What Came First?

The yarn or the pattern?

Along with many knitters, I tend to buy yarn because I have fallen in love with a particular colorway or texture. I love visiting my LYS to touch new yarns, to admire the colors and I cannot leave the shop without buying something! I have been asked not to drool so much although I have a feeling the staff are used to their customers doing that!

Whenever I buy a new yarn, I want to use it immediately. I want to make something and if it's a hank I waste no time in getting it wound into a ball and start to look through my own patterns and on Ravelry and numerous other knitting sites for ideas and suggestions.

One of my favorite online stores is The Loopy Ewe. The selection of yarn they carry is amazing, and I never realised that so many colors and so many shades of color existed. I quickly created a wish list of favorite yarns, and have ordered one or two whenever I have had the money available. One particular favorite is a yarn called Fiesta Ballet, it's a very soft blend of superfine Alpaca and Tencel. The colorway I selected is called Stargazer and it's so pretty. Soft hues of pale green, lemon, pink and lilac combine to create a truly beautiful yarn.

But I have no idea what to make with it. I have tried several different patterns. I have tried different combinations of stitches and none of them seem to be right for that yarn. It's SO frustrating! And so for now I have put that yarn away. It hurts, I hate putting yarn away! I want to make something with it but I have to continue to look around until I find the right pattern for it.

Perhaps in future I should buy yarn only when I have a pattern in mind, but while that's practical it is no help when I am in the yarn shop and drooling over some newly discovered yarn!