I went a little crazy the day before Thanksgiving and went through my stash. I should have been solely focused on getting our house ready for hosting the next day, but I got that inspirational urge/itch that won’t go away. I started with the UFO basket in the living room where current projects live and put all of the partial balls from recent projects in their proper place in the stash. Then I decided the partial balls should be somewhat separated based on color. Then I decided the whole stash needed an overhaul and I should just let go of some yarns I bought ten years ago with intended projects in mind that never happened.
Still couldn’t give up the possibility of spinning…
I got rid of two grocery bags full of yarn and passed them off to friends. It felt fantastic. Some of the yarn had been hanging out in Ravelry as for trade or sale yarns, but I just decided it was time for them to go because my accumulated yarns were beyond my storage capacity. We live in a small house (maybe 1000 sq. feet) with four people. That helps keep things in check, but the space under our queen size bed is packed to the max with yarn in four large storage containers. Some had to go because those were over stuffed, or other items were just stuffed in elsewhere under the bed.
All of the miscellaneous fingering weight yarns
I used to organize solely by weight, but since my fingering weight now needs more than one container, I decided it would be helpful to also organize by amount, so I also organized by what had sweater quantities available. I still need to go through Ravelry and delete the yarns I passed on, but it’s a relief to be able to store things nicely again. Too much disorganized yarn can really raise my anxiety and it takes away from the delight of having a stash to dive into.
After a few hours of this I was feeling fantastic. I bagged sweater quantities together and similar yarns to help myself find them. I found homes for the yarn I didn’t want. I settled into a nice feeling of organized satisfaction.
More sweater-like groupings of yarn
When Matt got home that day I proudly told him about my endeavors and showed him what I was getting rid of. He congratulated me and then said, “Don’t you still have a bunch of yarn stored in the desk.” Oh damn. I guess I still have a little more to sort…
Do you keep a substantial task? If you organize it, what method do you use? I’d love to swap tips.
My stash is well organized in 27 covered plastic bins (each bin is labeled 60 gallon capacity – so big). Recorded on spreadsheets living in a room of their own. In the future I hope to have most of this yarn on open shelves where I can see colors and more easily make selections. Having a massive, shop sized stash is great for storing yarn but not so great for choosing yarn for a project. That’s why shopping for new is so much easier than digging for old.
I love that you have spreadsheets for it! Inputting all of my yarn in Ravelry with the amounts (which now need some revising) definitely helps me “shop my stash” and find things that fit different projects. Sounds like you have a HUGE stash…your own yarn store!
I also have 60 gal bins for stash. I have them labeled by size. I also have one for kitted projects where I put the yarn and printed pattern in ziploc bags. I have one for WIPs and one for finished. I also have one just for acrylic yarns, used mostly for blankets and charity knitting and one for cotton yarns. All of my yarn is photographed and listed in my Ravelry stash. I love being able to use my posted stash to match yarn with possible projects.
Love all of this but I find a lot of joy digging through my stash. Sometimes I’m looking for something specific, but when I come up for air I often have decided on something I’d not really been digging for. Inspiration – it’s a wonderful feeling!
I wish I could put my stash on Ravelry. Over the years, I’ve tried a few times, but the yarn seems to come into the house Much faster than I can photo & list it. At the moment, my stash is so out of control, even I’m having a hard time justifying it. I need to challenge myself to another no yarn shopping month. But the thought of it makes me twitch.
I don’t worry about pictures for Ravelry entries – for projects or stash. I’ll probably start taking stash pictures if I purchase more multicolored yarn – especially if I don’t have a tentative project in mind for it. I have a lousy memory so entering everything as I take it out of the shopping bag and place it in a storage bin is a must for me – so far the color name has been good enough. I love being able to check my entire stash without having to rummage through storage bins.
Maybe you could get bare bones stash info entered into Ravelry during a no yarn shopping month. You might find things your forgot you have! You wouldn’t even need to enter it all – maybe only full skeins or only partial skeins or only yarns you can positively identify – whatever makes sense to you. Then enter new purchases with pictures & complete info as it comes into the house.
Well done! It’s so satisfying to get the stash under control! I have mine on two tall bookshelves in my craft room. It gets a little dusty at times but I love having it out where I can see it and admire it.
Stash diving can be so daunting. I think I need to take a stay-cation this December and match up some the ‘ooohhh, that’s pretty’ yarn with some pattern in my Rav library. Thanks for the inspiration!
You are an inspiration!
Ooh, it always feels so good to go through the stash and really get a handle on what’s in there! And congrats on letting some of it go, that can be so tough.
Man, you go. I need to go through my stash. I hate having all those yarn remnants. I’m seriously considering giving them away to an afterschool program. I would feel so much better and I have all of these one skeiners. I don’t that in sock yarn but in worsted, etc. they feel useless to me.
Giving them to an after-school program would be awesome! I’m sure any school that has an editing program would love that.
Good for you. Passing on the yarn you don’t need always makes you feel better and makes room for something magnificent you don’t already have. Last year I started keeping track of yarns I have on a spread sheet with the yardage amounts. I tally up the total yardage and frankly am always stunned by the amount. I also do this every year with yarn I have used. I know I sound a bit anal and I am, but I need to be better about purchasing yarn for a reason, not so much on a whim. I have given so much yarn away this year and recently gave yarn to a high school in Chicago that is teaching kids to knit to keep them off the streets. A great cause.
I think that sounds like a great plan for stash management!