they offer some gooooood stuff, ya'll. but the price point is in my range, too, so I didn't feel stressed about it. Swapping offered me the opportunity to do what my friend Monique calls "curating" the stash--going over it, giving it a toss, and finding the things that don't speak to me any more and getting rid of them.
In 2014 there was a lot of stash, and there was a lot of dross. Not yarn that was bad (I'd normally be of the opinion that no yarn can be bad yarn but I'm young yet and I suspect there's time to find bad yarn. I've used some really mediocre ones.) but yarn that ... was in my way. Yarn that I felt guilty about, or no love for--yarn that took up space and thought but didn't inspire me to joy.
Now don't get me wrong, love for a particular yarn usually waxes and wanes for me. I'm full of dreams when I buy it, but I rarely get to cast it on right away, and in fact there's been a bit of a long term trend going on where I don't get to cast it on for *years* after I purchase it, and affection fades, or often gets redirected towards new stash. But most yarns, when I pick them up again and give them a squeeze, they make me smile and inspire me to go rootling around on Ravelry for patterns.
But these dross yarns, these still did not speak to me. And I realized something about (most) of them--something about how I bought them. Often they were yarns that I'd gotten because they were "good enough". I'd been looking at something else at the LYS, something expensive or in insufficient quantity, and I'd decided that I couldn't really justify that big of a purchase or the price point was outrageous, and as I turned aside (or as I went to Michael's a week later), my eye caught on another yarn or the discount bin and decided "ooh, well this yarn is ALMOST the yarn I was dreaming of it, and it's much cheaper! it's good enough, let me get it."
It turns out that yarn I compromise on in this fashion isn't always what I want. It's not too surprising, because half the time when I'm contemplating buying an expensive yarn, I'm thinking about what I can make with it, not shopping for a purpose. That's the buying impulse, that says "oo, I want this pretty! what should I do with it? a cowl?" but there's no dedication behind that. occasionally the product gets made, with the impulse yarn or with the "good enough" yarn, but often enough the purpose behind the purchase is simple TO BE PURCHASING.
so, swapping was particularly fun because it helped me satisfy the "gimmee new!" urge, but also helped me get rid of a bunch of yarns I didn't want. And my habits changed (or were changing) while I was swapping--I had been a bit disgruntled about my stash, and I was more pronounced, more decisive with swapping (not right away, it took a while). After... I think 2 years, I had ended up with yarns I was happy with, that made me happy in my stash (mostly a lot of sock yarns--it turns out I have a "can always knit socks!" stash, which I don't mind at all), and most of the yarns I didn't like were gone.
but it wasn't all 100% easy, so I did end up with weird impulse claims/swaps now and again. usually I ended up swapping those away as well but a few remain, and one of those is the yarn going into this hat now.
It's 100% merino handspun pink bulky. it's lovely, and fluffy, and soft, but I've never remotely felt the urge to knit anything from it except vaguely in passing. I weaned myself off swapping earlier this year (it takes more time than I'd thought, and honestly my stash makes me pretty happy--there's little I'd want to claim that's worth giving something I love away), but I still check in now and again and like to hang out with the lovely KYS people. Anyway, I noticed one of the swap threads, someone had gotten a bit busy and was getting in a little trouble, and they offered some fiber that I'd be happy to spin, and I have 5 or 6 things I could offer up that people might like (you swap out your offer after a few days if no one claims it, to keep things fresh), so I claimed it. and I offered up this handspun, with knitting services included to sweeten the deal, and long story short it was a hit and I'm knitting a hat out of it. A hat I thought it would look good as, but that I'd never wear, and no one I know would wear--but I'm knitting it for someone anyway and you know what? it's extremely satisfying. like the yarn finally found its destiny.
I might have to rip it out tomorrow though, it might be a bit too small. We'll see how it looks once I finish the crown decreases. Meanwhile, here's what destiny looks like:
