Halfway to Eliminating My Stash! | Numbers, Lessons Learned, and More | Knitty Natty
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 มิ.ย. 2022
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My stash is my retirement fund. When I retire in the next few years I won’t have the expendable income like I do now. I’m stashing for my crafting future 🧶☺️
I never seem to fall out of love with things I've bought in the past. Going back through my stash makes me remember just how much I do love it! It's awesome that we're all different and can find what works for us best.
Yes, when I go play in my stash, I get so inspired and want to knit it all!
Same here.
If you do eliminate your stash, I think you should document your yarn usage and buying the next year as well. It would be interesting to see what happens.
I’ll chime in as someone who does not keep a stash. My method is: I come across a pattern I want to knit, then I usually spend a week or so searching online for the perfect yarn. It arrives and I cast on right away. I love that process and I think stash yarn would create more discontent because instead of knitting a pattern I liked, I’d be trying to find a pattern to match the yarn I own. Does that make sense? I do that with leftover yarn and it’s not as fun or fulfilling for me. (I tend to use leftover yarn when I don’t have funds to buy new yarn). I never got into keeping a stash really because my budget doesn’t allow it. Which sucks in some ways. I leave festivals empty-handed 9 times out of 10 and while I struggle with envy sometimes it’s also a great personal challenge to go for the joy of connecting with others, which I do.
I thought this was a great discussion on stash. I recently reviewed my stash to realize I have 5-6 years of projects already in my stash. This has come mainly due to 1) sales - can't resist a sale so that I better "buy now" and getting a cute project bag if I buy X dollars, 2) supporting a local dyer that is started her business a few years ago, and 3) accepting "gifted" yarn from former knitters. I can relate to changing my mind on what I planned to do and now what am I going to do with yarn I bought. I only started setting knitting goals and tracking my projects 3 years ago. That has greatly helped me understand what is a reasonable number of projects I can complete instead of always thinking I can get a lot more done that I actually do.
I've been knitting and crocheting for a year now. My stash is fairly small despite me drooling over all the beautiful yarn out there. I for sure have become an indie dyed yarn fan, but my funds are limited so I tend to ask for yarn for gifts from hubby and family. I have realized I too get yarn guilt and I immediately or soon after having the yarn need to pair a project with it. I've realized I do NOT like having yarn sitting around with no purpose. So I've started organizing all my yarn into projects. I will purchase extra yarn if need be for the project, get the pattern and store it in a project bag waiting for when I'm ready to cast on. After doing this I didn't even realize how many future projects I had! It made me step back and realize and do not want to buy more yarn because I'd personally feel wasteful to have yarn sitting around for too long. Of course there are a couple projects I'm not totally excited about and there are 2 projects I do really want to get to and purchase the yarn for, for this year but I've kinda mentally told myself that's it, and I'm ok with that for now. In the future I think I may only buy yarn a couple projects in advance without stashing too much. It does overwhelm me a bit as well and I also like the excitement of prepping for projects.
I love having a stash because when a new pattern comes out and I want to knit it right away...I can often shop in my own stash and cast on immediately. At the same time... there have been times when my stash overwhelmed me and then I give things away and make sure that my stash fits in the assigned cabinet. I'm enjoying watching your journey!
I am working down my stash, I mainly have about 6 un-used skeins of 75/25 and anything else I have is scraps from other projects, most will probably get used eventually. I love the freedom of being able to see a pattern I want to make and then order yarn and cast on when it comes in. Or at least as I draw near the end of a bigger project I can plan and order yarn for the next. It allows me to knit what I'm excited about when I want to
I am looking at the very near future of retiring and living off of a fixed income. So now, while I have the income available, I building a stash for the future when I can't buy whenever I want. I also order on line mostly because the only yarn store close are Dollar Tree and Walmart. Since I am disabled, I can't drive as far as the other yarn stores such as independents, Michael's and Hobby Lobby
Online ordering only during sales will avoid some inside store impulse buying 😊
I am extremely grateful that I built my stash when I was able to, because 2020 brought many life changes aside from the pandemic, which means I can't buy yarn very often. For example, I was able to go shop my stash for the Westknits MKAL last year and pull out 5 skeins that worked well together for my shawl. I wouldn't have been able to participate otherwise!
