An answer, eventually

A highly textured yarn of over-the-top oranges and pinks can't
be used for just anything. Sometimes it is worth it to wait for
the right pattern to present itself.

People tend to be intrigued by spinning. It's not something often seen, so it draws attention. It also draws a lot of questions. The first, "What are you doing?" I continue spinning as I explain until, eventually, the inevitable question, "But… what are you going to do with it?"

The puzzled expressions deepen with my response, "I don't know. I have to finish it before I know what it wants to be."

Apparently, it is not enough to simply make yarn. I must also make something with it. Immediately. 

Truth is, I rarely spin with a project in mind. Although, given the length of my ravelry queue, I should, but it takes a lot more skill and deliberation to spin that way. I spin for the fun of it — for the fiber, for the sake of spinning and for something to do. Sometimes there is a specific yarn I want to make. Yes, there are different yarns. Many, many different yarns. You would be shocked.

Sometimes, I have a pile of pretty fluff, and it just makes itself into yarn in my hands.

Sometimes I can tell while I'm spinning what a yarn would be good for. Even knowing what it would be good for, I still don't really know what I will make. So much depends on the yardage (length) and the weight (thickness) of the finished product. For example, I recently spun for a pair of mittens; a project I was really excited about, and the yardage came up short. Such a crushing disappointment! (It's close though, so I still might try to squeak out a pair, once I recover emotionally.)

Every so often, the yarn has an immediate purpose, but most of the time it takes a while. Over a year, in this case. I took the occasion of the 2014 Tour de Fleece — a spinning event coinciding with the Tour de France —  to work through some of my favorite yarns in Sarah Anderson's, "The Spinner's Book of Yarn Designs." One was this crazy bouclé plied with a thick single. I'd never seen anything like it.

There was a super fun, and super bright, braid of Falkland from Corgi Hill Farm in my stash that was perfect for the loopy single… but what to use for the fat single?

OK, break for a small confession. Not only do I spin yarn without an immediate purpose in mind, I have also bought entire fleeces with no plan of how they will be used. Yikes!

Turns out, there was a black fleece in my stash just waiting for a job.

So, I spun my crazy, fun bouclé yarn — and loved it! — and then put it in the stash bin, where it sat, and sat, and sat.

Sad.

Until cool weather hit. It has been cold in the morning when Laney is out waiting for the bus, but warm when she gets home. I was thinking a thick, cozy fall sweater would be just the thing. That's when I found this: the Bladyn Bear Sweater by Heidi May of the Velvet Acorn. She is the designer behind those adorable hooded cowls with animal ears. To say I LOVE her patterns is an understatement. Anyway, I just knew this would be the perfect project for my yarn.

I didn't have the yardage for a Laney-sized sweater, so the little girls benefit from this lightening strike of inspiration. I just love how the sweater turned out! It was definitely worth the wait. Eventually the right project and yarn find each other, and I have an answer to the question, "but what are you going to do with it?!"