Who is Yarna?

     Yarna is the Goddess of Knitting.  She was born in a project for a graduate seminar on the goddess religions that I took a few years ago at Iowa State University.  Each participant was was tasked with creating a personal goddess for her- or himself.  I gave the assignment a lot of thought, and concluded that since knitting and fiber-related activities represent a major part of my life, a knitting goddess seemed appropriate.  Research failed to find an already-existing Goddess of Knitting, so I made one using materials from my "twiggy bits" bin -- wool, alpaca, mohair, cotton, linen, cellulose, soy, bamboo, silk, nylon, polyester, acrylic and even dog (Golden Retriever, in fact) fibers.
     Yarna is made of all these (and probably a few others), and her most important attribute reflects the one superpower I wish I possessed:  she has two pairs of arms and hands, enabling her to work on two knitting projects at the same time.  The biggest challenge that came with her creation was choosing a name, and such a serious responsibility required careful thought.  What about Purl? (Too obvious.)  Cashmira?  Mohaira? Merina?  (All fiber-specific, and The Goddess of Knitting does NOT show favoritism,) Tink?  (Pleeze.... get serious!)  I considered calling her Elizabeth, since Elizabeth Zimmerman is one of my true knitting heros, but I  decided that EZ would probably not have approved of such foolishness.  In the end, the made-up name of Yarna seemed like the right one for a knitting goddess, and Yarna she became.
     When the class ended, the next question was what to do with Yarna.  I considered keeping her at home, near my stash and, in a sense, returned to where she came from..  But a better suggestion came from a knitting friend:  take her to Rose Tree Fibers, the local yarn shop where I work, teach classes and lead workshops, and connect with members of the knitting community.
     Yarna now lives on a shelf at Rose Tree, where she is surrounded by an ever-changing array of beautiful and colorful yarn, roving and fibers. Everyone who comes to the shop seeks inspiration, guidance and knowledge. Yarna's  presence seems to encourage each knitter to try new techniques, improve skills and (channeling EZ) to "knit on through all crises."