Tidying up my yarn stash
Do you also feel we are living in a time when everything seems fleeting and disposable? That somehow we've dedicated our lives to amassing, when we have so much already?
Working with yarn, looping stitches on a needle, one by one, is an act of resistance to this rush to acquire, consume, discard. Yet, we are not immune to the rhythm of our times.
Yarn is possibility. It's beauty and inspiration. It smells like sheep! So we covet and we collect yarn. At least I do.
So I am often torn between the luxury of having a yarn pantry 1 to get inspired by, to touch and choose from, when you start a new project; and the simplicity of owning only yarn you absolutely love and feel inspired by. And not too much of it.
But where do I draw the line?
I decided my line is my chest of drawers. Should they not fit inside, they need to be used up or given away. In my case, “the surplus” is a basket full of yarn.
But you see, I love all my yarn. I'm so precious about it, I save it from myself. And then I accumulate. Can you see where this has taken me?
So, I'm reminding myself, even in my de-stash challenge, to make my yarn fit this container, to slow down, to savor the moments, and to embrace the joy of making.
For me, if the act of creation is a meditation, then the final product, whether a scarf or a blanket, carries with it the warmth of that mindfulness. The simple pleasure of crafting something beautiful for its own sake. That's what I'm after.
Things I learned from mindfully and creatively using up my extra yarn
I first filled my container with the wool I loved most, which left me with the basket of surplus.
I looked at this surplus for a long time, moving it around, touching it. Pondering.
Somehow, two new ideas emerged. Magically and suddenly, a long forgotten UFO was turned into a FO. A new yarn combination was born.
First project. I had a bunch of granny squares I made earlier this year for a cardigan, but then the summer came, and I couldn't touch it, and now I didn't like the idea of that cardigan anymore. I also had 10 skeins of Drops Nepal that I bought to make a Weekender by Andrea Mowry, but just couldn't stand the fabric this yarn created. So I crocheted it up into a blanket! It's warm and heavy.
The second project emerged from wanting to use up 4 skeins of Hjerte Alpaca that I bought 5 years ago. Since then, I learned alpaca yarn is soft and warm, but it has no elasticity, so I'm never pleased with the resulting fabric. So I wanted to use it into a shawl. I played with a few combinations of yarn and in the end what I really liked was holding this yarn with a strand of Regia for hand dye, and the last of my cone of Holst Coast. I loved the fabric! So I started improvising a scarf/shawl inspired by the Sophie Shawl by PetiteKnit but increasing every 4th row.
I'm curious what else I will discover in my basket of unwanted yarn.
Book of the week
I think what I liked the most about it, was the universe Rosa Pomar invites you in. I love the colors, the textures. The wool, her work with local wool producers and artisans. The first chapter about the history of Portuguese knitting. Here, the yarn and needles tell tales of generations past, whispering secrets of a people's daily lives and their enduring creativity.
May your days be filled with mindful moments. Until next time, be present.
Sky
A yarn pantry, such a lovely concept, I heard it first from Katt Weaver https://www.youtube.com/@kattweaver
I have spent the last two years “shopping” from my stash. It has been interesting to combine yarns to make projects. I have gone from 6 storage bins to one very full one. The only yarn I have bought has been when asked for something in particular which I didn’t have the yarn for or on a few occasions a holiday one skein treat!
Oh, I'm so pleased I found this. I absolutely love the idea of a yarn pantry. I have a similar strategy when it comes to yarn storage. I have one big storage box and a smaller box by my bed. Once my stash spills out from these boxes it's time for some strategic culling or stashbusting.