A couple of weeks ago I published a blog post where I played with the idea that three of my fleeces had taken over the blog and wrote their little wooly hearts out. It turns out that the journey of words and wool can be adventurous.
The title of the blog post was Pick me and refered – in my mind at least – to the picking of a fleece, as in picking out staple by staple from the fleece mass. As I wrote it (yes, it was me and not the fleeces) I listened to Japanese taiko drums, and when I do that the piece tends to get rather free and wild.
The wild spilling of words
This time was no exception. I love writing this way, just allowing the words to spill uncensored onto the page and letting them have their way with me. The writing process can get very intense and fizzy. Some of my best pieces are written in this spirit. One example is One more beat, which I wrote on a train on the way to teaching a spinning class.
The process is very much alive as I write, the music and the words blend together into a dance, a rhythm that fills my mind with a pulsating vibe. They make the decisions, I just follow along and jot them down, entering a space where I am just the vessel of the words.
Landing
When the words land on the page they transform. They are no longer part of my writing process. Instead, a new process begins the second I share the post – the process of the reader. I have no say in this either, it is a private matter between the reader and the words. The piece takes a new shape in the mind of the reader. I am usually quite curious about what kind of mischief the text is up to in its brand new process.
When I had published the Pick me post I got a few very sweet comments from readers, all about how the post had struck something in them – laughter, recognition or appreciation of the process of creating yarn. But they were also all about a different interpretation of picking than the one I had had in my mind as I wrote it.
A new journey
All the comments indicated that the readers had interpreted “pick me” as in “choose me” (over the others) rather than “pick my staples out of the fleece mass”. This gave the post a whole new dimension – suddenly the presentation of the fleeces looked more like Tinder profiles to swipe left or right rather than the plead to start processing them that was in my mind as the stories presented themselves to me.
This is quite fascinating to me, how the process, that has been so tangible in my mind for the vastness of a moment, starts a new journey the second they land on the page – the journey in the mind of the reader, equally fleeting.
The beauty of creating
This is the beauty of creating, what goes on in the mind of the creator during the process of creating. The creation, whether words on the page or yarn on the spindle, is just a reminder of that process. When I spin I feel the spinning in my mind, in my hands, between my hands and in the cooperation between them. The rhythm keeps me in the moment, breathing the process in and out between hands and mind.
New memories
The yarn that comes out is something new, the memories of the process, where I was and what was happening around me. When I pick up a spinning or knitting project, my mind instantly throws me back to what I was sensing the last time I spun or knit. When I put on a handspun and hand knit hat to go out, my head is wrapped in the memories the hat holds between the stitches. Sometimes when I pick up a knitting project I hear the audio book/lecture/podcast or sense the train ride/landscape or whatever was present when I knit the last time.
The reciprocity of gifts
The difference between the words on the page and the spinning or knitting is that the words travel to someone else and are reshaped through their memories and connotations, while the handspun yarn or knit garment sparks new memories and associations in my own mind since I create them mostly for myself.
Spilling words from deep in my soul onto the page is something personal and corageous. They are gifts to you and I wish you joy as you recreate them in your personal reading process. As you connect back to me about your reading experience I feel the gift returned.
Happy spinning!
You can find me in several social media:
- This blog is my main channel. This is where I write posts about spinning, but also where I explain a bit more about videos I release. Sometimes I make videos that are on the blog only. Subscribe or make an rss feed to be sure not to miss any posts.
- My youtube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
- I have a facebook page where I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
- I run an online spinning school, welcome to join a course! You can also check out my course page for courses in Sweden or to book me for a lecture.
- On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons is an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. Shooting and editing a 3 minute video takes about 5 hours. Writing a blog post around 3. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
- Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
- Read the book Knit (spin) Sweden! by Sara Wolf. I am a co-author and write in the fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.
- I am writing a book! In the later half of 2025 Listen to the wool: A why-to guide for mindful spinning will be available. Read more about the book here.
- In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private.
- I support Centro de textiles tradicionales del Cusco, a group of talented textile artists in Cusco, Peru who dedicate their work to the empowerment of weavers through the revitalization and sustainable practice of Peruvian ancestral textiles in the Cusco region. Please consider supporting their work by donating to their causes.
