When I read yesterdays post I thought "Oh crap, here we go, the comments are gonna get U.G.L.Y". I'm very glad I was wrong. Well done.

P.S. that yarn says "hat". Don't ask me why it says that, but it does.

That yarn says scarf or mittens to me. Something with a nice intricate pattern.

Yeah, scarf. It's yelling scarf at me.

I think it wishes to be lovely long mitts!

I just want to squeeze the yarn.

I think it says hat and/or interesting cowl. It might even be screaming for dye and we just can't hear it! Great job on yesterday's post.

Steph in Raleigh

Maybe because it is white, and you just got finished with a white project, your brain doesn't want to knit it right now. If you put it aside for a bit, or just let it be yarn, then later, after you've gotten some more colour in your knitting, maybe you will be more open to inspiration.

Its white, you need to put it away for a while. Next winter it would make a good hat.

I dunno what it says to me either, so I'll just go with the above and say hat. I just got 4 oz. of Polwarth and 4 oz. of 50% superwash merino/50% bamboo for my birthday. They're stil hanging out in my 'soon to be spun' pile!

I see a cowl with a beautiful cable or lace pattern. If it feels a delicious as it looks, it needs to be right next to skin, not on a head of hair.

It looks like an aran hat or mittens to me. :) Lotsa cables.... bouncy cables!

Oh pretty ! I`m seeing socks ... Lovely simple socks , cute little cable running down the front , short row heel ... Darn , I`m giving myself ideas now . Good luck finding that " thing " that the yarn wants to be !

The yoke of a top-down sweater - except I've never seen you in a raglan, so not that. Maybe a circular yoke? An as you go set in sleeve? I'm on eof those right now but the increases look like crap so really what I'm doing is ripping out a sweater rather than knitting one. So yes - do one of those so I can benefit from you figuring out the best way.

as a novice spinnner, i'm so relieved to hear that you don't always know what your handspun should be when it grows up! for me,

the problem is compounded by things not yet turning out quite as i want them: the fiery red-orange that i craved as socks? well, they'd have to be near-worsted-weight ankle socks. the gorgeous blues and greens? also a two-ply about the same weight.

so now, my thoughts are turning to a colorwork sweater with the background in a medium-light natural brown and the red/orange and the blue/green and probably the next thing i can't quite spin fine enough being used for geometric designs.

as for your yarn, maybe it wants you to turn it some other color(s) first before it tells you what it intends to become.

Cables! It clearly needs to be cables.

Tho a cabled *what*, I don't know.

To me it shouts cabled mittens, perhaps a Jared Flood pattern? That's where I'd start w BFL 3-ply. Lovely!

I agree the yarn should be mittens. Nice squishy mittens.

Absolutely wants to be a hat. Or a wee cabled sweater for the smallest person in your life.....

The yarn just wants to be. It will wait to metamorphose into being something else; right now it's happy being bouncy, cushy and simply is.

I say a beautiful hat for your daughter who doesn't like handmade socks. I love white hats.

You could make a scarf, hat and mittens with that yarn.

Me? I'd go for a short sleeve pullover sweater with small cabling, maybe 1x1 cables, then p1,k3,p1, then another 1x1 cable. Rinse and repeat. Just in time for early spring.

I'm not certain what the yarn wants to become, but its squoishiness factor is screaming right through my monitor. It's wonderful.

A white baby blanket. :)

A dovetail cowl. I think that wool just screams for something gansey-oriented.

I think you should stick it in your stash...deep in the stash.

Then, in a few months, you will go stash diving and come across it..."The perfect yarn!" you will write on the blog, "I can't believe that I didn't think to knit [Project Unknown Now] when I finished with it."

Right now, it is part of the Big White...

I see an Otto! http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/otto
and surely he would be lovely as your nephews new best friend.

I think a lace cowl..I made a beautiful one for a friend...http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/eleanor-cowl-2

That yarn wants some colour! And then it wants to be knit into a boot topper. I'm sure of it :)

When it's ready to be you will know. And it will be perfect for it.

I vote it becomes a hat! Maybe something like this:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/cascade-beret

Which will in no way make the wearer's head look phallic. :)

Or it could go in the long-term, Christmas planning box. Yes, it is March. But plan and knit now, and you can enjoy the holidays later!

........a baby blanket ;)

It's definitely too white to knit with right now. But with spring coming soon, maybe it's asking to be part of a natural dying experiment.

Perhaps it wants to be carefully placed in your favorite hand-thrown bowl and be your centerpiece for a while. It should have it's moment. It's that lovely.

I think this one...
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/seedling-3

or this one...
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/tuscan-leaves-hat

I must be on a leafy kick...

How about a reward for the hands that spun it? A pair of nice mittens seems like a good idea to me. You do have two skeins after all... Maybe something with cables to honour the traditional feel to it? (In my head, tradition rimes with cables...) Eugenia's Mittens are awefully nice, so are Jared Flood's Woodruffs.

May I have a do-over? (Before my teacher-Mom rolls over in her grave!) "It should have ITS moment. IT'S that lovely."

