Earlier this year, I decided to get my yarn stash organised and attempt to use it all up. My yarn stash isn’t especially large (unlike my fabric stash) so it’s a realistic aim and would challenge me to find projects for yarn that I’ve had sat in the house for years. The aim is to get to a point where I only have a stash of yarn for current in-progress projects, plus the inevitable assortment of leftovers.
A couple of years back, I found moths in my yarn drawer and put all of the yarn through both the oven and freezer techniques. I used both techniques for extra reassurance, and one or both seemed to work as it’s been moth free (and stored in airtight bags) since. At the time, I removed all of the paper labels and bands before the yarn went into the oven, but as a result I lost track of which yarns were which and their weights and amounts. Organising my yarn stash meant figuring out what yarn I had, how much of it, what I had originally bought it to make (if there ever was a plan), and creating a list for easy comparison with possible projects.
As a great lover of list writing I thoroughly enjoyed the process of documenting my stash, but I’ve only made a tiny dent into that stash so far, with a couple of small knitted accessory projects. The new yarn I’ve purchased this year has, however, all been put straight to use, so no long-term additions to the stash have been made! My intention is to carry on in that way, buying yarn for immediate projects plus slowly working through my stash around them.
Stash Project one was two knitted bags (one for me and one for my mom) using a free pattern from Arne & Carlos (they release a free pattern each month to newsletter subscribers). This used up some leftover cotton yarn, Rowan’s Summerlite DK, which was leftover from another Arne & Carlos project, using their Dozen Eggs pattern which was a kind of Easter advent calendar in Spring 2021.
Stash Project Two was the Avonlea Necktie by Sydney Crabaugh / Squid’s School of Vintage Knitting. I signed up to Squid’s School on patreon earlier this year and this is the first patreon pattern I’ve knitted, although I have my eye on others. This is the full length version of the tie, but I’m also planning a short version in some other stash yarn. The yarn is leftover from a Unicorn Parallelograms scarf I knitted back in 2015 and is West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4ply.
So, two small stash projects completed so far in 2022. I’m thinking of attempting a sweater next, with one of the few larger yarn quantities in the stash, to make a slightly bigger dent!