Finding Solace in Yarn

In the midst of, or perhaps due to, my father’s failing health, I found myself needing to dye yarn today. It must be brought on by stress, my brain must just need something calming and distracting. “Dye yarn”, “dye yarn”, so… that’s just what I did.

While I was dying I thought of my father and the many hours he spent in his shop in the basement sewing sheepskin slippers . And how when I was child I would go down to get help with my homework or ask him to read me a book, mostly just to bother him. I loved sneaking down there, the land of teddy bears and slippers. I remembered when I very young (4 I think?), I desperately wanted to go downstairs and for some reason he wouldn’t let me down unless I put on my sneakers and then tied them. Well, that lead to a temper tantrum (mine of course) and eventually tears (again, mine), but I pulled it off and so that was day I learned to tie my shoes. Not a dramatic memory but a small one seeping through my despair reminding me that I come from an artisan and an entrepreneur.

After a couple days to dry and take photographs I can show you fruits of my labor (pun intended)… “Elderberry”, a beautiful deep red grape(s) hue that promises to please anyone’s eye. It’s so pretty, it brought a smile to my face or was it thinking about my Dad that did that?