A friend raised a sheep, had her shorn and the wool spun. She then traded the ewe for a goat because her goat needed more company than the ewe was providing. The fleece was gorgeous, and the yarn yummy. She very graceously gave me three skeins--not enough to knit anything I would usually make. Then I was making the Baby Surprise Jacket for a friend's new grandson and came across some more locally grown yarn dyed in all my favorite colors, a couple skeins each in blues and purples. So, I'm waiting until I have enough time to make me an Adult Surprise Jacket with all the yarn. The friend is very special to me, and I have fond memories of the other locally grown yarn's pastures. Both yarns will make a lovely jacket with great vibes and memories.

Perhaps your yarn is just waiting for more yarn to play with!

I'm thinking put it away for a while to see if anything happens to strike your eye as NEEDING this yarn. I think that if you really need to make something out of this, I think it's screaming some kind of lace-y and cable pattern. Something short, like a hat or mittens. After the long white blanket, I think it would be best to just wait for it, or dye it.

Wow...such shouting and screaming. Who knew yarn could be so danged noisy?! ;-)

Loving those skeins Stephanie. Such a beautiful creamy color. I've been working through a box of BFL/BL/Jacob (cream colored) that I had mill-carded for awhile now from one of my sheep. It might be time to put more of those skeins in the finished bin. Thanks for getting me thinking again.

As for yesterday's discussion - awesome! I think those comments would make for a good book on actual commentary without too many flung insults. Bravo Commenters!

Maybe some of your homespun yarn really does just want to be yarn. I have a friend who's a lovely spinner and knitter who feels this way about her homespun. She makes yarn, and puts it out on display sometimes in attractive bowls, and she fondles it and encourages others to do so, but she becomes quite frustrated when you suggest that her yarn is supposed to be something other than yarn. The point of spinning for her is to make yarn, and then it's done.

(If it does want to be something else, I agree with the suggestions for a lacy, cable-y cowl. 270 yards is a slightly awkward amount. I have that much 2-ply homespun (not by me) alpaca that I've been stumped about, too.)

I'd be tempted to knit a nice, cushy shrug with this yarn.

Whatever you choose, have fun knitting with your hand spun BFL!

If it were me, I'd dye it a lovely shade of green-blue and make it into a something cabley, probably like my Wave Hat pattern (pattern on my blog). I love your yarn!It looks nice and bouncy. I wish I could spin like that again.

I agree with others who opine that the color (or lack thereof) is a disincentive to knit it. A hat or scarf would be fab-o, but I think you should dye the fiber.

If I might be so bold, I think they'd make lovely Hirta mitts:
http://www.enneacollective.com/?p=2151

and if you don't like my mitts, I'm sure Ennea Collective has something you'd like. They have wonderful patterns written specifically for handspun yarn!

I'm on a lace kick right now... what about Grace Lace Beret or a Dandy Neckerchief? Or if you want something really simple, I absolutely loved knitting my Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief in handspun.

I don't know about the rest of the knitters, but I see that yarn being dyed and knit into a nice little vest for a wee lad who might need one come fall. Like the Baby Professor Vest from Sam Lamb.

The yarn is saying.........Dennnnnyyyyyy.

Just kidding. Sort of.

First, it wants to be dyed with indigo. Then it wants to become a moebius.

Totally agree that the new yarn needs to be put aside in your stash for later. The colour will warp your brain. I definately think it might need some dye but in order to be sure it needs to rest for a while. But I am definately seeing cabled gloves. A special amount of attention for such a luxurious yarn.

Cabled hat and mittens? That's my best quess!

It wants to be cables - definitely cables. That is what it told me, and asked me to pass it along.

Just wanna say thanks for writing well. Apostrophes where they belong. Words spelled (and used) properly. Those things are becoming a rare pleasure lately.
Also love the blog, the knitting (even the endless baby blanket), Hank, vacation pics. Pretty much all of it.

Handwarmers, I always steal handspun like that from my friend for cabled handwarmers, like Evenstar.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/evenstar-gloves

How ever could your new yarn know what's next for it? It's only been yarn for such a short time! It needs to learn the possibilities and whisper (because it's such an innocent shade of white) what's next for it in life.

I think it wants colour. But I didn't get to touch its bounciness.

Glad to see that the passionate knitting women that we call the blog were civil yesterday.

I'm thinking shrug. You've made them for your daughters, but never for yourself, if I remember correctly.

I really like the proverbial cap pattern by Meg Swansen. The bounciness of a 3-ply would make for some lovely cables. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-proverbial-cap

I think I, too, am a process spinner. I have three skeins that are plied and lovely and all of that...but I have no idea what they're going to be.

If that were my handspun (and I'm a very long way from that), it would be screaming: HAT HAT MAKE ME A BOBDARN HAT.......and it would also be screaming: COLOR! DYE ME I NEED TO BE COLORFUL!

But, that's me.

I think it should be something warm and worn close to your face. It reminds me of my Oma, she only wore white. So I would dye one skein or part of one Dutch Blue and then knit it in a color pattern that is inspired by Dutch Blue dishware (Porcelain).

