Comments on: Should Everyone Spin? Another Yarn Manifesto

By: Triste

Triste — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 21:31:33 +0000

Abby, I’m way behind the ball here. I keep thinking reading your blog is optional in my life and then I start and wish I was chewing it over in my mind in smaller chunks. Guess some day I will figure it out.
Anyway, love the essay! I always enjoy your thoughts. And, I agree, submit it to Spin Off. It is a good piece of writing as it is (compared to most of what I read these days) but I am sure that a little rewriting and editing as suggested will make it even better. I
What really needs to happen is for you to get a job writing a column for Spin-off so I can read them at home, where I have no internet computer. At home I have only those things I printed out to show my husband. Besides, it would add tremendous value to every issue, at least in my eyes!

By: Renee P

Renee P — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 21:57:42 +0000

Wonderful, wonderful rant.

I also think that everyone should know how to do basic things. Not because there’s going to be an apocalypse, but because nothing else gives you the feeling for the real time of things. How long it takes for raw ingredients become soup, the pace of bread. One thing spinning does for me (a newbie of one year) is to make time make sense. You can’t really rush it (without disaster).

Also doing things yourself gives you understanding. Though I’d let a comuter do it now, working your way through some sticky statistical problem by hand or doing the calculus makes you see why it works, not just that it works.

By: Amy Boogie

Amy Boogie — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 11:23:52 +0000

Beautiful. And after reading all of this I think instead of all the mandated school crap, my daughter will be practicing her spinning this week

By: Hazel

Hazel — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 20:05:44 +0000

I have only just caught up with this, but I have to echo the comments, this should be published.

It was thought provoking and enlightening – as were the comments.

Thankyou

By: Kim Mc

Kim Mc — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 16:28:15 +0000

My earliest memories include textiles of some kind. Usually watching them being woven or stitched by hand by a family member. I believe I knew and understood this before I could talk. Since then I’ve grown up in a world where things made beautifully by hand have the highest value. I’ve been a basketmaker and have seen the effect of learning the process has on the maker. I’ve seen children who are “unteachable” learn this skill and then turn around to teach others. I’ve seen children who are unable to concentrate or sit still, sit for hours…HOURS…until their basket is finished. To the shock of the adults in their lives. There is an incredible value in this work. Everyone SHOULD do some kind of textile work…the real, hands-on, basic work of spinning or weaving or stitching or knitting. To slow down and open up.

By: Janice in GA

Janice in GA — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 15:55:18 +0000

On bad days, I tend to think it would be better for us and for the earth if we were still banging rocks together in caves.

I agree on the edit. Many of your points are good, but it’s hard to read long essays in small print on a computer screen. But thank you for your thoughts!

By: sarah

sarah — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 14:49:55 +0000

It’s not that everyone needs to be able to spin, it’s that *we* need everyone to be able to do something that’s the equivalent of spinning. Longhand division and other calculations without electronic aids; fell trees, season timber, build structures that stand; cook from scratch; care for livestock; grow food. It’s not just that we may not always have technology to do these things for us (although I happen to think hard times lie just around the corner), it’s that we really do need to understand the processes that sustain us and our civilisation.

By: Hope

Hope — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 03:18:54 +0000

w.o.w. Great essay, I agree that you should edit it and submit it somewhere.

By: fibergal

fibergal — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 20:19:50 +0000

Thank you for this. I wish you would get on your soapbox more often and tell us what you really think. It makes me want to go out and rope in more unsuspecting non-spinners and sneek something into their brains.

By: Dani

Dani — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 20:00:12 +0000

Deb’s blog sent me here. Thanks for a good essay – I’ll go share the link on my blog. More people need to read it!