The other day I read a blog post on Knitting the Stash that struck me, about knitting our prettiest yarn instead of “saving” it for the perfect pattern. I’m so guilty of that; are you? I have yarns I adore, and sometimes I pick them up, thinking “Oh, I want to use you!” but then I don’t. Because I don’t have the right pattern, because then the yarn will be gone. Well, you know what? That’s okay! Because there’s lots more yarn in the world, yarn that is just as pretty as, if not prettier than, my yarn. And if I don’t like the yarn in that particular pattern, I can frog it and knit it into something else! I don’t want to be a yarn hoarder. I want to be a knitter!
So with that in mind, yesterday I grabbed one of my most treasured skeins, Shepherd Worsted by Lorna’s Laces in the color Pacific Berries. I think I bought this with Mother’s Day yarn money last year, and it sat on the shelf waiting for inspiration to strike. The heck with that. I had a cowl pattern in my queue that I wanted to knit, called Boomerang by MollyGirl Yarn, and it called for worsted/aran weight. Boom, there’s my inspiration. I cast on the 85 stitches with size 9s, decided it would be too snug, frogged, and started over. 
We had a Captain American movie marathon last night and I got most of it done. This morning I finished the last four rows of ribbing and bound off. And now I have a gorgeous new cowl to wear! (As soon as I block it, that is.) So THANK YOU, Lissy, for giving me the kick in the pants I needed! The yarn was wonderful to knit with, I loved watching the colors emerge, and I know I’ll wear the heck out of this cowl. 
What about you? Do you hoard your favorite yarns? Do you save things that you should really just use and appreciate?
bonnyknits 
Not yarn but I have been known to save pretty craft papers as they were too pretty to cut into!
Oh yes, I was a scrapbooker too and I still have papers I couldn’t bring myself to use!
I don’t hoard my yarns, I let them marinate! 🙂
Haha!! Yes, mine are aging like fine wines!
Just gotta find something that makes it sing. 🙂
Sarah-“marinate” LOL
I don’t hoard, I take them sight-seeing (craft shows) but this year have decided to knit some of them that I’ve been wanting to for a while now, but didn’t think I had the time (or maybe the right pattern 🙂
Yes Bonny, I’m a fiber addict and am guilty of “saving” my yarn. 🙂
Sigh. Me too. It’s just so fun to look at and pet, and dream about what it will grow up to be.
I do want to knit my yarn. I have three projects on the needles. I wish I had more time to knit!! I love seeing what all that beautiful yarn can become.
Oh yes! If only we could all knit all the time!
Must hoard yarn
LOL! So true. I’ll certainly never stop hoarding some. I’ll never knit up all my stash, even if I pretend I will.
Oh I am totally guilty of this…I have a number of yarns that I deem too precious to knit with – and where is the sense in that?! You are so right, it shouldn’t matter as there will always be more beautiful yarn out there 🙂
Yep, it’s true…but whether acknowledging it will change our behaviors is another story!
That yarn is lovely. I’m guilty of hoarding my favourites too. I don’t have many yarns that aren’t acrylic, so they tend to get ‘saved’ when they really shouldn’t be I know!
Oh yes, knitting with the “good” yarn is such a lovely experience. I use acrylic a lot, and there’s definitely good acrylic, but I do love a nice soft alpaca on my needles.
It is, I’ve just bought loads of merino yarn which will slowly but surely actually be used!