I hear you, that’s exactly what I am doing now too. My stash building is my retirement craft fund 😊 I’m investing while I can 🧶
I would love to learn about your smaller amounts of yarn that we don’t normally get to see. I just finished a linen stitching scarf using my felici yarn scraps. After 2 years I decided it was wide enough because it wasn’t bringing me joy to work on it anymore. And I’m so glad I did. I think it’s beautiful and I love how I added the colors. But it’s not easy to figure out how to use up yarn in a purposeful way. I love the minimalist vibe of this podcast. Thanks.
Loved your video. 🥰
When I was living in Argentina I had a big stash, accumulated for 20 years 😅. In 2020 I started to declutter a lot, store or use my stash. I even made a big blanket for my parents with scraps. Last year I moved to Korea with a wip and a little amount of tools.
My current stash is bigger that what I'd like, but as you mentioned, I like to buy in a store that is far from my house and I don't buy online. So I make 1 or 2 big buys a year. I plan for serveral months what I like to do, what inspires me, and buy acording to that with a budget I'm comfortable with. Even if I change my mind later, it's useful so I don't get too much atracted to buy random things.
I had a hard time and still do a tad bit of getting rid of stuff that we might need or cost a good amount. Once I learned about the sunk cost concept it really helped. I also am one that would have a hard time with a garage sale because of the pricing/bargaining. Since realizing that once I bought the item the money was spent and you are not really getting anything by it just sitting around and taking up space. Since we bought our first house about a yr ago we have gotten rid of a lot of items the were just taking up space. It was when getting rid of things that I realized that part of my anxiety level coincided with the clutter level.
Really resonate with your reasons for wanting a minimal stash and for finding a more minimal lifestyle helpful. I don't have a problem with having a stash but I do want it to be a small enough stash that I can realistically work through it all and savor every special yarn. Unfortunately, my ADHD is making it really difficult for me to get the more minimal, less chaotic environment I desperately want. Baby steps...
I enjoyed this process and philosophy a lot! I'm in the current situation where my tastes and what I want out of my handmade journey has shifted quite a bit, I'm still working through some of my older yarn that I'm mostly knitting and gifting those projects because the colors don't match my style anymore, but I'm slowly building things that I'm enjoying stash & finished projects. Thanks for sharing!
What this video taught me is that it is ok for me to not be knitting as much. I am moving to NC shortly and I am anxious about the move and the change to follow and not picking up knitting as much. I miss it but not knitting as much. And that is OK. I just need to go with the flow of life and acknowledge my feelings for what they are. Stash gives me anxiety (thus far). Like it is a waste of money. But once I am in my own house and art corner I may change my mind.
I really like this video. Not for the elimination of stash, per se (I don’t have a stash at this time) but for watching what you’re learning about yourself during this process. Whether the numbers go up or down in a month, you’re actively considering and interacting with what you have when planning what you want to make. That thoughtfulness is a goal of minimizing and you’re very articulate about that. I’m inspired by that and when I begin to build a little stash again in the future, I want to be thoughtful about it, too.
So if, or when, the numbers change after, say, Rhinebeck, it will be exciting to hear the great stash story.
It's so interesting to hear what you have to say about stash! I love having my 5x5 version of the ikea shelf full of yarn, I am very much a yarn collector as well as a crocheter haha. But I also have most of my yarn categorised and in my ravelry stash, so if I find a nice pattern on there I can see what I have to make with it.
