Yarn is More than Yarn. Guest Blog by Jackie Awerman

Today, I'm delighted to share with you an article written by one of our very loyal, and extremely talented, Yarnmarket shoppers. Jackie Awerman is a very creative knitter who has been delighting us with her stories for years. When I spoke to her a couple of weeks ago, I suggested she might want to write a little blog item for us.

Jackie did more than that! She also sent me a pretty little purse she'd knit. She calls it the Kokoro No Te (which in Japanese is a thank you). For those who'd like to know more about her, Jackie calls herself a Knitting therapist & story teller (cantadora). She is the Creator of Knit2Quit© and Knit ‘n Nosh© fundraisers and A founding momma of Cactus Needles Knitting Guild, TKGA, Phoenix, Arizona. USA.

If you'd like to support Jackie's many, many efforts to help others through knitting, please contact her at yarndances at yahoo dot you-know-what.

I hope you enjoy Jackie's story as much as I'm enjoying her gift!

Yarn has always been more than yarn for me… it’s my paint…my delight in texture…my passion for color…my view of the world… my yarn fairy’s naughty sister’s challenging tangles …my material for sharing love and joy with family and friends. Then there come the times — and lately, they are coming all too frequently — when I turn to yarn to try to express comfort and compassion for our global family caught in sadness, in misfortune, in epic disasters.

Recently, it was tornadoes in the Carolinas; then it was the earthquake and tsunami in Japan followed by tornadoes in Alabama and other southern states. And Yikes! Floods! The Mississippi has gone over the top.

When I say that, “I turn to yarn,” that’s not just me… not just my heart. And thanks to Yarnmarket, it’s not just “my yarn!” There are people passionately knitting and crocheting their prayers into blankies and accessories for those hit hardest.

I want to share a secret with you: What thrills me the most is what recipients have had to say…the delivery angels have told me that the hear things like,“This is so special. The yarn is so soft,””I am overwhelmed that someone did so much work to give this to me,”or ”I feel so blessed to have something handmade after losing everything my mother and grandmother made for me." And that is KOKORO NO TE straight into my heart.


If you'd like to knit one of Jackie's Kokoro No Te change purses, you can find the pattern on Yarnmarket.