The "Year of the Stash"

Knit-Alongs
1

Yes, I am declaring 2007 as the Year of the Stash!

For those of us who need to participate, here is the behavior:

Every other knitting project will be from “Stash Yarn”, that is to say, yarn that was purchased or acquired during previous years! Extra Credit earned if you rip out a previously knitted project (that you hate), and re-knit the yarn into something else!

You are then allowed a Reward Project: you may purchase new yarn for your next project, but only enough yarn for that project! In other words, The Stash shall not grow…it shall diminish.

Let’s just see how rewarding this will make us feel! We will reduce The Stash, and we will be able to purchase new yarn with no guilt whatsoever!!

For starters, I myself have an ‘extra credit’ project underway. I ripped out a Noro Silk Garden vest that is/was horridly humongous. Sad. I am now letting the two huge balls of yarn “unkink”. In the meantime, I am knitting a baby blanket with Lion MicroSpun…buttercup…that I purchased 4 years ago…before I knew better. :pout: BUT, it is 3/4 complete…double-stranded on size 10.5 needles, a basketweave. Ohhhh, it feels so good to get rid of this yarn. And the blanket (beautiful) will be greatly appreciated…a 38 yr old friend having her 2nd child…and her first child is 18! Anyone know how that feels?? :eyebrow:

My Reward Project will be a red merino wool pullover…pattern: from the newest Elsebeth Lavold book! Hum.

The next Stash Project will be something with that Noro Silk Garden that is ‘un-kinking’. The pattern to be determined…

Who wants to join me in this auspicous Year of the Stash?? :notworthy:

(Later note: We have gathered 38 [color=blue]STASHIES,[/color] as we are called! Hope you too will join us… and let yourself be motivated to USE the all beautiful yarns stashed in the baskets, bags, cupboards, boxes and shelves of your home! Did I miss any hiding places??? :eyebrow: )

2

I don’t have a massive stash as I’m new to this - but I will join you!
I don’t think DH would be too impressed if I bought more Yarn before finishing a couple of projects first :teehee:

I shall start this evening (after a day of cleaning house :pout: ) by finishing DH’s “was supposed to be a tissue holder but he likes the colours more as an Ipod Shuffle protector”. Then I will rip out the bootie that I picked the stitches up on the right side making it the wrong side but only on half the foot, and make that into my very first baby hat.

Then I can buy more Yarn and knit something for me :cheering:

After that birthday season starts.

3

I’m in.

Plus I think we should get points for finishing up a UFO that has been sitting around for way too long! I have a finished lonely sock waiting for a mate.

And I think we should call ourselves “Stashies”

xxx

Susan

4

I actually started my blog last week and named it Knitting from the Stash 2007. :happydance:

I’ll be happy to join.
Currently Iam knitting Eris (the yarn was a christmas present from last year).
I bought 3 balls of Red heart Simply soft for a shawl for my MIL.
I did however enhance my stash (but made myself promise that no “new yarn” enhancements" but I did recycle 2 sweaters found at a thrift store.

My reward is going to be a new skein of sock yarn (maybe some JItterbug).

Laura C

5

Considering that I’ve been kind of going on a buying-yarn binge, I really, really have to work from my stash. I’m in.

[size=2]
Even though I looooove buying purty yarn.[/size]

6

I’m in but it’s going to be hard to stick to this. In November I went on a yarn free diet until I had reduced my stash that lasted all of a month…maybe. I’m going to need a support system. I am truly addicted and I really want to start my Malabrigo project.

I pledge to finish my UFOs and knit down my stash before I dig into my Malabrigo.

:muah: :hug:

Nadja xxx

7

OK, so here’s my problem. I don’t have much of a stash yet. (I’m a newbie, remember?)

So - can I go out and buy a hideously huge amount of yarn and THEN join? :teehee:

Or even better - I’ll HELP. You get DOUBLE extra credit if you send part of your stash to me. :happydance: :cheering: :heart:

8

since I just bought a sick amount of yarn (most of which hasn’t been delivered yet) I am in! I feel a little guilty though, since most of my stash yarn isn’t old! I do have 5 or 6 ufo’s though, so those will have to be alternated with new projects… ready set…GO!

9

Same problem here. My stash consists of about 10 skeins, so I won’t make it trought 2007 with that. But, if HamburgKnitter has enough yarn, you can send the double extra credit yarn to me :wink:

10

Count me in too! I just organized my stash in clear plastic bins and was amazed at how much yarn I have accumulated. It seems that I am a Knitpicks junkie and every time a new catalog comes out or my PC mysteriously jumps to their site, I end up with more yarn goodies!

