The yarn or the pattern. Which comes first?

#1

After looking at the “Organize your stash” thread and seeing the huge piles of yarn some people have, I was curious…do you buy yarn just because you like the yarn and figure out what to do with it later? Or do you know what you want to make before you buy the yarn?

So far I’ve only bought yarn when I have a specific project in mind. I’ll decide what I want to make and go get the yarn to make it.

Well, that’s not entirely true. I bought 8 balls of yarn from Knitpicks (4 different kinds) to see what they were like. But even then I figured I’d make socks and a couple pairs of Fetching with them.

#2

I dont buy yarn unless I have a specific project in mind.

#3

I buy yarn only when I have a specific project in mind… Or when its on sale… Or when I may not have the opportunity to get back to that particular shop any time in the forseeable future… Or if the color or texture makes me happy… Or if I had a really bad day and need something to cheer me up… Or if I had a good day and wanted to get something to celebrate.

But thats about it. I do have will power don’t ya know.

:roflhard:

#4

Yes.

#5

I seem to keep buying yarn and I plan on using it for a particular project… but then sometimes it doesn’t work out, or I end up on another project. So I’ve ended up with a little bit of a stash :wink:

#6

What Ingrid said.

#7

I have a bad habit of buying yarn with a project in mind, then forgetting what I bought it for! :rofl: It’s all good, though. It’ll get used for something.

#8

:roflhard:

So far, I’ve been a find project, then buy yarn person. I don’t have much of a stash. But, I do buy pretty much all of my yarn online (the closest LYS is a fair drive). If I was regularly going to yarn shops though – who knows what might happen! :wink:

#9

I have a habit of going to shops and buying anything I spend an inordinate amount of time petting. It’s only right, you know; after you handle it for a while, you kinda ought to buy it. My personal weakness is baby alpaca. pet pet

#10

It’s all about the pattern for me.

Only twice have I bought yarn without a specific pattern in mind, and it was either an Ebay purchase (which I needed part of the purchase for a specific project) or an online clearance purchase (I needed some for a project and decided to clean them out of the few extra balls they had left). Both were discontinued yarn, so I knew I couldn’t get it easily.

Otherwise, my “stash” is comprised of future projects (2-3 projects) and a few balls that didn’t work out as planned, which I should probably put up for trade. It all fits in one large plastic tote. I’m fairly anti-stash (in theory :teehee: ).

How do you know how much to buy if you don’t have a pattern? :?? I would be so irritated if I found the perfect pattern for a yarn I had stashed, then ran out of it part of the way through.

#11

We just go about it differently: I look for patterns that fit my stash. If nothing fits, perfect time to go shopping! :slight_smile:

Plus, there’s always enough to make a hat! (Did I mention my SnB group calls me the Hat Queen?)

#12

I agree.

#13

I agree.[/quote]
Ditto.

#14

Me too! :cheering: I buy yarn just because I like it and then hope to find a project to use it for. Then sometimes I find a project first and then I buy the yarn to knit it. :happydance: Right now I’m not sure which is bigger…my yarn stash or my pattern stash. :??

#15

I buy yarn. If they’re 50g a piece then I’ll buy 10 or so, if they’re more then I’ll buy less, usually about half a dozen. Depends on the weight really.

Patterns happen later, for the most part.

#16

I buy yarn more often without a particular project in mind. But then again I hang out at our local LYS at least 3 times a week. Tuesday night UFO’s, Thursday night sock class, Friday morning classes, and Saturday afternoon UFO’s. We also just formed a guild! (adding a fifth night once a month.) :roflhard: And I got to be President! Which is really cool. We have our first offical meeting Sept. 11th.

#17

Me too ! The answer is Yes.
Um … and … also … books and needles and anything else that looks like it could possible be used for knitting or storing yarn or …

#18

I’m with Ingy :wink:

Honestly, 90% of the time I buy yarn with a project in mind. Needless to say, I have a rather long project list :wink:

#19

:teehee: I’m with Ingrid too…

Alot of the times I do have a project in mind but then something else comes up to knit and that project gets pushed further down the list… or if LYS has a sale or if its pretty…

#20

As we’ve talked about yarn in the past few days I’ve gotten this overwhelming desire to acquire yarn!!! I NEED, I NEED, I NEED to go to the yarn store. I ordered 5 skeins of Andean Silk from KP yesterday for a scarf and hat, but I really NEED to go to the yarn store and get some yarn so that I can feel it and have it in hand now!!! Know what I mean?!