Best reason for a stash is to be able to start a random project at 2 am and having the perfect yarn for it haha
Also, what excites me about actually using my stash is all the features on Ravelry! If you scroll down on your project page all the way, it will tell you how many metres of yarn you used, and you can click on it to see all your projects in order of how much yarn they used. You can also only show one year and then scroll to the bottom to see how much you used in a year. For example, last year I used over 31'000 metres of yarn! This year only 8000 m so far, lots of small projects this year
I consider myself an advanced beginner, in that I can follow most any technique in patterns but have not made a large variety of projects. Most of my stash is a hodge podge of skeins I have gathered from a handful of people who know I craft, and taken from my grandmother. Unfortunately many of them are mismatched weights and no single project quantity.
Over the last year or two I have done several declutters trying to get rid of stuff I know I will never use. Now I need to start figuring out what I can actually make projects from.
I have found I have the most success with buying yarn for specific projects or knowing I got a full projects worth for when I get round to it. I have also come to realize that a lot of the projects I am drawn to are DK or fingering weight, but I have a lot of worsted.
It’s so surreal to see this entire journey. I love how intentional you are & that you keep track of it to share & inspire.
I am in the prosess of reducing my stash, since I have collected yarn for over 10 years and feel I have got to a point where I have to much and it feel chaotic. My life has been quite hard the last few years with 3 diagnosis, writing my master thesis and just life in general. So I want to take back control and being able to making things that excites me at the moment and make it right now! I would like to reduce and my goal is to have less than 150 50 gram balls of yarn in my stash by December.
I have been making gift baskets, for raffle for our local animal rescues when they have events. It thins my stash of yarn & needles I no longer love & benefits the rescue! I find the more I give away the more I want to give away!
This has been great and given me some ideas! I wanted to sort my stash out, I started with the things I wanted to make printed out the picture then went through my stash and put the yarn in a bag with the picture on the outside. I also have a yarn bin just for socks, and another bin that is purely a big question mark but right now I feel good with the progress . I think for me I am going to try and only purchase yarn for a project and not because it’s pretty 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻. I have also gone through my WIP’s and frogged what I did not love, finished 4 and the final 3 - 2 sweaters and a pair of socks should be done next week 😊 it’s a nice feeling ! I am then going to try to only have two projects at a time going which one is socks for car knitting. I am sure I will fail sometimes but at least I feel better having a plan 😀
Giving is some times a hard thing to do, but then it's also a hard thing to stop doing. 😂 I dye my own yarn, and friends iv met on Instagram ppl iv got close to I end up sending them some. I'm gonna send u my fav pink one some time soon. 😺Bc we are massive pink lovers, and ur videos and lessions help me so much. Anyways, it's who I am. Giving makes you feel good inside. You never know if that Hank or even scraps of yarn you send someone could change there day or week. I had a friend send me a Hank of yarn called mermaids tail and I was having the worse week and it brightened my day so much. Also, for ppl who like using up all there scraps there is now a sea glass hat! It's beautiful. 😻
I just realized I use stash differently than other people. My stash is all leftover yarns because everything else is in a wip. 😂 I have 2 skeins for my next blanket project that haven’t been touched and that’s it.
I only got rid of my very bad quality yarn (acrilic) that I baught when I wasn't so much into knitting clothes. I directly got a huge amount of good quality yarn second hand and I loved it and felt no guilt. First I thought this amount would last for years but 10month later, I used most of it 😊 so I bought more stash on discount on line because I don't have yarn shop close to home and I love achieving projects from my little shop stash 🤣🏡
Your earlier destash videos were really inspiring when I had to do a major destash .I also had the Ikea wall unit filled with yarn & accessories and a closer full of bags of yarn, too. We moved from a house to a condo and really, really needed that inspiration to cut it down. There is still too much yarn & all but like you, I'm still working on it.
Love this! You’ve inspired me to keep track of my stash and just see how much I’m using and gaining each month. ♥️
I enjoying hearing others peoples philosophy about it. Im in the midst of reducing my stash, but my biggest problem is that so many amazing dyers out there with all these limited collection and have serious FOMO so I just keep buying some! When I started out I bought just so many single skeins I wouldn’t mind if I had the same amount if it included some SQ of colors
I'm glad that you are figuring out what works for you and makes you happy. I'm learning that I like to have a challenging project and a mindless project going at the same time.
