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Admin
Forum Admin
USA
151 Posts |
 Posted - 11/16/2001 : 08:11:14 AM
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When I see a new skein of yarn, I pick it up and automatically stick my nose in it to see how it smells. Not like when you check a carton of milk to see if it's bad... but do other people experience the same near state of ecstasy when smelling a really yummy skein of yarn?
For me it's better than woodsmoke, chocolate-chip cookies, and fresh-baked bread, all rolled up into one.
Clara
Knitter's Review Publisher |
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gustine
New Pal
USA
14 Posts |
Posted - 11/16/2001 : 08:56:56 AM
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Oh, I thought I was the only one who smelled yarn. I am so glad I am not alone. Everyone I know gives me such an odd look when I bring the yarn up to my face. If it is an especially soft yarn that I am knitting with, the knitting will go very slow because I can't keep from burying my nose in it.
Gustine |
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4catsandadog
New Pal
USA
4 Posts |
Posted - 11/16/2001 : 09:08:00 AM
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Me too. I *have* to smell yarn. Some people give me odd looks but some just smile, and when I tell them about my compulsion, they say "I do the same thing!" So we can't possibly be alone. I just smelled a wonderful skein, purchased by someone else and I can't remember the name of the manufacturer, but it was obviously spun in the grease and still smelled marvelously of the sheep who generated the marvelous stuff.
For me, sniffing is a pervasive habit: I like to smell my cats too, especially after they've awoken from a nap in the sun--they smell like rising dough.
T. Chan |
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v_stammer
New Pal
USA
12 Posts |
Posted - 11/16/2001 : 09:21:28 AM
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How nice to know I'm not alone in this habit!
Actually, I went to a Christmas party a few years ago at which there was an anonymous gift exchange, and one of the ladies at my dinner table sniffed the gift she had received (a table runner) and said, "Oh, this is from...I recognize the scent of her drawer sachet!" After that, we all started to sniff the various gifts at the table and found that we were able to tell pretty accurately who the giver was from the perfume, pet scent, drawer sachet, etc.
It got our table some odd looks, but we were in hysterics by the end of the evening. And it just goes to show you how close we really are to our pets who ALWAYS "look" at the world this way.
V. Stammer
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n/a
deleted
11 Posts |
Posted - 11/19/2001 : 07:56:08 AM
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I am a "SNIFFER" too. I admit it. Also I like to fluff and squezze and all that other stuff to get the feel/scent of the yarn.
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jean n
New Pal
USA
10 Posts |
Posted - 11/22/2001 : 12:08:40 AM
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me too, the fragrance of wool, mohair, any natural fiber, is wonderful. sometimes the smell of a synthetic will keep me from buying it. would'nt like to knit it, if it smells bad, and some of them really smell like chemicals. but animal fibers are yummy. also like to rub them against my cheek. tells you so much about the way the yarn will feel after you knit it. I told my best friend to try it, that she would soon be able to tell a natural fiber from a synth. one just by the smell. she is now a confirmed sniffer too.
jean nancollas |
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schoolmama
Permanent Resident
USA
2309 Posts |
Posted - 04/18/2002 : 7:55:52 PM
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I was surfing around in old posts and found this one. So, I'm NOT the only one who does this, huh? I started doing it when I began checking out "real" yarn instead of the synthetics! Some of the wools smell really nice. I try to act more like I am rubbing it on my face, LOL. Barb P.S. My LYS doesn't seem to care if we do these things. I think they all understand. 
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Kathe
Chatty Knitter
USA
181 Posts |
Posted - 04/18/2002 : 8:45:49 PM
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Oh yeah, I'm a sniffer too! I even love to sniff the raw wool right off the sheep! 
HK, Kathe
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Marjorie
Seriously Hooked
New Zealand
605 Posts |
Posted - 04/18/2002 : 11:19:40 PM
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Yes I'm one of those as well---a snifferand a scruncher.However I think I must be a little more devious than some of you as I look around to make sure no-one is watching me.I get so excited when I walk into my favourite wool shop.First there is the build up(I'm going to the wool shop taday) then there is the visual thing (walking through the door and seeing all that colour in their lovely wee partitions) and then theres the smell and scrunch stage.And if anyone asks me whether I actually wrote this I'll hotly deny it.
Marjorie
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schoolmama
Permanent Resident
USA
2309 Posts |
Posted - 04/19/2002 : 09:59:22 AM
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LOL, Marjorie, very devious! I guess I'll have to smell the "fresh" wool at the State Fair in September, to see what you mean, Kathe! Barb
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Tweedles
Warming Up
USA
65 Posts |
Posted - 04/19/2002 : 10:35:55 AM
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My name is Sandi. And I'm a yarn sniffer.
(Hi Sandi.)
This habit actually stems from a bad experience...
I bought some yarn off from an individual on the internet. One day my husband and I returned home from work, walked into the kitchen, and a strong smell almost knocked us over! We looked everywhere for the source of this bizarre smell which was like a combination of mothballs and perfume. It seemed to be strongest near the kitchen table where the mail was sitting. We discovered that it was coming from a box in the stack of mail.
The wool yarn I bought had been soaked in some kind of herbal moth repelling solution. It was so bad that I had to take the box outside, take the yarn out of the box, unwind the skein, and air it out for several hours before my husband would allow it back in the house!
Ever since that day, I never buy yarn without first smelling it.
