I was in JoAnn Fabrics the other day because I needed buttons for my kelly green cardi and point protectors for my needles. I walked through the yarn department and noticed their selections had expanded greatly. Still all acrylic blends but a larger selection. As I looked as some of the yarns I noticed ones that appeared to be handspun. At this moment I felt a little sad. There are people who spend years learning to perfect the art of spinning, countless hours spinning those yarns, and unmeasureable amounts of labor the create the high quality beautiful yarns they produce and BLAMO!!! as super huge chain store has managed to create a lesser quality look alike at a fraction of the price and will likely make spinning for profit a futile process. It is so sad when major chains put small business out of business. So sad.
posted by Angela @ 9:39 AM
4 Comments:
What is the advantage of hand-spun? If something looks like it and is easier to care for, then what? This is a sincere question.
- C
The advantage of hand-spun would be the quality. Mass production simply can't maintain the high quality that hand made can. It's just sad to me when mass production over throws small business (mom & pop cafes out done by McDonalds, small bean coffee stands put down by Starbucks, Farmers market growers outsold by Albertsons, JoAnn Fabrics undercutting Local Yarn Stores) It's a way of life for mass production to kill small business and it makes it so we can tell our grandchildren..."They just don't make things like they used to"
Two issues here. One is mass production overthrowing small businesses. I get that.
The other is quality -- but what, exactly, is high quality in terms of handspun yarn? I am not trying to be a pain in the butt, just want to know. Wear longer, wash better? What?
Higher quality would be in regard to the fibers used. Wool, angora, alpace, cotton, etc are natural fibers and are by nature finer quality. Often mass produced yarns use acrylic which is plastic. I have certainly been known to knit with acrylic, but there is a drastically different feel to it than natural fibers.
The combo of the big business price cutting the little business and quality in materials used does much more than get a product to a consumer cheaper. It makes it that much harder for small business to support their families unless they work behind the register at the superstore that put them out of business.
If you had dreams of spinning beautiful yarns, would standing behind the register at JoAnn Fabrics selling the knock off be good enough...
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