Which comes first? The Yarn or the pattern?

The Winter Knitty is up!!

I love the scarf on the front!!

This has begun me to ponder....am I inspired mostly by yarn I find? Or a pattern?

It seems lately that I have spent a lot of time searching for the right pattern. I recently frogged a sweater (pattern inspired) and am searching for what to do with that yarn. I have gone through my stash and am on a mission to try to pick out something, or maybe a lot of somethings to do with it. Guess I am on a destash kick.

I bought some Colinette Point five recently in the cardinal colorway, picked that out because I ran across the pattern in the yarn store and then started shopping for yarn to knit it in. (this was when I had just gone into the store to buy a pair of needles) Oops..

Looking at my knitting book library and magazines, I have come to the conclusion that most of the time I am inspired by the pattern and then go looking for the yarn to knit it out of. Which ends up to be something other than the pattern was written for (of course) and involves a series of tweaking the sleeves longer/shorter, bigger/smaller etc.....

I think I try to stay out of the yarn store, because it does lead to that $300 pair of needles. But will allow myself to buy knitting books with abandonment.

I do have my share of bought yarn, it is so easy to enter the yarn store, smell the yarn, visit, wander around, see some people you haven't seen forever, look at what they are knitting, buying, frogging. And before I know it I'm all relaxed and happy and have yarn in my hands, and going for a basket, and then ooooo look, that's on sale. What could I do with a little of that??

Yes and that's why we have stash, and I never did answer my question, which comes first.