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Theresa
Chatty Knitter
Norway
224 Posts |
Posted - 04/19/2002 : 1:52:04 PM
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Oh, you just reminded me... I went shopping the other day while S. sat and waited at a Blues bar and listened to the Saturday afternoon live music. When I met him there later, I had bought 3 skeins of Garnstudio's Silketweed and I pulled it out of my backpack more than a couple of times while I was sitting on a barstool: reading the label, smelling it, rubbing it, petting it and calling it George, when a older gentleman on the stool next to me said "litt opptatt med garnet ditt?" ("a little obsessed with your yarn?", or something to that effect) Thank heavens we were about to leave anyway (music was over). I felt really ... silly. 
But I know you all understand!!!
Theresa
http://bagatell.blogspot.com |
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RoseByAny
Permanent Resident
USA
12598 Posts |
Posted - 04/19/2002 : 2:33:17 PM
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I'm so glad to see someone else admit to liking the smell of sheep! I thought I was the only "farm girl" out there - I love the smell of animals in general - my female cat smells like baby powder, the boy smells like newspaper (probably from rolling) and I just love the smells of stables and horses and goats and sheep! They smell like comforting things to me... can you tell I spent weekends and summers on a horse farm growing up?
"Choose your friends by their character and your socks by their color. Choosing your socks by their character makes no sense, and choosing your friends by their color is unthinkable."
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chris
Permanent Resident
USA
2449 Posts |
Posted - 04/19/2002 : 4:39:58 PM
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OMG...there's been a whole thread on the greyhound board about the fact that their heads smell like french toast and their feet smell like fritos. I've not checked either....I DO NOT want to get caught smelling my greyhounds' feet..... ummmmmmmmmm......
chris
Keep on knittin', mama, knittin' those blues away! |
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RoseByAny
Permanent Resident
USA
12598 Posts |
Posted - 04/19/2002 : 4:56:29 PM
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Do it at dawn, before the rest of the world is awake.
What, like the dogs will tell on you? (actually, it's good practice to get them used to your handling their feet anyway)
"Choose your friends by their character and your socks by their color. Choosing your socks by their character makes no sense, and choosing your friends by their color is unthinkable."
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chris
Permanent Resident
USA
2449 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2002 : 08:34:56 AM
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LOL, Rose! How true!!
I am thinking about knitting them booties for the winter so their widdle feet don't get cole when we go for a walk! They actually need something for summer, too, because the pavement gets so hot here in AZ. I've got to figure out something that won't get worn out too quickly!
chris
Keep on knittin', mama, knittin' those blues away! |
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Kathe
Chatty Knitter
USA
181 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2002 : 08:56:59 AM
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I too am glad to see others like the smell of animals as well. I was raised in the suburbs not on a farm (unfortunately) and I can remember as a little girl going for rides to the country on Sunday afternoons and I would open the windows and smell the cows and be so excited! I still do the same thing today and love it just as much.
HK, Kathe
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Dogs5
New Pal
8 Posts |
Posted - 04/21/2002 : 12:23:52 PM
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Hi...I bought some "Camel Dream" on ebay. It's an unusual yarn...
says it is made from baby bactrian camel fleece, and it kind of
looks like chenille/terry cloth.
Of course I smelled it when it arrived. Now it was still in
the original plastic wrapper.
I swear it smells vaguely of camel. If you have ever smelled
camel, you would know :(
I am airing it out in hopes to knit with it next fall.
BTW, I have some dobes. Yes they have frito feet. Though since
I was a kid my family called it popcorn feet. There were no
fritos then. I am older than fritos :)
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RoseByAny
Permanent Resident
USA
12598 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2002 : 5:36:39 PM
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I know they sell little leather booties for dogs so their feet don't get cut and cracked from heat or cold... I don't know what you could knit for the greys that would hold up, considering their claws will be digging into the fabric all the time, too... wonder if you could felt just the sole of something for the strength? (I mean, I know you could, I just don't know if it would be effective for that use. Then knit the boot part in something more lightweight...
"Choose your friends by their character and your socks by their color. Choosing your socks by their character makes no sense, and choosing your friends by their color is unthinkable."
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Alissa
Seriously Hooked
USA
632 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2002 : 7:55:53 PM
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I admit it, I used to be a yarn sniffer. Used to be is the operative term... working in a yarn shop I would grab it right out of the shipping box and take a whiff. Did you know that most warehouses suffer from insect problems? Most bomb on a regular basis. Now I let the yarn "air" a bit before putting it out so no one else must suffer the same horrible headaches! Took me quite a while to figure out where those were coming from too.
We also get many boxes with lizards inside. They just LOVE the bugs! We don't get bugs though... we just set the lizards free outside. Can't you imagine their poor confused minds? "But I swear, I left the wife and kids sitting on a rock right by the door..."
Happy Knitting,
Alissa
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BLN3320
Permanent Resident
USA
3808 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2002 : 8:04:40 PM
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About 25 years ago I had throat surgery and not only was my sense of taste almost totally wiped out, my sense of smell was almost taken away too. However, that is better than the obvious. Be that as it may I don't smell yarn and I can't smell much but is do a hand test which reminds me of my Scottish granny who was a dressmaker, no she wasn't, she was a misguided couturiere, but be that as it may the way she would touch fabric was an art. People who worked in fabric stores and departments either loved or hated her. Those that loved her knew fabrics. I seem to get the same response when I feel yarn. People who know yarn know what I am doing--people who don't know yarn, well you get the drift. Beverley  
Bev |
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