I love my stash. I don’t think I could ever de-stash my whole stash. I do have a huge stash, and I’m not embarrassed to say that I do. I give some away. Use as much as I can and use some to teach with. Some was meant for specific projects but now I have changed my mind. So saying all that. I have a knitting and sewing room where all my stash lives!🧶 I’m happy and so is all my stash🥳🧶
Well....we do have Christmas not too long from now...maybe you could use up a bunch on gifts for people!! Awesome video...loved this update! Also..I BOUGHT THE HP YARN CALENDAR!!...So now I can open them with your vlogmas this year if you do it again this year!! Soooo 😊 excited
I love all the stash updates you have done, this year I’m starting to make my way through my stash and try to use quite a bit of it. I have a running total and a total used each month since march this year and even though it doesn’t look like I’ve made a dent in it I have still used 34. I like having a stash of yarn so that I’m able to use it up like I am this year but I do want to more minimalistic. It’s lovely to find a lovely pattern and go to stash and be able to start the project straight away but there is also quite a bit of yarn that I will probably end up giving away and that makes me sad because I spent a lot of money on yarn before for it not to be used by myself or for what I intended to use it for. I can’t wait to see what you do with your leftovers, you inspire me to use my stash up every month you talk about it lol 😂
Such a good update. I so appreciate your thought process.
Love this update! I watched all (and rewatched some) of your stash down video's and I love the journey you're tracking. I am also really looking forward to your year of scraps! I love how it ebs and flows and that you're not afraid to buy or gift, but doing what makes you happy!
I am also eliminating my stash this year, until I have about 5 skeins of emergency stash left. My reason is that I am working as a designer and actually rarely have (or make) time to work with my personal stash and that makes me anxious, because I think all that yarn deserves to be made into something beautiful. So some yarns have been knit up, some gifted and some moved to my work stash to make into new designs and it helps me to work with yarn I want to be working with. Thank you for the inspiration
I find that if I keep a big stash or a stash for too long I will get bored of the yarn that I have because I've seen it so much. So I personally like to buy yarn for a specific project and use it right away
I have a small stash and some projects in bags waiting, but I start a project and finish it before I start the next one! I'd not be able to cope with several projects on the go at once!! Not that I'm complaining, it's just how I am!!!
Great insights on your yarn journey. I love seeing my yarn on the shelf( shelves) and enjoy it as art. The colors, the possibilities, the hopefulness of it all. Ahhh, but it might be time to visit the shelves and make a plan. Sometimes it feels like hoarding, but then I convince myself it's my art and my daily therapeutic activity. So I keep it and enjoy it as part of my home decor. Thanks for sharing. Love your videos.
Great stash update. Well done with your progress.
I like this! I worked on a few larger projects (blankets mostly) last year, and now am going through smaller projects! I'm loving (and always seeking) scraps/minis -- particularly in really bright colors! They're extremely hard to procure where I live 😭
I love the idea of giving some yarn away when you decide you really don't want it anymore. Also, you could take longer to decide if you really want to buy something new. When you are at a show, walk buy the yarn you think you might want several times before buying it. Think about the finished product, about wearing it and storing it. Do you still really want it? Then go ahead and get it.
This is great progress. Keep up the work, I know it’s not easy!
I really enjoyed watching this! I don’t have a huge stash but I found your thinking really interesting. I would try and sell some and recoup a bit of cash to spend at the future festivals! I am making a scrap blanket at the moment to use up left overs and that gives me a lot of pleasure! Take care and thank you x
Great video as always!
It is also somewhat my goal for this year, although not as organised as you. I can relate to the guilt of buying new shiny thing yet looking at my stash (some skeins dating back 8 years now) wondering when I'll get to it.
There is a shop in Montreal that take care of destash. You can go and give them your yarn, they will put them up for sale and give you a gift card for 80% of the sale price. This was a great relief for me because a) I hate dealing with sales (people not paying, not showing up, shipping being so expensive in Canada, etc) and b) it removes some of the guilt of losing all the money I spent.
