With this yarn...

...I will make [fill in the blank].

That's how most of my yarn-buying goes. I buy something because I'm quite sure that I know what it wants to be. And it could be that I'm right, though I seldom find out, because (A) I get sidetracked (B) the "something else I'm working on" takes over (C) LIFE takes over.

And so, weeks, months, or (more likely) years later I find this yarn again. In some vague fashion I can usually remember why I bought it, and even where, but now it wants to be something else.

Case in point: last Christmas I made a pair of boot socks as a gift. The main color was a natural superwash Irish yarn I picked up in Cambridge at a lovely Irish shop. It was destined to be a baby blanket...only I didn't have time. The intended recipient was a work acquaintance, not a close friend, so I didn't push myself into it. I did make a lovely pair of socks with ruffles, and a cotton washcloth. The washcloth was a big hit, so I think I made the right choice.

But the baby blanket became socks.

This year I'm making my MiL an alpaca and silk lace neck kerchief. I've already sent the hat off for her birthday present.

I'm closer this time, though...the yarn wanted to be a pair of gloves. (The first half of the first glove is still languishing in the depths of my work room, waiting to be frogged.)