The Island of Misfit Yarn

Remember Eros?
or Furz?
I bet a good number of knitters you know got into knitting because of the sparklies and the scarves they could make with them -- cruel siren call that it was, because most of the stuff was as easy to handle as a sugar-pumped toddler.

And now here we are a few years later and the new knitters have moved on to wool.

Nice, ain't it?  Now it's all about (fictional?) cashmere content and overspun merino.

So where has all the novelty stuff gone now that it's been dropped like bad fish wrapped in yesterday's news?

Some of it lives with me. 

I bet you didn't know this about me did you?  Unless of course, you've seen the stash, and then you wouldn't be surprised to know that lurking in some of those Rubbermaids and pillowcases there is a colony of adopted novelty yarn.

I started picking the odd ball up at stash swaps, feeling sorry for the lone ball of Paris Nights lying there on the table once the Bartlett and ancient Lopi had finally found a taker.  I'd bring it home and toss it in a bag with the other sparklies, and after a few years, I had to move them into their own living quarters.  But now that they're all together in one box, you have to be careful when you take the lid off because it's like the atmosphere has been stripped away and now the sun is searing out at you from the depths of the Rubbermaid, and there you are without protection.  You can get sunstroke.  But handled with caution, they can be endearing little things.

There are a few things I particularly love about the sparklies. 

1. They are moth proof.  Not a single natural fiber in most of it, and no self-respecting moth would ever stray near one of them. Come to think of it, redistributed throughout the stash, maybe they could guard the other yarn, like a sheep dog or a llama.  I'll have to get back to you on that one.

2. They do brighten up the place with the light bouncing off them like Liberace's piano. If I ever have a dance party, I could just hang a few from the ceiling like an instant mirror ball.  Holding one in your hand, you can almost hear Donna Summer.

3. They're free. For most things, this kind of free is as appealing as a short sleeved radiation suit, but for me, it just adds to the pathos.  Like those sad-eyed velvet painting puppies, or the fat Elvis.  Excuse me a minute . . . I'm getting verklempt.

I don't know what use I will ever put to it since I have little interest in scrumbling or scarves of my own (don't you even dare suggest I use some in something I would wear), but I do feel sorry for the little balls, so cheerful and optimistic, so pathetic and lonely.  At least they can be with their own kind.  It's like I'm running a yarn asylum.  Or an island of lost acrylic.  A Cheers bar for the decrepit Vegas showgirls of the knitting world. I won't take all the jokes; I'll leave some for you to make in the comments.

Now I understand that by sharing this with you I have revealed my soft belly underside, and someone out there is going to think that they've finally found what to do with their old sparklies, now that the novelty has faded and the stuff is taking up space in the stash where cashmerino would fit nicely, but no.  You may not dump your old metallics on me, bomb me with Feza or leave a pile of Eyelash on the backseat of my unlocked car like so much August zuccini. I do have limited space; the sparklies I have are all the sparklies I have room for.  So keep yours to yourself.  Maybe give it its own place in your stash, or in a dark corner that needs a little illumination, but one where you will see it and be reminded of the little fling you had with it, silly knitter full of youth and dreams that you were.  But all the better for it.

Elsewhere, sanity persists. Sleeve two has arrived.

Comments

[julia fc]

Yarn pictured: Linie 104 Cocoon colour #7, Plymouth Eros #715, Ironstone Eyelash colour #14. I love that none of the colours have names, just numbers. Like clones.

[Daphne]

I have a little in my stash and only barely resisted a tub of $1/skein sparkly bits yesterday--I focused on the 25-cent buttons instead.

[Madge]

I know novelties will live on, at garage sales, and thrift shops, and charity knitting groups, and swap meets for years to come...probably outliving us all. (Like the mustard-avocado-brown-rust acrylics from the 70s do to this day.) Faded drama queens every one. Huh, now I have a hankering to watch Sunset Boulevard.

Poignant post. But I still hate novelties with every bone in my body. Alas. Alack. (Yes, I have a cold, dark heart.)

[Leslie]

I, too, have a soft spot for those sparkling beauties. Since I have been a knitter for 35 years, I didn't get into the whole scarf thing much, but I did inherit some sparklies from people who did. Because I have knit so long, people think I should be able to find a use for ANY yarn, so it comes my way. But I can't seem to part with it, once it's in my possession. It is lovely on those little balls, even if I'm not too crazy about it knit up into anything. I have started playing around with scrumbling, though, and some of them have made it out of their plastic container and into a knitting bag with some nice wools, etc in the same color family. So, I am running a home for unwanted sparklies as well. Don't it feel good? :)

[--Deb]

Do you know the one, really good, perfectly valid use for those kinds of fancy-schmancy but (let's face it) unknittable yarns?? Gift wrap. They look absolutely fantastic as ribbon tied around gifts. And cheap, too, yard-for-yard, compared to gift-wrap ribbon . . .

