Wool is sold out / getting through the summer without wool / the stores are empty / the sheep are on strike.

Dear Community,
Imagine that wool is sold out in every store and you’ve run out of your own supply too. Everything’s gone, including all your leftover yarn. Even that scratchy wool that’s been sitting in your drawer for decades is gone. You don’t have anything left to engage in unraveling either. Even the black-market wool sellers have run out. On top of that, the wool-producing sheep, alpacas, and all the other woolly animals are on strike. New wool supplies won’t be available until the end of summer at the earliest, due to global supply issues in the wool market. It’s expected that wool prices will skyrocket by the end of summer.

What will you do then?

Well, tough luck. A lot of people had the same idea to switch to fabric. That’s why there’s no fabric left either. 

But this is just mean! Is there at least enough chocolate ice cream? 🤣

Chocolate ice cream has had to be rationed. You get one scoop per person per week. 

That’s bad, reeeally bad....

I still have a box of unread books, since I swap them with others, and besides, in the summer we’re mostly out swimming or biking anyway. 
So there’s no chance of getting bored. 😀😀

I’ll take up origami again.
I have paper, and you can even use wallpaper for it.
Painting and drawing would also be an option.

That’s right—reading on the balcony, biking, going for walks—when the weather’s nice, of course. And if the weather turns bad—I still have an endless supply of craft supplies (wire, etc., Dederon stocking material for “flower making”)—or you can paint stones, wooden discs, or glass; you can also paint white T-shirts with acrylic or fabric paint. And maybe I’d finally get around to painting that bare, ugly wall in one of the rooms—I mean, I’d definitely find something to do instead of putting it off ;-).



 

Taking photos of nature is also something I’d like to do even more.

I suppose beads aren’t available either due to supply shortages, right?
Well, that leaves learning two foreign languages, spending time on the balcony, and watching lots of documentaries 😊

Well, I’ll make my own T-shirt yarn out of old T-shirts and bedding (nobody can take those away from me😂) and crochet with it. 

I’d fire up the embroidery machine, because I have so much embroidery thread that I couldn’t use it all in three lifetimes. As has already been said, I also have old bedding and such lying around, so I certainly wouldn’t get bored, and my fabric stash is still well stocked, so I could also use the sewing machine

Best regards, Inge

I still have boxes full of pattern booklets. I can go through them at my leisure. Make new plans. Pull weeds in the garden… Or, ha, I have a dog—I’ll learn to spin its hair and make my own wool.
  Or I’ll go out into nature to gather craft supplies. There’s plenty out there. Maybe I’ll even get the idea to weave baskets. Who knows.
Does anyone want to trade for my scoops of chocolate ice cream? I don’t like it. 😂

If all the animals that provide wool go on strike, I’ll switch to plant fibers.
Cotton, hemp, ramie, nettles, bamboo, viscose—there’s still plenty of those. 

Exactly! To make sure this nightmare scenario never happens to me, I’m now growing potted cotton! 

Crochet with twine and ribbon, or spin yarn from paper.

First, I’ll ask around in my swap group of 300 members.
Then I’ll go through all the classified ads and post requests, for example, for attic finds.
Next, I’ll head to flea markets and go to house clearances.
Finally, there are the neighboring countries, where I can do the same.
And lastly, I can look for knitwear in thrift stores and clothing banks that can be unraveled.
As a last resort, I could buy hand-knitted items and unravel them—for example, baby blankets, sweaters, etc.

My greatest inspiration is Horst Schulz, who, as a teenager in a camp, unraveled food sacks and used them to make lace blankets. I saw some of them at an exhibition in Berlin.

So before I start to panic, there are actually quite a few ways to get yarn.

Well, it would be a shame not to have any wool for a while, but I do have other hobbies, so I’d turn to those for now.

For example, making cards, finally finishing my diamond painting projects, beading, casting stones, and painting pictures.
So I’ve got plenty to keep me busy until wool becomes available again. :-)

Then I’ll turn my attention to other “threads”: filaments for 3D printing 😬

Alternatively: just brush the cats several times a day, and when I’ve collected enough, off to my coworker with the spinning wheel. I mean the wool, not the cats 😉

Another option: “accidentally” ruin some textile items around the house and upcycle them ♻️ 

First of all, I’d be absolutely thrilled that I’ve managed to use up my stash—I’ve been dreaming about that for a long time—and then I’d pack up all the things I own that I’d like to see go to loving homes rather than end up in the trash, and find new owners for them. Then I’ll have to do a lot of renovations—as much as my body will allow—and I still have plenty to do with the stray cats, too. Oh, and resting—and just being happy to be alive and enjoying the beautiful days—that’s something I keep telling myself to do. And I hope coffee doesn’t get rationed. 

If I sold my wool stash then, I’d be rich.
But I wouldn’t. Or only in part.

I’ve also got a lot of old clothes lying around—I’d sew with those, too.

Josefa’s about to text that there’s no electricity either...
But then there wouldn’t be any CP either, ha! 🤥

I guess I’d end up weaving the lawn in the garden. 😂