I have been thinking lately about crocheting with different
materials: yarns that are not yarns. I started with some garden
twine – scratchy, rough and a long way from the soft pure wools
that feel luxurious and indulgent to work with.
And it wasn't easy; pulling thick twine through loops gave my arms a
workout and it wasn't the relaxing experience that I often find
crochet to be. That led me to think about how crocheting a doily
from garden twine felt more like 'work' than making the same doily
from a soft yarn. As though work could be measured in terms of
physical endurance, which it can't and shouldn't. But it did make
me think about the physicality of making and the ways in which we
measure the validity of the making [and the maker].
And I know I will
come back to these thoughts just as I will carry on with my quest for
different yarns, stranger yarns, non-yarns.
