When I started this blog last December, and called it Yarnover.me, it was primarily a cleaner way for me to show my beloved friends Meg and Jo what I was up to. They were my only knitting friends at the time, and they live most of the way across the country from me. I also hoped it would help me find more kindred spirits, and it quickly became not just a place for me to document what I was making, but to share the great patterns and bits of inspiration I was finding as I scoured the internet. It’s no small chore — finding the needles in this particular haystack — but I love doing it. And it’s incredibly rewarding that so many people are choosing to spend a few minutes here each day. Nothing makes me happier than to hear that someone has been inspired to try a new skill, or that they saw a link to the perfect pattern for them. One very kind person told me she thinks of me as her imaginary friend who she goes yarn shopping with, because she doesn’t know any knitters, and that made my heart melt.
Up to now, my yarnophilia — and this blog — has been something of a secret identity, an aspect of my life I rarely and reluctantly mention to existing friends and colleagues. Nobody ever found it the least bit odd that I sew or garden or cook. And yet they find it improbable and hilarious that I knit. So while you know I love fringe in a literal sense, the new blog name is also a tiny joke about the fact that — even despite the boom in knitting over the past several years, even in a place as handmade-centric as San Francisco — knitting (or crochet or weaving) can still feel like a subversive activity.
The happy fact is, knitting is increasingly becoming a real focus in my life. But “Fringe Association” is also meant to convey that this is about much more than me. It’s about whatever and whoever is worth knowing about in the crazy, warm, wonderful world of yarn.
So, with that, I have two requests of you:
1) Talk to me. I regularly hear from people through all sorts of channels, but I’d love it if you’d leave a comment below letting me know who you are and what brings you here. What would you like to see more (or less) of?
2) If you like the blog, I’d be honored if you’d tell your friends about it. That might mean mentioning it to your three-dimensional knitting friends, or sharing a favorite post on Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest. Any mention is greatly appreciated.
And regardless, thank you so very much for reading. There’s lots more to come —
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PICTURED ABOVE, snippets from: 1) Transformative Mods: A modern spin on Flukra; 2) Blog Crush: Wiksten; 3) New Favorites: from Wool People 3; 4) Unspun and undyed; 5) FO Sightings: Kent Turman’s impeccable headwear