Stash - A Love/Hate Relationship: Part 1
This is by no means my complete stash. This is actually some of my recent stash that I LOVE
I was going to write 1 blog post about stash and UFO's. But the more I wrote I realized this was way too much information for just one post. So this is going to be a series of probably 3 posts.
~ Curate a Stash You Love
~ Organizing your Stash
~ Using Your Stash and UFO's
Curating a Stash You Love
A knitters dream is to have a stash that is full of magical, beautiful yarns that we are in love with. You would think that would be easy. After all we are in love with the yarn and the project when we buy it. But there are many things that makes the relationship with our yarn...... fickle.
So what happens between buying and knitting? There is a lot about the psychology of buying habits and such. Way to much for me to get into here. But, there is a lot to be said about impulse buying, peer pressure buying. FOMO "Fear Of Missing Out". This has really become a problem with social media. It is hard not to jump on the bandwagon when there is a frenzy to buy a limited colorway of someones yarn, or to knit the same pattern that everyone is so excited about right now. I surfer with this big time. I have to be very carful that I am not over spending for the month and can't pay a bill, or my credit card is maxed out etc. It has never been over the top bad for me, but has been more then I am comfortable with especially when the yarn arrives. The yarn that was an impulse buy is often shunned when it gets into my house. After all of that I don't really enjoy it as much as I did buying it.
I also find that if I have several projects on my needles and can't cast on right away that the new yarn may languish in the stash for longer then it should. I lose my excitement for it and have new excitement for the new FOMO! Viscous Circle happening here. It isn't so bad when I am in an actual store.
Thus, a Stash is Born!
Left over yarns are another big part of stashes. They tend to be a very hard part for me. Over the years I have realized that I am not a scrap type of crafter. It doesn't work for me in quilting and it doesn't work for me in knitting.
I do have some bags of very small bits and pieces and there has been a couple of blankets that I keep thinking I could actually do with these scraps. but they sit.........
But even this wonderful pattern I would probably like it better themed some how.
Thus More Stash is Born
Scrapy is very big right now with all the mini skeins and speckled yarns and the amazing patterns from designers like Stephen West. If you are a scrap kind of knitter the time has never been better for you. Mini skeins are the best thing ever for scrap knitting and creating.
There are times that you might buy some yarn that is more utilitarian and that might not be in the love category. Such as some brand of "kitchen Cotton" to make wash cloths from. There is no love for that skien of yarn but there is love for my washcloths. I do have a pretty good stash of cotton yarns that I use for knitting and crocheting projects for my home.
Thus Even More Stash is Born
Then there are those skeins that you love. You love the feel, or the colors, or the marriage of the yarn and the pattern you bought together. Your travel yarn purchases. You hold it and you know exactly where you bought it and it brings back those memories. These are the skeins that bring a smile to your face even if you don't have any idea how you are going to use them. They are just jewels of happiness.
Thus the Love for a Stash is Born
Stashs are often complicated. There are many blog posts about stash and some books about stash. Stash can make you feel all different emotions from bad, guilty, happy, cozy, love...... There is no wonder that we don't show off our stashes and they are hidden away.
Lets try something different. Lets bring them out into the open. I am suggesting that you get all of your stash out (I know, that sounds terrifying). I say all because again it is good to see everything at once. Now hold each yarn and see how it makes you feel. Because of all the reason listed above there are going to many different feelings with different yarns. If you love it and it "Sparks Joy" then it is a keeper. If you feel bad, guilty, indifferent then it may need to go into the donation pile. Or you may need to find a project that is fast and you can either give it keep it, give it away or donate to a charity. I would try to move these out of my house on a monthly basis.
This is the same idea that is in "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up" by Marie Knodo. It was all the rage a couple of years ago. It changed a lot for me. Just the idea of holding something and feeling either "joy" or something else from this object really helped simplify rather to keep it or not. You are no longer having the conversation in you head about needing it one day, that was a gift from..... etc. Just on question: Joy or Not. That is all there is to it. I promise you, this is amazing.
Keep it very simple. Don't worry about why you feel differently, just act on it. This is not a therapy session. Oh it could turn into an "over the top" therapy session if you let it. No No No..... You are the boss of the yarn!
Hold a skein, "joy, Love, you want to knit with it" goes in the "keep pile" and anything else goes in the "find someone to love them" pile. Only exception is the utilitarian kinds of yarn that you know you will use.
The other big deal here is that you have permission to
"Let The Yarn Go"
You do not have to be there keeper of all things fiber that enters your home forever!!!! There are many places that this yarn can live and be loved and used. An then.......... Some yarn just needs to go into the trash. Yup, I said it, there are some things that just are not going to do anyone any good.
I know this sounds like a really big job. Your right, it is. But, I think you will be amazed at how fast it goes. If you need to chunk it down, go ahead. Whatever you need to do to get the job done quickly, go for it.
Once you have your 2 piles I would probably stop for now. Get your donate pile into a bag and out of the house. It might be a good idea to find places that will take your yarn before you clean your stash. That way you can just get in the car and take it there and be done with it.
This is a really important step.
If the bag stays around your house that stash is going to start to find ways out of the bag and back in with the rest of it's friends.
It is sneaky that way.
There are several ways to get rid of your yarn. You can sell it on Ravelry. This of could take some time. But, if it is a large amount of one yarn then this might be a good idea. You can also look for some local groups that knit. Churches with prayer shawl ministries, schools or clubs that teach knitting, senior centers with knitting groups to name a few. They will probably have certain kinds of yarns they are looking for so ask before dumping a bunch of yarn off that they can't use. Then there are the normal thrift type stores. There are usually smaller thrift stores in your area if you don't want to donate to the big ones.
Congratulations!
If you get no further you have accomplished a lot. You probably now have a stash that you Love. Not one that is holding negative feelings and keeping you from enjoying and creating with it.
This is HUGE!
PurlSoho
Take some pictures of you new stash and share it!!!!!!
Next Post will be about how to organize you stash so it is easily found and used and Loved.
