TFA Yarn Club | a review {Knitting}

Friday 4 October 2013

Around this time last year, I joined the TFA's Year in Colour Club that is run by Tanis Fibre Arts in Canada. It was before I had Baby MiH and I still had visions of hours spent knitting. I do knit, but nowhere the hours I had in mind as I prefer to spend them with Baby MiH.

I thought that joining a yarn club would also be great. A new skein of yarn every other month and a pattern designed just for that one skein of yarn. And of course It was clear to me that I would have time to knit all of them during the year. 



Fast forward nearly 10 months now, and I have not knitted any of the patterns. This is not just because of Baby MiH. It was true for the first one (came in January and there was no chance of me tackling a lace pattern with a one-month old), but I was not really inspired by the other skeins. The yarn was amazing but not really my colours. I suppose this is what I found when joining quilting bees or yarn club  I am not in charge anymore, and I don't like it (in other words I am a control freak). Someone else decides what I have to make and the colour scheme. And it does not work. 

Until this month... A worsted yarn made it through my door, and did you see that colour. It is amazing. So the great thing about the yarn club is that you can also get an amazing skein you would not get anywhere else. 



And I had to cast on then and there. This month pattern is also challenging - I have not knitted cables for a while, so that's also pushing me a bit. And suddenly I am reconciled with joining this particular yarn club. 

I may not join next year. I am going back to work and I feel this will have its own set of challenges, but I will definitely consider it when we get into our new routine. 

Have you joined yarn clubs or bees? What is your experience? Or more to the point I am the only control freak out there... 

PS: I am in France this weekend, so it is my first time blogging through the Blogger app. I hope it works. I may have to edit later though... Has anyone used it? 

9 comments:

  1. Oh that is pretty! Look forward to seeing what it becomes! I joined bees to keep me sewing but it is a commitment. I like being told what to do and trying blocks i wouldn't have on my own.

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  2. The yarn is a gorgeous colour! And I love cables! Looking forward to seeing what you create.... I love sewing bees- the variety and challenge is very rewarding!

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  3. I totally agree with you about clubs and bees... I didn't finish either of the BOMs I joined this year and the only reason I finished my bee blocks was because of the obligation to the other people in the bee! I just don't like being told what to make every month when my moods and tastes are changing all the time! I really love that yarn, though. I definitely see why you had to cast on right away!

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  4. Ooooh, pretty colours in that yarn. I wonder what you are making, Nat??? I use Blogger to write and publish my blog and like it. Though I have never used anything else, so I have no comparison.

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  5. That yarn is gorgeous! I agree with you though, about being in clubs and swaps - the control goes to someone else and you don't necessarily get what you want or like. On the up side I have met some lovely people through swaps/clubs. So despite having lack of control there are some good points.

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  6. The Blogger app is okay. I believe you cannot dictate where your pictures go. They might be placed at the end of your post.
    I so like that color way. Has all my favorite colors in it. Cables in that sound very nice.
    I did join one club and I didn't knit any of the patterns nor even use the yarn yet. I had other projects and gifts in mind. But I love the designer of the yarns. So it felt good to support her that time.

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  7. That is a pretty colourway indeed. Though the thought of receiving some exclusive yarn/pattern every once in a while is very tempting, I've never joined any yarn clubs because I (am perhaps a control freak, too ;p ) prefer to do things at my own pace, when I like it... So don't worry, you're not alone! And I think its perfectly normal and rational. :)

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  8. That yarn is absolutely beautiful. I have joined swaps and bees where I loved every minute of it and had experiences that were the opposite. I got things I specifically asked against, I didn't receive anything back, I was only meh about the result, etc. You do have to let go of control, but I've learned to join things I have proof I'm probably going to like beforehand. Like bees with people I'm already friends with, clubs where I know what I'm getting ahead of time, etc.

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