The perils of stash diving

First things first: I finished my Solstice Slip socks!

To recap, these were knit with Socks that Rock lightweight in their Firebird colourway (the colour is only available to Rockin Sock Club members right now, but it'll be up for grabs to the general public sometime next year), using 2.25mm needles. I actually broke in my rosewood dpns on these babies, and I enjoyed them very much. The stitches really hold on to the needles, but the rosewood is much sturdier than bamboo needles. I'll definitely use them again.

Since I finished a project, I decided to dive into the stash. I wanted to knit a "miscellaneous" (as in, I haven't decided who they're for yet) man's sock, and I found a couple in Nancy Bush's lovely Knitting Vintage Socks that I really liked. This is where I ran into trouble.

I'm rooting through my fingering weight bin yesterday (I separated my fingering and sport weight sock yarn so that it seemed more manageable (read less crazy) - like THAT was going to work!), pushing this skein and that skein aside, and I just cannot comprehend how it is that I don't have a single suitable yarn for either of the patterns I have picked out. All this yarn, and I have nothing to knit with! Quite the conundrum under regular circumstances, but literally spasm inducing when one considers my oath not to purchase any more yarn until Rhinebeck.

So I ask you, what is the best way to approach a new project? Do you choose a yarn from your stash and then select an appropriate pattern for said yarn, or do you select a pattern and then try to match it with an appropriate yarn in the stash? Which is the lesser of two evils?

My problem right now is that, while I have oodles of variegated yarns, I don't have much in the way of solids or nearly solids. As these, in my experience, have been the best yarns to use when making socks for men or to display complex patterns, I've got some catching up to do.

Can I amend my oath to say that I won't be buying any variegated or self-striping yarn until Rhinebeck? :)