Be like Michelangelo. Just start chipping/knitting and see what it turns into.

I just made a stuffed bunny with my homespun for my new grandson. They are both perfect.

It could be one of the amazing hats that Norah Gaughan has in her Knitting From Nature book. Cables and whatnot. Awesome.

Oh my gosh, I didn't mean to keep repeating myself!

Oh, to be so talented and patient to be able to spin such lovely even yarn. It looks like it will show up any kind of textured stitch quite nicely.

If that were my yarn, I would knit one of Vicki Square's Universal scarves. The textured pattern is perfect for smooth solid yarns and seems to need less yarn for a reasonably long scarf than my other standby, mistake stitch rib. The repeat is only 4 rows, so you can easily use almost every meter of yarn.

You also don't have to worry about running short of yarn (add fringe if you want a longer scarf) or having just enough leftovers to make you feel bad, but not enough to actually do anything (as has happened umpteen times to me when I knit hats).

I think this yarn says small people sweaters. I know you have some small people you know...I think they'd look great in sweaters made from this yarn. It looks warm and comforting. :-)

Cabled hat is what it says to me. I spin and knit as well, I have given away some of my spinning, but most is now in my yarn stash. I've noticed it takes up less space as yarn.

Steph, I think it wants to be a tiny little baby sweater...hand-spun and hand-knit. Seriously, how much more love can you heap on a new baby?!

A textured cowl that uses most all of it would be wonderful.
I could see something like this working out beautifully with it:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/noreaster-cowl

It totally says "dye pot" to me. Maybe keep one white and do some kind of kettle dye with the other, then do a two-color hat or mittens.

I agree with the Aran-mittens-and-hat crowd. If there is enough left over for a scarf, wouldn't one of your daughters love to have a "matching set" ... for Christmas...?

Never Not Knitting's cabled Winter Trails hat.
(Scroll down on the blog for 3 examples with different yarn.)
http://nevernotknitting.blogspot.com/
If you have more yardage than that, coordinate matching mitts.

That yarn wants to be cabled or Aran mittens. No question.

I keep thinking cabled socks... and that's all I see. Good luck.

You could dye a bit of it and make a lovely Escargot form the previous Knitty.

Or a Romney Kerchief by Jared Flood (though I guess yours would be a BFL Kerchief).

It would be a lovely Debaser shawl, and the designer of this one is Canadian.

My final suggestion is the Cocoon Me Cowl and Shawlette. It would really show off the beautiful yarn.

Check out "Susie's Reading Mitts" on Ravelry which I think this yarn would look lovely in.
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/susie-rogers-reading-mitts

Also, this one would look gorgeous but you'ld have to modify a bit since you don't have quite enough yarn:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/winter-berries-2

I don't know if I am completely off base here, but I always love the striking high contrast fair isle. I'd save it and spin up a gorgeous deep red or green or blue or heck anything really and make yourself a set (hat and mittens based on the meterage) for next winter.

Thank you for letting us all comment. We probably disagree on much politically, but I love and appreciate so many things about you and I'm confident you'd feel the same towards me if we knew each other. The fact that you leave the Comments section open says a lot.

As for your beautiful hand-spun, I'm thinking "baby sweater" too. Maybe dyed if you're still tired of white.

I am absolutely 100% a product knitter. I get stressed when I have too many projects going, or too much yarn. All I can see is that I should be making something with it. I'm the mythical low stasher, I suppose... But it's because I can't get it out of my head that yarn is for things, not for itself. HOWEVER... spinning? I'm 100% process. I have that EXACT feeling! I hug my yarn, too! Every time! And I think, "Yay, it's finished!" I don't know if you're this weird, but I carry it around with me and I'll set it down next to me when I watch TV or get on the computer or whatever, and I'll just pet it for a few days, and then it will go into my closet and I will forget about it. It takes a very, very long time for me to be willing to work it into something else. Not because it's so incredibly precious, but because it's done. I'm not messing up something that's already finished by starting a new thing. And my handspun doesn't set off my stash alarms because it's not a yarn stash--it's a collection of finished projects. It already is what it is. But commercial yarn isn't. It's weird, I know, but I think you might get that. How funny! I hadn't found another spinner like that yet!!!

How about a Unique Melody scarf (by Rose Beck)? It has a lovely leaf pattern and can be adjusted for the weight & amount of yarn you have available.
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/unique-melody

The trouble might be that its color is too close to the blankets color. Very pretty yarn though.

A Stockholm scarf/cowl from Knitted Bliss, all pure and white as it is. That's what it's saying to me.

Mittens, rich cable-y mittens. Lovely.

Hand the yarn off to Tina and have her dye it. I suspect it will speak to you then. I have some lovely cream colored hand spun which I love but it hasn't spoken to me yet so it sits on my table and I look at it lovingly. When it and I are both ready, it will be knit into something but until then, I get great pleasure from looking at, and touching it.

