In 1979, an American psychologist called Dorothy Tennov wrote and published "Love and Limerence, the Experience of Being in Love". In a recent fit of self searching, I came across her book and binge read it in just a few evenings. The sum of the story is: "Falling in Love" is as involuntary as our own heart beats (you know, autonomic nervous system stuff), and the result of complex neurotransmitters working some horrible, wonderful magic on our bodies. I smiled a bit when I turned the last page, because reading her book reminded me that it is a rare occasion in life when the science matches the fairytale.
A few weeks after I closed the cover on that book, my yarn arrived from Blackberry ridge woolen mills, in Wisconsin USA.
As per usual, I "fell in love" immediately.
I'm not sure why woolen spun yarns leave me tingly, and swooning.
Passion is passion perhaps?
I tore open all four boxes, and dove in with every sense I possess. I love the way Cormo wool feels, but when I buried my nose in the hanks, I remembered how it has felt to open just about every blackberry ridge shipment I've ever received. Anne's factory has a very special smell.
I was putting the finishing touches on some design work I was on deadline for, so I had to do some very serious self lecturing about being dependable instead of leaving my obligations for the shiny object in front of me. When it was safe to press go, and all deadlines were met, I started wandering through some old books my partner and I had laying around, one in particular about "the art of the Scottish Guernsey". There in the charts section, I found the most perfect k&p simple texture motif that would fit perfectly in the 2 panels of a sock pattern. I snaffled it up post haste and began writing, and then knitting.
Living and breathing this process has been love itself, a chemical tornado in my body that has left me mooning and daydreaming far more than is normal. I just...can't help it?
Without further rambling on: The Limerence Socks