The perfect combination

One of my favorite things about knitting is the infinite variety of yarn fiber, color and texture. Sometimes, though, this embarrassment of riches can create knitter's block when I can't decide which fiber, color or texture is right for a particular pattern.

I encountered knitter's block this week when I found a great new pattern for a scarf. I plundered the stash collection and hit the first block. I could not find anything that seemed quite right. How can this be? I have so much yarn in the stash collection that I will have to make provisions for it in my will. All I make is scarves, so all the yarn I buy is destined to end up as one. How can I not have yarn for a scarf?

Finally, I unearthed a lovely silk-wool blend in shades of grey. It seemed just right, so I cast on and began to knit merrily away. About four inches in, I hit the second block: the yarn, albeit lovely, was not working. The color and texture were working against the pattern. They were, in fact, at war.

Yesterday morning, in a fit of pique after I gave in to the inevitable and unraveled the scarf, I decided to reorganize the stash collection. This activity always kicks up conflicting emotions, ranging from "Oh, my God, where did all this yarn come from?" to "Oh, wow, I forgot I had that." During this reorg (there have been many), I found the perfect yarn for my new scarf: Blue Face Leicester wool, one of my all-time favorites, in muted shades of green, plum and dark blue.

I have made several scarves from BFL yarn and there is nothing quite like it. It's hard to believe something so gorgeous comes from an animal that, it must be said, is not going to win any beauty contests. It sure does produce some fantastic wool, though, so it is a noble beast in my book.

So the perfect combination of pattern and yarn has been achieved and another beautiful scarf is on the needles.

As if I need another scarf, but that's another story.