I don't have a specific suggestion about what that yarn wants to become. Instead, I have a process: keep those lovely skeins sitting on your desk (end table, what-have-you) and keep on hugging them. Sooner or later they will tell you what they want to be next.

That yarn really wants to be a teddy, with just enough stuffing to be huggable but not floppy.

Logi cabled scarf? http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/logi-2. The sides need to be changed to seed stitch or garter stitch, I think - they want to flop in. I am almost done with an 80" one for my boyfriend in Cascade Eco.

you didn't say whether it is a super soft merino or a stronger wool, anyway i'm going with a cabled bag - which is exactly what i want to make right now, soon as i get this latest batch of premmie hats done.

Many you could have a follow-that-wool type bit.
You spin it give it to a fab knitter/designer and they come back to you with something wonderful. I'd like to see that.

I see that yarn as a little girls dress, or a pillow.

What about Kool-Aid dyeing it into bright colours and making a soaker for Luis? http://www.ravelry.com/projects/wool1226/curly-purly-soaker-pattern

That way when you showed off the finished product, we'd get to see handsome Luis as well.....

I'm not sure what it wants to be BUT perhaps it would like a treatment I saw on Martha Stewart this week. She crushed blueberries and (or) strawberries, simmered them a bit, strained them and then died some white fabric to make a pastel scarf. Lovely!

I think it wants to be this hat
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/wildwood-3
Of course, I'm totally biased because it's my design - but well - I think it would be lovely in that yarn. If you thinks so to - let me know and I'll gift you the pattern through Ravelry!

Something dyed :D It looks like it wants to a funky variegated dyed hat, but dyed by you! (maybe in 70s appliance colors? :D) If not that, some lovely elegant cabled mitts. White= mitts. Crazy variegation= Hat.

So there.

-Peyton

Autobahn. Possibly dyed with indigo if you get the chance, but possibly not. But it wants to be Autobahn.

I would swatch up some cables, then go cowl all over this yarn. Like this: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/cabled-cowl-2

I think it doesn't want to be anything right now because you're tired of looking at shades of grey or white and not just because of Luis's blanket... but because southern Canada and the part of NY that I am in tend to have similar winters....

I'd put it away for a while and then when it's a yucky grey day, take it out and play with some dye :)

I'm on a weaving jag right now, so I think that would make lovely weft, with some other natural color as warp, maybe several different natural colored warp. but that's just me. I have weaving on the brain.

I think that it's crying out to be dyed, then mitts and a hat.

Have to admit I don't seem to knit that much of my handspun either.

I look at that yarn and see cables - on a hat or mittens or cowl - anything with cables :^)

I think it could be fingerless mitts. Maybe you could dye it? I could see it easily becoming a light green, in honor of the coming spring.

Gorgeous yarn! Which reminds me...I was wondering if you ever finished the spinning and knitting for Joe's gansey? I was following along and then I was left hanging, wondering...did Joe get his special sweater? PS: from a fellow feminist and proud liberal, I appreciate both your post yesterday and the thoughtful comments. I'm glad you're political here, it adds some nice spice!

...Cables and/or lace.... cowl or lovely drapey, snuggly scarf that hugs your face!

I'm in the camp voting for cables, ideally in the form of a nice aran baby sweater. Only something as equally beautiful, soft, and bouncy as that yarn could deserve all your time and energy. Plus, I also second those who say to wait, and holding out for someone very special to get pregnant will force you to take the time to just enjoy having it around in yarn form, before its final destiny is reached.

That yarn looks so delightfully soft. It is whispering that it wants to caress your neck as cowl. It may also be saying something about dye...hard to hear about the dye though.

Know what you mean totally, completely, the whole post. Of course, you want something that will make the most of the yardage you have but not something that you could possibly run out of yarn for. I don't always think "dye it" when I see a plain skein like that but I think they're wanting to be some great color. A hat? Wind it into the right proportions, dye it and make your beautiful stain glass mittens? A neckwarmer?

Could just be me... but that yarn says it wants to become C-O-R-E S-T-A-S-H !!!

Honestly, just cut yourself some slack and take a rest from it. Not long ago, it's ambition was to grow and keep a sheep warm. Then it wanted to become yarn. Now it's happy being bouncy and soft and 'hanked' (is that a word)... Just give it a while and one day soon, it'll tell you what it wants to be.

I hate to bring you back to "the baby blanket'" but it is so very beautiful. So, my question is -- will there be a pattern???

It wants to be with ME! Me I tell you! It's practically calling out my name.

Either that, or I didn't take my meds today. (I kid!)

Honestly, I see a pair of complexly colorful Latvian mittens. Who cares if it's gonna be spring; you cannot have too many mittens!

The yarn wants to be an Aran-style Christmas stocking.

I think the reason for the no 'next step' in your head might be due to the color - or rather lack there of. After that beautiful (and large) baby blanket I would have to have some color going on....maybe dye the yarn then it will say something to you :)

It's wants to be DYED! I can't knit white yarn. Can't spin white fiber, either. That yarn MUST. HAVE. COLOR. Then it will decide what it wants to be.

Hat. Habitat specifically.
Them maybe some mitts with the leftovers so you can see the yarn too.

Makes me want to go off to the wheel too....

Mine... they should be mine. I know I know... you're not giving them away. OK, so fine then, how about this ::
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/kuurankukka

Cables, the yarn wants to be big fat squishy cabled something

To me they are wanting to be made into mittens with a contrasting color, like blue... or maybe that's just my yarn calling out to me from the other room :)

It says hat to me. Hat with cables. Or maybe even (radical thought) pillow with cables. But definitely cables.

I think they maybe just need some time... All wise yarns want to age properly before deciding what they'd like to be. Those look like beautiful shelf decorations to me.

"...Can you tell what it wants to be?" Yes. It told me that it wants to be MINE!!!

Beautiful. Whatever you make of it will be wonderful!

Diana

BFL is lovely and soft. You have a nice round yarn that will show off a cable well. I see that a bunch of others have gone to cabled hat which is where I go first. So, even though winter is ending, I say this: cabled hat with matching cowl. Interesting note about you being a process spinner, I am a product spinner and I love looking at a fleece on or off the hoof and thinking through dyeing, spinning, knitting options.

That would make a lovely Wayfarer (Jared Flood of course)

I am no help to you whatsoever because I am totally a process spinner too. Although I like knitting with my handspun, I don't feel terribly attached to most of it once I've finished spinning and wet-finishing it. In fact, it's fun to let the fiber become the yarn that it wants to be without worrying about whether or not it's something that I would knit with. There will always be someone who will love the handspun once I'm finished with it and that's good enough for me.

There's no hurry, enjoy the yarn as it is. After all, for a stash to remain interesting, it has to be fed regularly... :-)

Susie's Reading Mitts from Ravelry of course. Perfect color, perfect weight... perfect yardage.

It looks like it needs to be a cowl for sure!

A Little Bit Bohemian is a nice little shawl/scarf that only needs a bit of yarn. It would look lovely in that beautiful stuff you made!

A pair of beautiful white, squishy polar bears.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/peabey-the-polar-bear

ooh, ooh! I second the motion of a first-Christmas stocking for a special brand-new little boy. Of course with cables and maybe a fold-over cuff. Color would be good but as it's going to be full of cables then plain white would be perfect, too.

Something like Romney? http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/romney-kerchief

How about a hot water bottle cover? With lovely aran texture and a deep ribbed neck. Then you could cuddle your yarn even once it was knit!

Herringbone Cowl

Oh no. You've just undone years of rationalization in one blog post. I have told myself sternly for years now that I do not need to, indeed should never learn to spin, because I already have more yarn than I can use in one lifetime, especially considering I continue to buy yarn.

But now that I see that spinning can be a process activity, just like knitting is for me (don't ask about my ratio of begun projects to finished projects). Shoo-oot.

Ir needs to visit Tina for a trip through her merry wonderland of color, then be knit into a baby blanket using my grandmother's dishcloth pattern-place slipknot on needle and knit into the front and back of the stitch. Row 2-knit into the front and back of each stitch. Row 3 slip one knit one, yarn over knit to the end of the row. Repeat row 3 until yarn is half gone then decrease as follows slip one K2tog, yarn over K2tog. Repeat until there are 4 sts left. Then K2tog twice then next row K2tog and pull the tail through and weave in the ends. Block as needed. Be advised however this pattern can be very addicting.

I think it would make a very lovely cabled tam/beret. Maybe something like Laurel or Fenimore (both Jared Flood) or the Day's Eye Hat (Kristen Hanley Cardozo).

Either a cowl, shawl or socks.

This beautiful yarn is screaming "polar bear for Luis" to me. It seems just the right shade.

For now, it just wants to be...be stroked, be cuddled, be looked at. And that's enough. Just Be.

It looks like a baby jacket and maybe, if enough... little baby pants...could be shorts :)

Ankle high slipper socks, a way warm beanie, a couple pair of cold bombing fingerless mitts, a bit of lovely trim on another project.

I'm a process spinner, trying hard to be more of a project spinner. Sometimes I feel bogged down by the 'intention' part. That's when I 'experiment' spin, trying stuff just to see what happens. Love the bfl.

I found this hat on Ravelry. It's called displaced. I'm struck by that name. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/displaced

That yarn is lovely and wants to be a stole for the priest who baptises Luis.

It wants to be combined with a similar weight handspun in another colour and turned into colourwork mitts or a hat.

It looks like a commercially-milled skein. That's impressive spinning.

If it were me, I'd just leave it in a dish on my coffee table and gloat over it. Unless, of course, you have pets. Or squirrels. In which case it would have to be under a glass dome.

Too lazy to get up,..do you have enough to make the waistcoat/vest that is in the latest book of Elizabeth Zimmermann's patterns?

It definitely wants to become a COLOR! A nice juicy teal or a vibrant brick red.

I have a similar feeling about my handspan.

I think whatever you make with it needs cables. It just screams CABLES at me.

