Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Wool Huffing

I’ve been feeling a little urgency to talk about a terrible disease that is sweeping the nation. Maybe it’s more than a disease. An epidemic. It happens in secret silence. It’s wreaking havoc throughout the fiber land. This emergency is Wool Huffing.

It starts out innocently enough. You’re a new spinner thinking about possibly working with your first raw fleece. Your pusher – who you consider a friend – places the beautiful locks under your nose and asks you to breath in. A beautiful scent reaches out to you. Wool is lovely. Wool is your friend. Soon your are placing your entire face into the locks of joy…but only in private moments. You can’t seem to get close enough. That beautiful sheepy smell. The feel of the lanolin filled locks on your cheeks.

All would be o.k. if you could just keep it to yourself you think. But no. Within weeks you are drawing others in. You become the pusher.

I know all of these things from my own personal experience. I have become a pusher. Things got so far advanced that I began playing games with myself. I would try to identify the breeds of sheep by their smell alone while I was blindfolded. If there were cameras in the shop they would have exposed me, nervously turning my head toward the shop door, worried that someone would catch me with my blindfold on with shaking hands and bated breath.

It got to the point where I was dreaming of the sheep’s wool. It even got so bad that I dreamed about … o.k. nobody faint…spinning in the grease. That’s when I knew I had to come out into the open and share my problem with the world.

I often host sleepovers in my shop. These sleepovers can be quite raucous and that’s where I first began sharing my addiction with the public – even those who do not spin. I have been known to stand directly over a person who is fast asleep in front of the Wall O’Fleece to get a sniff for myself and share that pleasure with anyone within arms length.

So, that is why I’m writing today. My goal in sharing this is not to scare those of you who have not been affected but to give hope to those who are in the same situation as I was. This is not an epidemic of dire proportions. It can be turned into a sunny part of your life. Sniff the wool, breath in deep. Change the secret guiltiness into something of a remedy for your tired, yearning spirit.

I am no longer ashamed. I sniff in public. I recently asked a Michigan State Representative to take part in the huffing. He was first taken aback but then that was changed when I showed him how and he saw the intense pleasure of the activity fill my eyes and therefore my soul. I can now say with pride that I am a wool huffer and also a wool pusher. Say it loud!

Wool Huffers of the world UNITE!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

If fleece was meth I'd have no teeth

Anonymous said...

I'm taking you to rehab. lol

Donna B said...

Can I sleep by the Wall O' Fleece?

Michelle said...

OMG Beth.....I never thought that you would share all that info with the world but now that you did I just glad that you didn't mention any names of the Wool Huffers that you have created!!LOL
Ok, ok, I know that you will mention it sooner or later so I will beat you to it....I am a Wool Huffer and I am proud of it!!! So there, I've said it!!
You sure are a good Pusher Beth!!! LOL

Anonymous said...

OMG you all, better watch the language... home.sec. could be evesdropping....

knitsib said...

I love to woolhuff too, although I'm not nearly as experienced at it as you. I'll be over to huff tonight until I'm required to drink champagne with my valentine. Love, knitsib

Reverend Jeannine Bakriges said...

I'm a Wool Huffer and I can't get me enough...er. WONDERFUL piece of honesty, Beth!! You're not alone.
We're growing in numbers.

Anonymous said...

Hi, my name is Sue and I am a wool huffer. I've huffed for years. And I have no intention of stopping. At first I huffed only at home, and only from a small private stash. But now I've been seen doing it in public. Or (small children please cover your ears) right in the barn during shearing. Yes, its true, I now grow my own organic huffing material. They have names and are my friends. How bad can it be if your wooly friends are providing you with a never ending supply? No, I believe that it is a much misunderstood addiction that should be applauded rather than eradicated. So count me in Beth - I will enable right along side of you.

Redford Phyl said...

While not totally into raw fiber huffing, I always smell my yarn. Daughter gets embarrassed every time I put skein to nose, but the smell is part of the beauty. I never buy yarn without a deep inhale.

Alpaca Granny said...

For your next step in addiction - Bury your face in a freshly shorn alpaca fleece. OMG
Maple

Kate A. said...

What not everyone knows is that Beth is a big-time pusher, as well as an addict herself. In fact, I don't know that anyone has yet entered that dangerous shop of hers and not come out a huffer. Even my husband is hopeless when he comes anywhere near wool now, and I'm clearly a lost case.

*shakes head sadly*