[Wanda]

Okay, i think Deb has the best idea, hands down for the sparklies. I've never been too keen on novelty yarn, although when I learned to knit, novelty yarn was at its height. I did knit with novelty yarn initially, but now, I'm really not interested in it. I might pick up a couple of skeins the next time I see some discounted, just for the gift wrap possibilities though.

[Samantha]

If they're not scratchy, using them for baby booties is fun. I've seen a few pairs of eyelashy novelty yarn made into baby booties, with great success. There's nothing like seeing a kid with humongous poofy novelty booties on.

[Tonia]

Oh I so have some in my stash. I chuckle every time that I look at it, because I don't know what I was thinking at the time. =)

I guess the only survivors in the end will be roaches, twinkies and novelty yarn. ;)

[BeadKnitter]

I've been knitting for 39 years. I love novelty yarn. I don't use it a lot, but I do love it. There's a lot of things a person can do with it besides make scarves.

[KarenJoSeattle]

My mom loves the novelty/rayon combo scarf that a friend of hers knit on humongous needles. She ties it to the handles of her purse. When I saw it I thought I could easily knit her a few in an afternoon, but I never got myself to even buy yarn for them. Maybe I'll keep a lookout for severe discounts on novelty yarn she might like. Does your mom like sparkly scarves?

The closest I have to novelty in my stash is some wide hand dyed rayon ribbon I planned to use as an accent on a stole made of a thick and thin wool yarn in the same colors. It was the default plan when I realized everyone who'd made my planned sweater needed one more skein of the wool and the yarn had been discontinued. I don't think I bought enough of the ribbon for it to work, though. Hey, maybe I can make a scarf for my mom.

[Laurie]

Yup. I even bought some intentionally for the gift wrap ribbon.

My first scarf was eyelash. It was HELL. It hid my gauge inconsistencies, AND precluded any ability to learn about stitch structure, and mistakes. Then the finished object looked like a dead animal.

[Carole]

I threw out all my fun fur and sparkly yarn a few years ago. I suppose that makes me a horrible person. ;-)

[Manise]

I have a bit for package wrapping , but the rest I gave to someone else who loves it. Great use of the bread bag closure ( as a yarn butterfly ) pictured to the left of the sleeve with yarn wound around it.

[Colleen]

My DD (15 yrs, expert handsewer, so-so knitter) says that she is going to have a wool-dedicated freezer in her sewing room when she has her own house...she takes moths seriously...and we do have a lot of wool (fabric, as well as yarn).

[claudia]

Gift wrap is just such a kick-ass idea.

[susan]

It's also good for scrapbooking (not that I scrapbook, but I've been told). And I've used it for gift wrap many times. But I make an I-cord with it first using the little Bond hand-crank machine you can buy at JoAnn.
http://www.bond-america.com/products/embellish-knit.html

[Kristen]

I had no idea. I've been digging through bins and boxes and found yarn I don't ever remember buying - some of it looks like it's related to a Frank Oz character, others stand out as single, shiny well dressed (up) but nowhere to go (fighting for the belle of the) ball(s).

(here I thought I was simply a home for forlorn single balls of "two balls for a pair of socks!" sock yarn; I suppose I ought to start another bin for these misfits too...)

[naomi]

The giftwrap is a good idea. A friend of mine also uses them to make braided scarves as really fast gifts.

[Suzanne V. (Yarnhog)]

Hold onto them. In twenty years, they'll be the height of fashion again. Scary, isn't it?

[kate]

I think you should turn them into pompons. Giant pompons. You could trim the Christmas tree with them. That's an appropriate place for glitz, no?

[anne]

i have a bin of novelties too . . i use them for trims on gifts knits and the occasional all-out scarf for a relative who continues to think i love them MORE because they get the special yarn in their scarves (you can't choose your relatives after all, and who would want to?).

and who knows? some day they may "come back" like leg warmers . . or (shudder) rainbow toe sox.

[Peggy]

I have all kinds of stuff in my stash as well. Some of it stuff I bought that now I think "What was I thinking?" And then, everyone knows if they have yarn/needles/hooks they no longer want just call me and I'll give it a home. I use some of it in the knitting classes I teach at church. Some of it I actually quite embarrassed to have in my home. :)

[Marilyn]

I was pondering what I would do if I ever got to the bottom of my stash and just had the dredges... the sparkly, shiny dredges. I noticed the idea of using it for gift wrapping and now I think I will try to make up christmas bags this year and use some of it up. However, now I also wonder if I should redistribute the acrylic based, odd-colour stuff over the 'good' stuff and just hope it's another line in the defence against .....moths...

[Yvonne]

Whew. Here I thought I was the only one with closet novelty yarn. Heehee. (Yes, I am one of the knitters that was initially attracted by Fun Fur, seen at a fabric store on a trek through Ohio.)

[Marge]

I have two uses for novelty yarn, not that this has actually worked, but I think it could: 1. arts and crafts day at the local elementary school and 2. Embellishments for Christmas stockings. I, too, love the gift wrap idea or even as ID on luggage!