They are saying "Mittens" to me.

At first it was saying cowl to me. Now after looking at some patterns it's saying a beautiful white lacy cabled hat. I also thought fingerless gloves if you want to let it visit a dye bath though it's lovely as it is.

Also it says art in the house. In a spot where it can be touched and played with until you are ready to knit it. Decorating with yarn (especially handspun) is so much fun.

An infinity scarf like Summer Wind by IrishGirlieKnits!

I would make a fat, cabley cowl. And leave it white. It looks so soft!

A cowl was my first thought. Tina can offer a fix for that white yarn, was my second thought. Then I looked at Otto on ravelry and he won my heart. When in doubt procrasinate.

I avoided reading the comments the way one avoids (I avoid?) bringing up politics at dinner parties or family functions because I hate seeing people I like or love get ugly with each other. It's very promising (and in my opinion, totally within our nature) to respect opposing views while holding firm to our own. Another reason to love The Blog, I guess, seeing this in action!

Oh, and since you seem to enjoy symbolism, and flowers are commonly given on International Womens Day, maybe the yarn wants to be this:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/rose-red

I would love some homespun that was died naturally, with lichen or some such thing. I found a lovely book about it (a local woman, zine sort of thing) and made some lichen dye, but I haven't used it yet. It's in a big jar, waiting for me. So if it were mine, I would soak it in lichen juice for a few days.

Oh! and I forgot to say - then I would make a small shawl, like the Gaia Hug, or travelling woman.

Something with cables - that yarn will just pop!

Don't dye this stuff -- it is lovely as it is. Earlier commenters were right, tho. You've had a bit too much white recently and need to lay off the whites/off-whites/creams for a while.

You spun a beautiful 3-ply that would lend itself beautifully to cables or a textured pattern stitch. Depending on what gauge you get, I'm thinking a scarf, cowl, or wrap. Or maybe incorporate this with another color into a vest -- maybe one made out of panels stitched together vertically.

When I first saw it, I thought hat. Maybe a beanie with a cable lattice pattern? Or mitts. Susie Rogers' Reading mitts (available on Ravelry) would be nice.

OMG....I hope you haven't gone 'snow blind' Stephanie...LOL!!! Those skeins are screaming
"DYE ME.....I BEG OF YOU"...then knit me into ANYthing!!!...(:

You're right, that yarn doesn't want to be knit. It wants to be WOVEN!

For this lovely yarn may I suggest a bouncy cowl, perhaps a new design or a shorter version of your Encompass.

Avery or a Noble Cowl - both great patterns for such a beautiful yarn. Well done for it's creation.

yeah, I understand completely. I like making yarn & I like knitting. Seldom do the two combine. I seem to be knitting with commercial yarn - I knit a lot of socks - & the handspun hangs on the rack as ART. I touch it, squish & squeeze it & admire it. I have no idea why I don't knit with it more often.

cowl or infinity scarf with lots of cables.
JUlie in San Diego

that yarn would go so well with your haircolour. If possible a hat and scarf please. Maybe a hat and a tiny slit-scarf if you are running low on yarn. You know, was it you that once wrote knitters could always be detected outside, because they never wear co-ordinating hats and scarfs?

Definitely cowl :)

It begs to have something wonderful done with it but what, I have no idea.

I don't think it wants color. I think it just wants to be cushy and hang out with the rest of your stash. Then it wants you to finish Joe's gansey.

I agree! Jared Flood pattern, he has a lovely white lacy cowl pattern, I think it's called Ptarmigan? That would be beautiful...or mittens. YOu probably do have to wait until next winter is upon us...as then you will be in Christmas present mode and see exactly what you need to do! Send it to me! Ha!

This yarn seems perfect for a lovely Irish cable knit sweater.

Peruse "25 Weekend Hats." I see this as a fabulous hat with lots of textural interest. It will show cables or stitch patterns so beautifully!

I know what you mean about handspun. I have baskets of it. I just marvel at the metamorphosis from fiber to yarn and just want to pet these skeins and compare the progress I've made over the last two years.

I LOVE it when you ask for inspiration - I always find such lovely patterns listed in the comments when you do that! I second the vote for Cascade Beret.

You've got several hats in your queue that would look yummy in that! I'm thinking of the facets hat or Romy.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/search#queuer=YarnHarlot&weight=worsted|dk&sort=best&view=captioned_thumbs

1 - spinning still seems like some kind of magic to me and i can't even imagine a day when i will be able to do that! 2 - i am so glad to hear that i am not alone in my knitting motivation! i thought i was the only one who just liked to knit, rather than someone who got mostly excited about the stuff that was produced from the action of knitting! well, sure, i'm pleased with whatever object derives from my action of knitting... but, really? the thrill is in watching the thing grow off the needles and the feel and sound of the thing in process..

I think it just wants to be a yarn pet for now. It takes me years sometimes to hear what the handspun wants to be. In the meantime though, it could be a wonderful canvas for a dye project!!!

