granny chic' things like old-lady clothes, dyed white/grey hair (I will never understand that one) and chintzy decor.  I don't suppose knitting's popularity will last forever, but will eventually fade back to its traditional place as a hobby for those who are drawn to the homemade and crafty, the older lady, or...  those who have become ADDICTED! Like my flatmate, who has recently discovered it and become completely hooked almost overnight.  There will probably be quite a few people in this category - if you've never tried it, I think you'd be surprised at just how addictive knitting is. Once you start it is genuinely very difficult to stop, the productive nature of the growing rows of stitches in itself leading you on.  'One more line' becomes ten, and then twenty and then before you know it it's 1am, you've gone blind and have a serious case of RSI, plus a scarf longer than anyone could ever realistically wear. Yes, it's the least glamorous addiction ever, but none the less compulsive!

Personally I dabbled with knitting both as a child and a few years ago as a member of a slightly alcoholic, late-twenties craft group a la Stich n Bitch, but it's never really taken.  Something about the needles and their sinister association with botched abortions maybe? In any case, I find crochet more manageable and, what with the knitting-crazed flatmate and the coming on of the colder weather, I have recently taken up with it again. It's addictive nature (and elderly lady-ness) is basically the same as knitting and I am currently suffering from 'crochet claw' and a feverish need to make THE BIGGEST CIRCLE/BLANKET YOU HAVE EVER SEEN.  Luckily it can be done whilst chatting, eating, drinking and watching Netflix so the effects on my lifestyle have been minimal.  

I'll let you in on a little secret though, the main reason for my rediscovered love of crochet is this:

Pic borrowed from hooksandbakes.blogspot

What you are looking at there, my friends, is the Knitting Yarn section of John Lewis.  This place is like a wonderful, colourful, fluffy, neatly organised version of heaven.  The hushed feeling of gluttonous wonder I get when I enter it is something akin to what I believe some feel in stationery and art supply shops, but trust me, this is better. Because you can touch the colours! And they feel good! They are soft and fuzzy and squidgy and if only you were allowed to pull all of the balls off the shelves you could make them into a giant woolly ball pool and roll around in them! Obviously I would never do such a thing, but you know, if you were allowed.

The best thing about the whole experience for me though, is that it doesn't feel stressful and slightly guilt-ridden like shopping for things like clothes does, but actually constructive and creative. Rather than just consuming (although of course it is still nasty consumerist feeding of the capitalist machine etc. - it's shopping in John Lewis after all, not owning your own alpaca and spinning the wool off its back), you are obtaining the materials for a project to make something - hopefully - beautiful and useful. As you wander round putting your sticky fingers all over the merchandise, you are colour combining and imagining and envisioning and getting inspired. It's the perfect storm of greed, appreciation and creativity and I want to live in it forever! 

For those who feel the same as I do about all this, here's a little something to finish off with, a little yarn porn if you will:

Pic borrowed from cobblehillpuzzles.com

Mmmmmmmmmmmm, come to Mama's crochet claws my pretties!