Tweet Me a Yarn

100 grammi pattern by Cristiana

It's your project. Ultimately, it's up to you to decide how you want it to look. You choose the project. You choose the yarn. You choose needle or hook size. And together, the combination produces a finished product unique to you. But sometimes we need a bit of guidance to nudge us in one direction or another.

This is where I find Twitter so useful. "Huh?" I hear you thinking, "How is Twitter going to help you choose a project?" I doesn't HAVE to be Twitter. That just happens to be my social networking medium of choice. You see, I've got some great pals (tweeps) who help me make these decisions. Even if I don't take their advice about yarn choices for certain patterns, their opinions help me to refine my own idea of how I want a finished object to look.

Here's what happened: Not so long ago I stocked up on yarn including a few styles just for me. Most of what I buy is just worsted weight cotton that I use for pattern writing/samples, but I splurged just a little this time. One of the yarns I bought is Dazzling Diamonds by Elmore Pisgah, the original makers of Peaches & Creme. It is absolutely beautiful, but I had no idea what I'd use it for. I knew it wouldn't be crochet since these hands can't handle crocheting with such fine yarns, but exactly what did I want to knit? That's where Twitter came in. Last night I finished my latest knitting project (check it out) and I've been really wanting to find something for the Dazzling Diamonds. About the same time, my pal Melissa was playing online and tweeting and emailing her discoveries to me. Now Melissa doesn't knit, but she knows I do and she sent me a gorgeous shawl pattern which got my wheels turning. I sent her a tweet asking her to keep her eyes open for anything that might do the Dazzling Diamonds justice. She suggested I hit Ravelry and search the projects made with the yarn. (Now why didn't I think of that?) Although the search didn't turn up anything useful, it did begin a conversation. Melissa and I went back and forth for a bit and I tweeted a couple of links to her. While she didn't actually make the choice for me, having her eyes helped me to further refine my own idea for what I wanted for the two projects I ultimately chose.

Here they are: Claire by Lynn Anne Banks in Dazzling Diamonds pale pink and Flit 'n Float by Birdy Evans in Honeysuckle cotton (fingering) baby blue

I realised through all of this how reliant I've become on social media because of my craft. You see, I have exactly ZERO local friends who are needlecrafters, so when it comes to bouncing ideas off of other knitters or crocheters, I automatically take to Twitter where I can contact a bunch at once. We share projects, ideas, yarn sites. We offer opinions, encouragement, instruction. But most of all, we're friends. I'd love to have them all right here in Boston with me, but that would mean I'd have to get out of my pajamas to see them. I guess I'll stick with Twitter until the next best thing comes along.

Talk to me. . . When you need input, where do you turn?