I think sometimes a skein wants to be just that: a skein of yarn. I'd get out a lovely bowl, some beautiful needles, maybe throw in some vintage buttons, and just display it. Someday it will be clear what you should make with it. In the meantime, it just is.... what it is. I have yarn that I bought just for its sheer beauty. It may never be knit up, or when the "aha" moment strikes, I will turn it into something.
Your skeins are beautiful.

hmmm...twined fingerless gloves....Cormo is so soft--next to the skin soft...around the neck soft. Too bad there is so little....

You'd need a lot more to make a lacy sweater.

Mmmmm! Beautiful! Cables?

How about the Master Charles Hat? It's super cute, calls for less than you have, and can be sized from infant to adult. One problem is that it's for more of a heavy worsted, but I have faith you'd be able to adapt it so it will work with your lighter weight. How pretty it would be in that creamy color, too!

I think this link should work: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/master-charles-cabled-ear-flap-cap

I have made a bunch of shawlettes with that amount of yarn. As Galina Khmeleve says lots of holes conserves yarn.

I think the yarn wants to be this: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/almond-comfit

With a bit of adjustment for gauge. And it definitely wants to stay white!

And this may be one of those rare hats that WON'T turn your head into a metaphorical neon-sign of phallic symbolism.

Oh...and I just thought of something else. I know that it's totally the wrong gauge but a reworking of Pretty Thing in that yarn would be AMAZING.

Why does the yarn have to become anything? Is there a rule about not keeping yarn, especially one you've spun yourself, as yarn? Maybe it doesn't know what it wants to be yet. Just asking, since you are happy with it as is.

I'm a process spinner, too, and BFL is one of my favourite things to spin. I love spinning it undyed, and cuddling the undyed yarn. Colour is lovely, but there's something simple and deeply beautiful about the natural ivory. I have lots of undyed skeins just hanging around.

I'm thinking a slouchy cabled beret. Yes?

Hug it, love it, tuck it (not too far) away and it will tell you what it wants to be when you least expect it.---Lois

I'm with everyone else saying cabled hat. Or maybe mittens, but I love squishy soft BFL on my ears/forehead, so I say hat. Maybe this one?
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/chelsea-market-hat

Absinthe gloves!! They'd look cute in white with bright colored buttons. Or wood.

A really cute lacy beret would be adorable on someone with dark hair. Or dye it and make it for yourself!

Another Wurm?

or maybe a pinched hat? or a cowl - Altouyan (though I think it needs less than you have)

or mittens - Hinksey

Another Wurm?

Or perhaps a pinched hat? How about Hinksey or Altounyan?

My DH always tells me he doesn't understand, I buy fiber (and now 9 alpacas) to spin to make yarn, then I go and buy yarn to make things. I just tell him it is what it is.

My absolute favourite yarn is BFL :-) It's so lofty, squooshy and just plain yummy! I wouldn't knit a hat or mittens from it though - it's too special for that. This needs to be touching skin!

Not enough for a scarf; unless it's a shorty, keyhole type. Cables are wonderful in this yarn...for sure! I agree that maybe it needs some dyeing...

Good luck finding inspiration :-)

I think it isn't talking to you because thou just.got.finished. with the beautiful woobie. It could come live with me because i see a wonderfully soft and beautiful cowl and mittens. With a nice cable. :)

Sometimes I am a process spinner. Sometimes I am a product-for-me spinner. Often, I am a product-for-sale spinner. And then there is the dyeing part.

I have beautiful yarns I have spun for myself but they rarely tell me what they want to be right away. A more immediate gratification is being able to give handspun as gifts to special friends, or to be able to delight a customer at the arts market who is looking for a special yarn for themselves, or for someone else.

At the moment, I have about 2000 yards of spongy, soft, bouncy, two-ply sport-weight yarn spun from Gulf Coast Crossbred sheep (they go back to the sheep that landed with long ago Spaniards in Louisiana). It's been finished for months, the soft grey wool hand-painted with shots of cranberry and fern green in natural dyes, and its all for me, and it now knows what it wants to be -- a simple, soft pullover. I hope I have time to start on it this week. I always start knitting something for next winter, something for ME, in the springtime. It helps me take my mind of the fact that our wicked, blasting summer is fast on the heels of lovely Spring.

Something with cables.

Socks? I don't know how much 270m is, but a yarn that bouncy sounds like it would be great for socks, or maybe slippers? GL!

Sometimes the yarn in the skein is more beautiful that anything into which it can be made. Soft, with colors and lovely squishiness, it is being itself. You could make any number of things with it, I guess. How about making something where the yarn stars instead of a complicated pattern?

I bet if you look in your hand spun stash, you will find a comparable yarn in a lovely variegated or even something stripey.

And then you will be thinking about a sort of striping scarf or a cowl or a pair of mittens.

Here is my friend's scarf that reminded me of your yarn. It is a hybrid of Stephen West's Clockwork and Groove patterns

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/liveinthesun/when-clockwork-meets-groove

I think some cabled mitts or a hat are in order. That's some beautiful bouncy yarn :) Maybe dyeing it a color would be fun but it's a great color as is.

