The Winner is:
I sent a query to my newsletter readers recently, wanting to know what was on their minds and what they needed help with in 2015. The undeniable winner topic was yarn stash. Not accumulating yarn–it seems we have no problem with that, but what to do with their yarn stash.
This led me along a path of thinking about stuff, and how we accumulate it with enthusiasm, only to find it becoming a burden at some later date. I know this happens to me, but I have heard repeatedly over my years of being a knitter about the joys of yarn stash-building, but also the sadness and pressure of having too much. For some knitters this becomes such a burden that they can’t really acknowledge their yarn stash because it creates such feelings of overwhelm and anxiety.
Yarn Stash Burdens
If you have a manageable yarn stash you may not feel any of these things. Here are my thoughts about what makes something become a burden when it started as a joy:
- What seemed a likely usage when purchased isn’t as appealing when you get to actually using it.
- You had no idea when you purchased the yarn (good price, favorite color, vague idea, no specifics) and now it doesn’t fit your current knitting wants.
- You love, love, love the yarn, so don’t want to rush in and make the wrong thing.
- Your needs have changed since you purchased it.
- You forgot you purchased it because you just put it away with the rest of your stash.
I could go on. I am sure you may have other reasons.
More than a dozen years ago, when I still purchased yarn retail, my husband wryly observed that it didn’t matter how much yarn I purchased, I never had the right yarn when I went to start a new project. I was a little resentful of that observation at the time, but he is so right! As a result, I really avoid accumulating yarn. Even with that, based on the small amounts I purchase, and the yarn given to me by yarn companies, I end up every year with yarn in my closet that I do not want to work with, that doesn’t fit what I am doing, and that makes me feel guilty. On the other hand, I usually don’t have yarn just laying around waiting to be used. Oy.
Bust Your $tash
For the next couple of weeks I’m going to offer some tools for finding the right way to manage your stash to newsletter readers. So if you want to be sure and get them, please sign up for the newsletter. On January 30 that newsletter will have instructions for joining Bust Your $tash with Jill Wolcott Knits®. You can also Email us! to get onto the Bust Your $tash with Jill Wolcott Knits® email list prior to January 30 (you will not get duplicate emails). You can also email me with things you’d like to deal with as you Bust Your $tash with Jill Wolcott Knits®. I will not call you out as the source.
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