Handspun vs. Store-bought and yarn love

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I love yarn, all yarn. I had occasion to do some serious stash digging today and made it down to the 1999 layer of fleece. I put a treasured shetland away and today, just because it had aged so nicely, it came to the forefront and gets to be spun. On the way down, I did make it through bins and bins of lovely handspun yarn. I was surprised and delighted that there was only one small ball in that stack of bins that was unknown to me. I remembered all the rest of the homespun. I am not sure I could say that on store bought yarn. It told me that, though I can't tell you what I had for lunch yesterday, I have an unusual memory for handspun yarns in my stash.

I love to spin. I spin without a project in mind regularly. I spin for the joy of feeling those fibers run through my fingers. I make fat yarn, skinny lace yarn, boucle, all types of yarn. This week I continue spinning the black superwash merino in a sock yarn. That means, to me, that I am spinning it with quite a bit of twist to get a yarn that will wear well. It is in a fingering or light dk weight in a 3 ply. Since it is more black yarns like I posted here several times this month, I will spare you another photo.

But back to yarn. Handspun always gets storage preference in the stash. It lives in the best places. I store skeins and not balls usually. It is well washed and labeled. There are mountains of it. While I have several piles of purchased yarn around the living room and kitchen, I find, upon digging in the stash, that this is due to storage issues, more than yarn love.

I have some new alpaca wool mix that is for a very special sweater. But I have this tiny box of alpaca merino handspun mix that is a treasured ball just to pat and enjoy. The difference is that the sweater's yarn is out because I am hoping it comes up soon on the cast-on list. The alpaca mix handspun ball is out just for the sheer joy of having made it and just to look at it. Organized joyful clutter? With the purchased alpaca mix, it is in my colors - orange and green with a black accent. The handspun is clearly not - shades of pink. But still, it is very soft and fuzzy and nice. Hmmm. And I will love the finished sweater in the purchased yarn.

Perhaps that is it. I will like the product of the purchased yarn. I delight in the joy of the handspun ball. It doesn't even have any friends yet, but it will. I won't start thinking about a project for this yarn for several years, most likely. I have to enjoy it now.

On a completely different topic, I have a special sock project done. My big brother has always been very special in my life. He always looked out for me AND included me. How do you show someone how much you care? I can't answer that, but I can say that I made socks that had good feelings in every stitch. I just love how these socks fit and feel. And don't you just love the cables? You have seen them before here, they might be my favorite sock right now.

Yarn: Cascade Ecological wool + white woolly nylon

Needles: size 6 dp

Pattern: Handknit Holidays' Log Cabin Socks by Anne Woodbury (you can find several kal's for this). Pattern as written except for longer ribbing.