The Yarnista Answers Your Questions, installment four.

Today we shall tackle three weighty topics. The types only a Yarnista of the highest caliber would be able to even begin to ponder.

Kelly asks,

Q: If a picture paints a thousand words, then why can’t I paint you?

A: The answer is really quite simple, Kelly. You must not have any artistic talent.

It's OK, join the club. I draw all animals exactly the same way, I just change the ears and tail.

Q: Why do birds suddenly appear every time you are near?

A: Because I live amongst hundreds of thousands of birds.

It's not that they appear when I'm near, it's that they're always around.

Here is a picture of the view from my back yard:





This was during a torrential rainstorm that later left us without power:



What you can't see is the embankment that dips down about twenty feet, and the creek at the bottom. Deer. Opossum. Rabbits. Raccoons. Moles. Chipmunks. Squirrels. Birds. They all appear when I'm near.

And finally,

Q: Who let the dogs out?

A: Very likely, my six year old son.

Thank you, Kelly, for giving me the opportunity to navigate the inner workings of the universe.

Join us again next time, when the Yarnista will again ponder the unponderable!

ATTN: SPAMMERS

No one here wants any of your ringtones. We don't want any "Motorola ringtones," "Cellular One ringtones," "Christian ringtones" "Today's hottest ringtones" "Free ringtones" "Make your own ringtones," or ANY RINGTONES AT ALL. No ringtones. None.

No one will ever approve your spam comments, either. Sadly, you and your millions of ringtones are sitting in a giant spam landfill.

Roving-o, roving-o, wherefore art thou, roving-o?

Roving is what people use to spin yarn. It's wool (or another fiber) that's been processed, but not spun/twisted into yarn yet. It's one step short of yarn.

People who like to spin are called spinsters. Because they are all old, lonely women who are jealous of Sleeping Beauty's lovely voice and fair looks. They hope she will prick her finger on the spinning wheel and die.

What is wrong with me? I cannot continue to mix Shakespeare and other fairy tale references. It's just... NOT RIGHT.

Here's some roving-o I dyed for a friend. My friend is actually not a spinster in the Sleeping Beauty sense, but she does like to spin roving-o into yarn-o. Her handspun yarns are very pretty.

Here's Irish Sea on superfine merino wool:





Here's some Nora on the same superfine merino:



Here's Byrne on superwash merino -- this is incredibly fluffy! I need a roving pillow. Does anyone want to make me one?



Here's Fitzgerald on the same superwash merino:



I really loved this Blue Faced Leicester roving. It's so soft, but the longer staple length of the fiber gives it a unique texture.

Megan:



Florry (love this one, want to keep it all for me):



Quinn (this also tried to talk me into letting it live here, but I had to play bad cop):



I hope you'll like these, Ms. Spinster! If nothing else, they'll always be welcome in my home. Hint. Hinthint. I do love knitting with handspun yarn... perhaps what goes around comes around? Hinthinthint.

We have a winner!

Thank you all so much for your helpful feedback. I will listen to you and seek professional mental help add more yarns.

Not everyone could win (sniffle), but keep checking back -- we do have contests almost every week. :) Add us to your bookmarks or blogroll or feed reader or seed feeder or feel sealer or whatever you call those things.

First I told the generator how many comments there. Then I instructed it to randomly choose one number between 1 and 66.



The computer chose...



Number 12!

Let's see who #12 belongs to...



Samantha! You won! Congratulations! Now comes the tough part... do you want Curran, Rhiannon, or Tara? I know which I would choose. But hey, who am I to talk? ;)

TIME’S UP! It’s a sickness.

It really is. And I have been infected. You might want to stop reading this now lest it make you very, very ill as well.

We now have, what... ten? of the best yarn bases out there, and I can't stop working to develop more. Pretty soon y'all will suffer from choice overload and you'll be too overhwlemed to make any yarn-related decisions at all.

Right now, I have three yarns I am considering adding to the lineup. They are all so fantastic, I want to share them with other people. One of them is a plied version of our Galenas Merino in a chunky weight. Another is a heavier weight Blue Faced Leicester yarn... still working to perfect that one. And another is a mid-weight fingering merino washable sock yarn that I can't get enough of.

So, help me out. Do we have too many yarn options already? Should I see a mental health professional for my sickness and stop working on these things? What would you like to see added to the lineup (if anything)? (Either something I've already mentioned, or something else.) What would be your dream 3IG yarn?

If you can help me with these weighty questions, I will enter your response in a drawing for your choice of Curran,



Rhiannon,



or Tara



on Wexford Merino Silk. You have until 2:00pm EST Friday afternoon.

You scratch my back, I'll scratch one of yours.