Background to Inspira Cowl, with lovely autumnal colours as the other wool(s)

nice boot socks

You HAVE to knit these socks! As soon as I saw your yarn I thought of these. They are Buddleia by Marlaina "Marly" Bird it's in The Knitter's Book Of Socks by Clara Parkes. Just check em out!
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/buddleia

I agree with those expressing a desire to see this turned into a sweater for a very small person. Baby Yours? Or... don't I remember a lovely lacy vintage pattern from the early years of this blog...?

I can completely sympathize! The reason I was so desperate to learn to knit was because I was producing too much handspun yarn to weave or give away. It seemed so practical at the time... Ha.

CATDOORS? See tweet. Think of the squirrles and other furry tree animals.

Bunny Rabbit!!! The yarn really wants to be a rabbit.

HAT! Beautiful bouncy, light, soft HAT

I completely agree with the people who have said HAT. That yarn wants to warm up someone's head and ears next winter.

Thank you for posting about knitting today.

It may just need to be before it can be something.

Rather like finding a fabulous yarn for a fabulous pattern that will knit up fabulously, but won't ever ever ever be something one would like to wear. The journey is the goal, not the destination.

Beautiful yarn, though :)
cheers!
Daisy

I am a process spinner too. I just want to make the yarn. What it becomes is another story, and it takes time to develop. Most of my skeins just sit in a basket with each other, and I look at them. They are pretty! And one day, they grow up, mature, and tell me that they want to be something. Sometimes they know what they want to be and say so. Sometimes I make a few suggestions and we come up with something for them to be.

They don't need to be anything more than they are. They are skeins of yarn. They are finished. That is the end of the story. The same with some people, they just are. True, some aspire to be other things, and that's okay too, but there is no need for everything to achieve higher and higher stations is life. There needs to be someone below to support those on top!

I love 3-ply yarn! I used to do a lot of it. I still have most of the skeins, sitting waiting for them to tell me what they want to be. And they may not become anything more than they are now. They are content to be what they are.

Wish many of us could reach such satisfaction.

I think that yarn would make a lovely, creamy beret for someone with red hair. Or perhaps a cabled tea cozy. I can't decide either.

You could give it to a random stranger such as myself. :P

I'm so glad you don't always love what you spin. I thought there was something wrong with me. I make it, I love it while I'm making it. Then I'm done.

This yarn is begging to be the Kathy Kelly Cabled Capelet. It begs fro something bouncy and natural to showcase the cables and watch the pattern develop. No question about it!! I know if you try and knit something else with it will be lovely as all you FO's are. But...don't you hear it screaming?? It's begging you to be this capelet, just begging. Take a look at this free pattern on Ravelry. It's worth the surf.

Good luck!

Gail

Cables indeed.. a scarf? Then dip dye it to create a graduated sheer color fade...yumm.

Too pretty and natural looking to be dyed , IMHO.

If it were mine, I would make a lovely long cowl with simple ridges. Let me know if you want the pattern. I would go for simple but elegant.

It's too gorgeous to make into anything "fussy".

Nice work, Steph!

Bunny Rabbit.

The yarn looks great.

I could imagine it to become mittens with a nice aran pattern or a hat. I think cables would look nice with this yarn ...

to me it looks like a little cabled baby cardigan, maybe with a hat to match. Louis had to wait for his blankie, maybe he could get a bonus outfit to make up for it. just sayin...:)

I mean Luis...sorry bout that.

I love to give away handspun. Especially when it's perfectly nice yarn, but gave me some trouble in the spinning. For me, all I can think of is how it was felted or too compacted or something. To someone else, it's just beautiful handspun, without any associated headaches.

Sometimes it's a gamble to give someone who doesn't knit a knitted gift. But it's almost never a gamble to give a knitter handspun. They know what's good for 'em, even if they don't spin.

No ideas from me. Sorry. I have enough of my own that needs ideas, and not enough time to ponder over it. Sometimes it really does need to sit for a bit.

I don't know what your yarn wants to be, but maybe it would speak a little louder if it had some color. The risk you take is learning you're a process dyer, too.

I'm a process knitter more than not. Half the fun in knitting for me is learning something new, or trying a different type of yarn, etc. I go a little squirrely when I knit the same thing over and over again.

And, if you ever find yourself with unwanted handspun, please send me an email. I'll gladly take it off your hands!

First, the yarn is gorgeous! Stunning! It would really be beautiful in cables - maybe an aran scarf or cowl.

It wants to be a lovely summer sweater. Just a shrug-ish kind of sweater with a gorgeous band.

And I did read about 80% of the comments from yesterday and thanks to everyone - it was a very interesting discussion.

I think you're done. Find a pretty glass vessel of some kind, or a nice cloche with a wooden base, and put those skeins in there to display beautifully around your house. You could even add little bits of colored yarn from time to time to make it seasonal. Or not.

My husband and others ask "So after you spin it, then what?" My standard reply is "Then I'll have yarn." I like to have yarn, so it works for me.