The Parallel Economy and Ending the Acrylic Yarn Obsession

I’m you later in time and right now you don’t grasp what I am saying so I will speak to you as my younger self regarding acrylic yarn.

It’s cheap and comes in many colors and it’s easy to buy. My family even gifts it for me and it’s so pleasing to have a yarn stash. All the major yarn suppliers have it in their warehouses and there are even some American companies that proudly make it. It’s washable and I can make gifts and Christmas items and items for every holiday.

I love charities that accept my projects, hats for the homeless, baby hats for newborns and prothestic breasts, prayer shawls, blankets for my family. There are so many reasons why I love using acrylic yarn including that it’s machine washable and dryable.

Fast forward twenty years while simultaneously passing past the expensive hand dyed yarns because they were not in my budget and I have no room to have the yarn ball winder equipment. I just never understood that craze. My room is already filled with acrylic and I have knitted enough socks, slippers, scarves, cowls and hats to last for many years. I learned how to knit a sweater and now that’s all I can think of.

My budget has gotten tighter and I am spending less time knitting and more time in the garden. I switch around again changing YouTube subjects with news interests in other things and then I realize that acrylic, polyester and nylon are really just plastic yarns. I knew about factories and fibers and even how yarn is made for many years now but knowing that it is really just plastic yarn just triggered another aspect in me to my core. I knew about recycling and recycled everything around me not wasting anything.

Still things are changing in my mind and views are changing towards plastic and recycling and jobs and traditions and livelihoods. It’s all changing and churning and learning, constantly especially in my mind. But I don’t feel I can trust everything and every view or every solution especially if it blames the existence of people or the normal everyday life of people or demonizing people or animals. And what if the blame is toward me and people I love and care about? I have stopped and halted everything concerning yarn and knitting just to think and refocus and change plans.

For me most of the problem is mental, intellectual and spiritual. I want to accept some things and not accept others. I don’t agree with everyone and there are people in every level and road and are on their own journies with their own ideas. I will accept some things and I appreciate and admire people. The main thing is to be positive because our world is unstable. This is a constantly changing and moving world. Even as I write this there are cities on fire, under water and being blown away. There are all sorts of factors that we don’t mention or speak about. Especially when it comes to Social Media. It’s not something people want to see or deal with. This is the now. This is the current situation. This is today’s plan or problem or goal. It is constantly changing.

So let’s talk about solutions. The big one we can all control is plastic. Stop using plastic. Some may think that is going backwards and not embracing technology. It is unnatural and difficult to dispose ofand it brings too much harm to our health, the enviroment, our traditions and livelihood. The goal is to bring back trades and small businesses again. Once again let’s embrace and cherish family trades and businesses. Go back to our roots and traditions which are in farming and crafts that include everything in our lives from building to gardenings. This is the parallel economy. This is life away from supermarkets, Costco or Amazon.

Maybe this is too much for you to conceptualize or to fathom in your head and change things in your world. And if that is the case, let’s start off with a smaller task by breaking the habit of buying and using plastic yarns, mainly acrylic.

What do I use then? Switch to cotton and wool and use natural tools. You can try other crafts like sewing and weaving. Give up the charities that are demanding acrylic. Make less and think of everything being heirloom quality to be passed down or to be used for 20 years. Use visually pleasing mending and patches. And if it is old and done with, it is burried and becomes compost for flowers.

Your acrylic, polyester and nylon clothes can not be composted nor can they become recycled without more chemicals, industrialization toxins and leeching microplastics into the water, air and soil. It’s best to stop the madness of plastics and start using only natural fibers and materials.

Eventually, you can add in harder to find linen and hemp yarn and encourage entrepreneurship in natural fibers, tools and products especially in your own country. It is even helpful to go back to old traditions and embrace them as art and a way of being part of your heritage through traditions.

I don’t like bans, extra taxes, fees and restrictions but I prefer encouragement and incentives and rewarding good behaviors. We work with postivity and inspiration. That is why I prefer a parallel universe and economy that will be there when the old and tired highly industrialized ones self destruct and end. Don’t be mesmorized by cheap products and bright colors. Say no to plastic. Say no to acrylic yarn. Say yes to natural fibers. Say yes to entrepreneurs and craftpeople who use natural fibers and farm things without pesticides and without importing anything. Go back to old traditions and make new ones to pass down to the next generation without synthetics, toxins or big industry. This is the seed, the entrance and the beginning of the parallel economy and universe to live a more natural and healthy life and eliminate toxins and damaging factories and industries. All this can be started by saying ‘NO MORE’ to acrylic yarn. Make it history. We made a wrong turn, get back to our tried and tested ways and improve on them without damaging our health and jobs and livelihood. You’re the change. Tag, you’re it. It’s up to us. We’re the grown-ups. Walk around the greedy, rich crazies and start again and clean up the old paths to make them fresh again for your kids and their kids. There are a bunch of happy, nice people over here, come and visit and see for yourself.