On a Mission

Poking around in Blogland the other day, I discovered this. Stash reduction, on a grand scale, complete with guidelines.

The discovery clicked with a thought that has been lurking at the back of my brain for some time now:

I have too much stash yarn.

Before the chorus of protests erupts, let's get some definitions straight.

Too much (adj) A quantity that exists in the eye of the beholder. Prime example: Stephanie Pearl-McPhee went stash diving before Christmas and came back with an entire sweater. For a guy. I'm pretty sure she's not keeping her stash in a single tote under the bed. I was at the point where I couldn't get the lid on my tote to close, and moving into larger territory is not an option.

Stash (n) 1 single skeins purchased for no particular project 2 yarn that is left over from a previous project. Blue Garter references stash a lot, and her definition is quite similar. But she always follows it up with a perfectly gorgeous work of knitty art. Most of what I have fits into both 1 & 2, and is often a funny color to boot.

Exhibit A



Note the peach and aqua from Nautie. I've had the that single skein of green since I was 12 (I'm not joking), and that novelty cotton is one of the more normal examples of my strangely hued yarns.

Furthermore, I don't like a lot of my yarn. Some of it's really cool and I've got it separated out from the detritus in a separate bag because I want it to go into something special. For the most part, however, stash yarn brings me down and mars the thrill of new purchases because I know after that project is over, all sorts of oddments will end up...in the stash.



See anything familar?

Here is what I plan to do: Knit the stash away. Starting now. My rules are pretty much the same as Wendy's. No new yarn until September (or until I can get the lid closed on my yarn tote and don't feel bogged down by everything inside).

If I absolutely have to, I will allow myself to buy yarn that will be used (every last yard of it) to finish up other stash yarn.

Here is my inaugural project:



Lion Brand Homespun, 100% synthetic and clogging up my stash, reminding me of the hideous apparition that was my first sweater. It looks particularly garish here under the flash, oozing out of my beach/knitting bag, but in real life, the colors aren't so bad. Or maybe I've just grown tolerant of them because I've been looking at them for the past 8 years. Becaue there's no pattern (just k1 yo work to center yo k1 yo work to 1 st from end yo k1 purl 1 rw), and because I'm working on size 13 needles, I really feel like I'm getting somewhere already.

An auspicious start? I hope so.