Wednesday 20 July 2011

I have a stash!

Since I started down this knitting/crocheting road, I've had to listen to a lot of people talking about their yarn stash. While I was filling my shelves with cheap acrylic to make blankets, baby gifts and cute little amigurumi, I secretly yearned after these mythical stashes filled to the rafters with soft squishy hanks of truly expensive yarns.

Being a practical sort, though, I didn't see much point in buying yarn simply because it was pretty. I need to know what it's going to become. I'd hate to think of buying a gorgeous skein of handpainted whatever, only to find, when I come to use it years down the line, that I actually need two, and now it's discontinued and impossible to get hold of in the right colour. Plus, y'know, I'm not made of money.

So I've planned my projects carefully, bought yarn only when needed, and in the exact quantities required. Of course, I've had to do a lot of yarn substitution as most of the patterns I've used have been American, which has led to accidental stashing of too much yarn. (See my massive over-estimation of yarn required for the Avalon Top, which allowed me to also make the Aurora Vest!)

But one thing the Year of Projects is allowing me to do is to plan ahead with my projects, and order the yarn in sensible batches to make the most of voucher codes and free delivery savings. So, after my last lovely parcel from Deramores arrived today, I think I can now claim to have a stash of my own!

This is my stash of acrylics, mostly DK weight with a little bit of bulky
on the side. There's also a ball of sock yarn hiding in there somewhere.

This is my Year of Projects shelf. All the yarn in here is assigned to
a project from my list, and will be used at some point this year.

The new additions to the stash today are a cardigan's worth of Wendy Merino Bliss DK in a lovely deep burgundy red, some beautiful slate grey Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran for a cowl, and a scarf's worth of Cashmerino DK.

As you can probably see from the acrylic shelf, I have a new toy as well. A great eBay find - my own ball winder!


I've been re-winding my acrylics to get them to fit better on the shelf. It's so much fun! I've still got a fair few balls to re-wind, but by the time I'm done, my shelf will have a lot more space for even more colours. Mostly, though, it's because I've discovered the joy of working from centre-pull cakes of yarn.

Knit Picks Shimmer, wound and ready to go for my Jane Austen Shawl

11 comments:

  1. Aren't stashes great? You don't even want to know the size of my stash...there's a reason that I've been going through my yarn to sell on Ravelry.

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  2. You DO have a stash!  Congratulations on that.  I love my ball winder too and also love working from center pull cakes.  Your yarns look very lovely and smooshy soft.  Enjoy.

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  3. Alittlebitsheepish20 July 2011 at 22:11

    Looks like a stash to m :)e. Ball winders are awaesome fun, and centre pull balls are great too, no more chasing them around the room!

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  4. Oh, it's a slippery slope!! Beware! LOL

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  5. Jealous!  :) 
    A ball winder!! nice job - and nice stash!

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  6. How fun to stock up!
    I used to be a big time shopper since I was trained when I was small.  I now get a bigger thrill yarn shopping!

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  7. I like having a stash, although it does stress me out sometimes because I have so much that I want to knit with! Love the idea of rewinding to make everything fit neatly on the shelves... Cunning plan ;)

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  8. CrochetBlogger23 July 2011 at 01:28

    Nice stash! It's funny how everyone has their own process. I rarely buy yarn for a specific project and instead just stash this and that and then go shopping in my closet when I want to make something.

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  9. YAY for stash! Isn't it fun to just pet it all?

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  10. OMG! I am so guilty of buying yarn with no project for! lol I have 3 55 gal totes with my acrylic variations of all weights 2 20 gal totes of my yarn stash and 2 suitcases. then a huge covered baskets under my end table for easy access and a big basket with handle where  my "scrap" yarn goes  (not counting all the WIP's hanging on all door knobs) My best friend is also my yarn ball winder (and my easy homemade yarn swift) your post just brought to my attention how much I need to get my yarn situation under control :P lol

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  11. I've got the same ball winder, I wouldn't be without it.

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