I might have to do a more extensive purge, questionning if I really want to use this yarn or that yarn.
Thanks for the great reflections!
i've been enjoying getting to a place where i can go to my stash and be ok leaving aside the project i bought the yarn for because i'm not interested in that thing anymore and being able to shop from my stash for patterns I wanna try.
I really wanna do that display thing where you cake up the yarn and put it on pegs on the wall, but I sadly don't have the space for it right now.
Enjoyed that,,Natalie,,,,,
Like getting organized!!!
Elaine🏡🏡🏡
So, I just watched your January stash-down video, then this update, & wanted to remind you that in January, you counted 58 skeins. Of course you immediately began to remove some (14!), but still you should realize that getting down to 30 by the end of June was very close to halfway. Good job!
#question Natalie, when you join yarns for your yarn all, what technique do you use ? Thank you 😊
I thought this was a great video for all of your audience- from ideas of what to do with your stash to sunk cost and coping to what you hope to do....A few initial ideas when hearing you talk about the festivals and because yarn buying is a favorite past time for all of us.. perhaps stay home from the festivals this year and do some KALs during that time? Or go to the festivals with list of what to get others who are friends and can't go? I think if those festivals tempt you and keep you from meeting your goal.. I'd shy away from them this year, and have something interesting by you- a little class, a live zoom, for all that can't make it, and use your stash. Just a few ideas! haha! All the best, Kimberly
When I first started collecting my stash I tried to gather a well rounded selection of colours because I was looking at a lot of colour work projects. Now I find that I mainly work on socks and beanies so this still suits me. However for new additions to my stash I try to be thoughtful of my own tastes, not so much thinking of gift knits or such but I will actively wear or enjoy.
Although another part of my large stash is where I struggle to actually decide on what to give away as a gift. Especially if they prefer one of my favourite colours.
New Jersey yarn crawl? Is that in a video somewhere? I’m in NJ and I would love to participate if it happens again 2023
Sooooooooi inspiring! I’ve been following along and making changes on my own stash. Leftover yarn is bagged up in another storage spot for later. My current stash is visible and mostly all planned for in future projects. This has helped me so much…thank you, Natalie!
In my younger years I never wondered about the future. Now at my age I worry about being able to get any more in the future with an income on S.S.
I am here since the beginning of your elimination-stash-journey. Quite proud of you for being consistent, honest and helpful about this.
I am definitely a yarn hoarder and may never be at the point where you are now, but be a bit influenced to change my living room, so I have space for my yarn to display and start destashing a few skeins.
I don’t like that my yarn is in tote bags. Therefore lost track of the amount, but it feels like too many.
Well organised i have about 250 balls of yarn, some was gifted though. I still want to buy more 🤣🧶my plan is to make squares for a blanket for charity and donate some matching sets of hats and scarves. I am now making a list of what i have made. I also added my wool to rivalry and you can download your spreadsheet which is interesting .
Eliminating my stash isn't realistic for me (especially since the majority of what I have I still love), but with over 400 skeins I have made the decision to work through my stash and go through a no buy. It's hard because I love my local LYS and they have a wonderfully curated selection, but that's where I'm at.
400 omg 🤣🤣🤣🤣🧶👌
@@ASA-bl3hw I know! It's bad. In my defense, it's because I'm predominantly a sweater knitter and so I usually only buy sweater's quantities. 2023 is going to be a low buy. I can't commit to a no buy (tried that and failed miserably during 2019 - 2022).
i thought you would show your finished work
Hi
It’s not a easy achieve goal! Crafts need to add something new to stash to achieve the new design, that makes the stash keep growing. It’s all because we are keep design but not producing as fast as idea growing. 😅😅😅 that’s my problem.
So, you’re a serial stasher. Maybe talking it out will help🤪🧐
I was wondering why you were talking so quickly, then I realised my playback speed was x1.25 - facepalm!!