Oh, Yarn.

Who is in charge? You or the yarn?

I have a pretty big stash of yarn. I accept bags of yarn the way some people accept stray animals. The yarn may get used in a project or it may be passed along to some other user. I also acquired my mother’s stash when she died five years ago. Some of her yarn had been used before and recovered, carefully wound into balls odd sizes.

My yarn may be used for knitting, weaving, or crocheting. It came a surprise to me that yarn that made a wonderful knit scarf would not necessarily make a good woven one.

It dawned on me that approach fiber projects the same way I approach cooking.

• look in the refrigerator, see what’s there, and think of something to cook using those ingredients
• find a recipe that sounds good and go to the store to get the needed items
• see something in the store that inspires me, buy it and cook it

Some days, I look through my yarn stash and try to use what is there to make something. Fortunately, I am not restricted to making things for myself, or even those I know. I can make anything and sell it on the Etsy site we run to raise money for veterans organizations.

Sometimes, I see a pattern in a magazine or on a blog or get a request for an item, and go out and purchase yarn specifically for that project.

Other times, I wander around the yarn store and see something I can’t resist.

This week, all three things happened. I chose two yarns from the stash and threw a scarf onto the loom. I got a request for a cowl hood that is blue or ombre or sparkly and went to the store to buy yarn (blue/black ombre it is!). While I was at the store I found adorable sock yarn and have decided to try socks once again (the only other socks I ever made were terribly misshapen).

So, who is in charge? You or the yarn? Of course it is a happily co-dependent relationship.