And don’t get me started on my UFOs - geez!! :oops: :oops: :oops: :teehee:

11

considering I started knitting when I was a child - then gave up for years due to lack of time, and have only recently come back to it, my stash consists of random stuff I bought aged 7-11 from the bargain bin at the local yarn shop that no longer exists. Not enough of any one colour or type to make anything with, and in colours like flourescent orange. I do have a couple of UFOs like the pair of socks I started, my mum decided to “help” me with and made a mistake I couldn’t be bothered to unpick and start again from…

12

Dude, I’m so there. :happydance: And I’m blogging it!

13

Great idea! I have actually been working on stash busting for quite a while making things for charity. Most of what I make is for charity actually and while I have bought yarn for some of the projects or to complete some of them the lions share has come from donated yarn. Anyway, I’m in.

Also blogging your efforts is a great idea!

14

OK! We are officially called the [color=blue]Stashies!! [/color]
Anyone object to that, or have a better name? I like Stashies!

Thanks to all who “joined” us Stashies! And we welcome any new Stashies who join later! We need the support! We will get that Stash down to size! :happydance:

It will save money, too…using the Stash! Allowing ourselves a New Yarn Project after completing a Stash Project…means we can shop for new yarn without guilt. Won’t that feel good?? Kinda like an ice cream cone tastes so good at the end of a long walk!!

Note: to those who have very small Stashes: a Stash Project can be something very small…like a cute dishcloth! Really, any fiber could make up into a dishcloth! Extra credit for doing a set of three for gift giving! :hug: Also, you could knit up ‘squares’ for later seaming into a patchwork quilt. I did that a couple of summers ago. Made two of my granddaughters blankets…made from the leftovers of lots of projects, and stash yarn, too. The “squares” were all different patterns…and some mult-stripes. The project was easy to take on vacation. The squares were just 5x5. Note: be sure and block them as you go along. Don’t wait til you have a billion squares to block! Then I crocheted a black border before beginning a new square. It made the blanket assembly less tedious.

Well, I am just home from work…and am going off to work on my Stash Project…the baby blanket with MicroSpun. Buttercup, basketweave. It is quite tedious. But, 46" wide…and now 30" long. Just 16" to go!

I have additional MicroSpun in odd colors…and they will become discloths.
The Sugar ‘n’ Cream that I have used in the past looks so horrid after a few washings…loses its shape and color. Who knew? :pout:

15

have u seen the stash management PDF on knit picks? http://knitpicks.com/kpimages/PDF/stashmgmt.pdf

i’m with HamburgKnitter I my resolution is to get a stash :teehee:

16

I am looking at bags of yarn, scads of patterns I have printed out and nothing on the needles anymore thanks to my knitting Bullmastiff who made a soggy mess out of a blanket I was doing … a bunch of kinky yarn on the floor and a knitting meetup tomorrow … maybe a trip to the yarn store to buy more yarn to ward of my oncoming depression.

Yes, count me in … much yarn and nothing on the move …

Toby

17

I’ve made two out of town trips to the nearest yarn store. One was for thier annual sale (all yarn was 30% off) and the second was for the Debbie Bliss seminar (DH bought the ticket for me for Christmas).

Anyway, my question is, How long must we have the yarn before it’s considered part of our stash?

Since the nearest LYS is 2 hours away, I usually go crazy when we go. :roflhard: It would be very hard to limit it to just enough for a reward project, but I think I can do it.

18

I am IN
and actually have been for a while now
but I WAY need to get rid of this yarn
chemo caps in acrylic, felted bags in the wool
finished planned things with what I can
but no buying yarn

ecb

19

Yes, I have seen KnitPicks tips on Stash Management! Something that I really like are the zippered bags! I purchased dozens of the clear plastic zippered bags from www.woodlandwoolworks.com I have not seen a better price anywhere! For the small (9x11x3) only $1.75…and the medium size (12x15x4) for $2.25. You can cram 12 skeins of worsted in the small…and 20 or more in the medium!

The item number for the small is #103560 and the medium is #103561. There is an “XXL” bag (26x29x9.5) for $5…item #103562…but I have not had any need for a bag that large. BTW, Woodland WoolWorks is a very reputable company to deal with. I have never had any problems with them, their products or service.

I keep all my yarns in the zippered bags. One of my Stash ‘harbors’ is a huge wicker trunk…with lots of places for spiders or bugs to crawl in and set up house. I have never had a bug in my yarns, mind you…but don’t want to start! With the Stash Yarn sitting dormant for so long a time, it does roll out the red carpet for pests to move in!

20

oh boy… I’ve been thinking about this and thinking about this… I even ordered some last minute yarn to get it out of my system from KP :oops: okkk… I’m in too… my dh will be happy… :happydance: