I’ve always got this need, it seems, to figure out what I’m going to knit a completed handspun yarn into as soon as I finish it. I have a hard time letting it sit in my stash (as small as it is), without deciding on something to turn it into. I currently have just about four completed sets of spun yarn in various amounts sitting in my stash, unknit, un-thought-of, and with no inkling of a project in mind for them. This drives me insane every time I see them in there. Fortunately for me I don’t go rooting around in my yarn very often.

Do any other spinners have this problem?

I must say that I really loved spinning this yarn. It exemplifies a trend that is occurring with my spinning: thinner and thinner. I love the thin yarns, just as I seem to love the small stitches/small knits. The fiber came in what I think you’d call a batt, and it faded from brown to yellow. Beautifully saturated bright colors, and well mixed. I decided that I was going to split everything up so that I could control the placement of the colors. Each color segment (brown, brown-orange, orange, yellow) was separated, then split into strips that I then pre-drafted into several foot long pieces of roving. So far this is my favorite way to prepare the fiber, so that I can wrap it around my wrist several times. Then, each strip of fiber is a good amount to spin each sitting (5-10 minutes), or do multiple strips in one sitting.

The resulting yarn is something that will stripe when knit up most likely. I can’t wait to see what it does, but that brings me back to my conundrum. I’m really not ready to figure out what to knit this into. One of the things I struggle with handspun is trying to figure out a project that will fit the amount of yarn I have, without having too much left over. I did consider socks but…I’m not positive, but I’m not ruling it out either. I’m just not focusing too much on what to do with this yarn because I have a few other projects that I’m really excited about working on. Nothing major, just a few small things.

Every time I stare at it though, I just feel this insatiable need to knit it up. I’m not one of those spinners that spins just for the delight of it (nor a knitter that knits just for the meditation of it). I thoroughly enjoy the process; I thoroughly enjoy working with the materials (when they’re good); I thoroughly enjoy looking forward to the end result, and I thoroughly enjoy using my handwork for its intended purpose. For me, it’s all about the balance of each part.

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