I had a moment the other day. I went to a new yarn store, intrigued at what stock they might have. They were lovely people, very friendly, and the store was quite attractive. It was busy, too, packed with excited knitters. What fun! And they had some yarns I didn’t know, so there were woolly things to explore. All good.
Until I frightened myself. Now, this is a teeny tiny retail space, and they do have that new-store syndrome in which skeins of yarn are artfully spaced out (instead of cascading from every surface) but I looked around and had a frightening thought. I was certain in that moment that my stash was bigger than their inventory.
And I was afraid.
I’m not sure that it’s actually true. I’d have to haul all my stash over there and artfully space it out on the shelves to see, but it’s close enough to be worrisome. That I could even have such a thought is a problem. Do I have the equivalent of a (teeny tiny) yarn store’s inventory in my stash closet? That’s a very scary prospect.
Ever since that moment – no surprise – I’ve been culling the stash. I’m rummaging through it, deciding what has to go. What stash do I have that I’ll never ever knit? What’s there that is a souvenir of past taste – or past trends? The yarn from dead people’s stashes was the first to go, and the acrylic from days gone by was fast behind it. Woo hoo! Once I got started, it was easy.
Next up is the fabric stash. I used to belong to a fat quarters club, in which members received six or eight mystery fabrics a month. The surprise was fun, but (inevitably) there were fabrics that I truly hated. I’ve kept them because I paid for them, but I’ll never use them. Several make me shudder when I pass over them in the stash. This isn’t working for me or the fat quarters. They deserve to move on to another quilter, one who likes them and will use them. Yup, I’m going to rummage through that stash and sort it out next.
It’s kind of fun to organize the stash and start with a plan!
Have you cleaned anything out lately? Hey, maybe I’m getting a head start on spring cleaning.
Deborah Cooke: Author 
7 responses to “Be Afraid…”
Where is the rejected yarn and fabric going? I’m ready to give up some of my fabric stash, but I hate to just throw it in the garbage. I’d like to find someplace that could use it – like the high school or some other charity group.
The yarn stash? Even though I’ve got more than two cabinets worth, I’m not ready to give any of it up!
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My mom likes to knit mittens for charity, so the full balls of yarn suitable for that will go to her.
There’s a thrift store locally which offers a lot of craft items. People go there specifically for fabric, buttons, zippers, yarn and needles. They also have a group of women who meet in the store to make quilts for charity auctions. So most anything useful is headed there.
Some of it is, regrettably, garbage – the scraps and bits and snippets. Fortunately, there aren’t that many of them – and they should have been chucked at the outset. I did also take a hard look at my dressmaking scraps – instead of just storing them, I’m going to integrate more of them into my quilts. Why not put a little corduroy or velvet in the block?
My neighbor gave a lot of her cotton scraps to an avid quilter she found locally (no, not me) and other scraps to the high school for their craft programs.
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Pam–there’s a group called Freecycle. It mainly exists as yahoo groups right now (as far as I can tell). It connects people who want to get rid of stuff with people who want it. Fabric. Old luggage. Anything. (You’d be surprised!) I’d suggest finding your local branch.
Deb–that does it. I’m getting rid of my acrylic. 🙂
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Yay, Gina!
There are people who love acrylic. Let them have it.
We don’t have to save it just because they like it.
d
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But I like acrylic for some things.>
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Ah, then Gina and I will send ours to you! LOL!
I find I’m using Patons Classic Wool for the kinds of projects I used to knit with worsted weight acrylic. Time to adjust the stash to fit the reality, that’s all. My mom loves acrylic, so my bag is destined for her.
You’ll have to make do with Gina’s!
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Been cleaning, tossing, rearranging for months and still need more. The joys of taking over a child’s bedroom and remodeling.
Culling books is on my list– the books not being read, attempted to be finished, the what the hey books. I’m tired of some of the clutter. Now if the kittens would take the hint and declutter their toys all over the house.
Maybe then my yarn stash can grow. Still a knotter but trying to get close to knitting.
Maybe after the garden goes in and the chicks are ordered or… lol.
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