Does Yarn Know What It Wants to Be?

Some of my knitting friends have commented on their blogs about their yarn “speaking” to them and letting them know that it didn’t want to be something they were trying to make it be, or that it was “happy” being made into something else. Ruinwen has discussed just this on her blog and those of us on the various Yahoo groups that Knitnana has listed on her blog (me, for those of you who don’t know!), have discussed this at some point or another, as well.

Just this week I cast on for my second Aibhlinn and Voodoo.

Aibhlinn is a wonderful pattern by Mary Burr. I loved making my first one which you can see on my knitting blog Knitnana and I’ve loved wearing it.

But I digress. I had skeins and skeins of Plymouth Encore DK in a black and cranberry tweed. I had originally thought that perhaps I’d knit a shawl, but there is so much acrylic in this yarn and I’m knitting lace shawls these days, which don’t take to acrylic well.

This yarn has been sitting and calling to me. I would never have truly thought a yarn could yearn. But this yarn has. It’s popped out of my storage box (from the BOTTOM of the box!), has fairly screeched at me when I put it back and put the top of the box back on. This yarn has been desperately begging to be something for months. There’s a funny story with this yarn. I bought it from a discount yarn store back in late winter, for something else entirely (I forget what), then decided I needed to make a shawl with it. But I didn’t have enough yarn. So I checked ebay and found exactly the correct number of skeins I needed in the SAME dyelot, and then won the auction! This was obviously meant to be. Till I realized there was too much acrylic to do lace well. Since then I’ve not known what to make with it…

So now, an Aibhlinn is on the needles and more than 6 inches completed - these bobbles were sooooo much easier to make than when I knitted it before in the cotton. Aibhlinn in Encore is knitting up so fast! And this week, for the first time, I’m trying out knitting on sticks in the round (Aibhlinn is knit in the round on circular needles) to make matching Voodoo fingerless gloves. This Encore is making this learning experience a breeze, too! (I’ve never knit socks or mittens)

So did this yarn know what it wanted (and just nudge me along till I figured it out)? It has to be the explanation. Why else would this yarn now seem content? It’s happy yarn making two happy items. And I think there might even be enough left to make a hat for my man…if he wants one, that is. Will the yarn be happy to keep his head warm? I hope so. We’ll see.

So the next time you try and try to make something and it just doesn’t seem to be working…try getting quiet and then… ask the yarn. You might be surprised by the answer you get! Just maybe some of the nicest knitting experiences you’ve ever had!