This morning I woke up and things felt a bit off. I suffer from anxiety (who doesn’t, it seems?) and today’s point of worry was the fact that I feel like I have too much stuff. I stare at my yarn stash, and it is throat-lump-inducing. I wish I hadn’t developed it, but now I’m saddled with it, and I can’t imagine anyone wants to buy it off me. I might try selling some of it this winter once I get a bit more settled into a routine, as well as selling some shoes I don’t wear but that are pretty collectible and in perfect or near-perfect condition.
Back to: stash.
My ultimate dream is to go stashless
I haven’t bought yarn in over half a year, and I’m planning on holding onto that plan for at least 12 months, if not longer. I want to knit from my stash, as I’m compelled to knit, but I’ve outgrown it in many ways. The things I want to knit right now don’t match the things I wanted to knit a few years ago. My tastes have changed, and (I’d like to think) refined a little. My ultimate dream is to go stashless, to not have this horde of yarn to lug around every time I move. I am therefore slowly cataloguing my yarn, deciding what I can use, how I can use it, and what I need to sell or donate. It’s a shame because the money I used to buy it was hard-got, but my mental health wants simplification, and damn it, I’m giving it that at least.
Instead of this being primarily a boring venting/complaining post, I would like to offer my present and future self a list of goals and methods to keep the stash down where it belongs. I give you:
Aja’s Stashdown Tenets 2016
- No buying yarn until that anxious feeling subsides (better than a tangible number of skeins, or projects, as this point — I trust my gut on this).
- If buying books or patterns, they must be able to be used with the present stash as it exists. This having been said…
- Try to knit from already-purchased patterns in your library. If you don’t like them anymore, someone else will, so get cracking on those gifts (see item 6). As an extension:
- No buying online patterns unless you plan to cast on directly. No exceptions.
- Get rid of any and all acrylic or unnatural fibres. No exceptions. (This is quite gratifyingly easy as I have a very limited amount of acrylic).
- Knit presents for people, if possible, to get rid of stash. Start as early as possible.
- Put unwanted stash up for sale on Ravelry. Don’t think twice about it.
- Try to enjoy the freedom of taking hold of a situation that makes you uncomfortable and getting through it! This is great!
