This idea of learning to speak yarn has become a bit of an obsession recently. Knowing how to confidently substitute yarns in patterns, or find the perfect pattern for a stashed you just had to have.
I'm speaking from experience here, I have a stash full of "I will totally find a use for that" and somehow ended up with enough single skeins of sock yarn to make about 50 pairs of socks. That number used to be closer to 100, but through some aggressive destashing I managed to drive that number down to a manageable state, and to leave room for when I want to get more! I mostly destashed my Felici Fingering & Sport, which I love, but ever since I found an indie dyer Nomadic Yarns who hand dyes sport weight self striping, I've been quite happy.
However, not everyone is in a position to destash, or wants to rehome their yarn, so finding its best pattern match is key. And the secret to good matching is knowing how the fiber content, spinning style and plying structure directly influences your yarn and what that makes it well suited for.
To that end I have been working with Carla at Georgian Bay Fibre Co. on this topic and over the next couple of months I will be doing a series on her blog about how to speak yarn. You can find the first post HERE. There isn't a fixed schedule on when posts are going up, but I will share it on the Lone/Maple Studio Facebook Page and if you aren't already following Carla's blog I would suggest doing so.
Also, I will be taking the show on the road. I will be teaching a FREE session called "The Right Yarn at the Right Time" at the spring Creativ Festival on this same topic. Find me at the Discovery Centre at 11:30 on Friday and Saturday. I will confess, this will be my first time teaching to such a large crowd, so any friendly faces would be a great benefit. So if you are coming to the show, please come find me at the Georgian Bay Fibre Co. booth (#301).