There’s a reason you bought all that yarn in the first place, right? I know there is a plethora of your very own yearn worthy yarn, just sitting in your house waiting to be picked up and turned into an amazing project. Whether its a sturdy cotton blend, a fancy novelty yarn, or any one of the numerous environmentally friendly yarns we like to tell you about, your stash is a wonderful wealth of fiber. So use it! Consumption is a sometimes tricky issue to tackle, because no one wants to be told that we buy too much stuff. But we do and we need to be doing less. Earlier this month I had the chance to hear Diane MacEachern, author of Big Green Purse speak on her book, consumption and purchasing power. The big take away for me, was that first things first, we need to purchase less; consume less. Then shift some of our spending to the most environmentally friendly products out there. Amy over at the Hook and I sums this up nicely: Thanks Amy! I have to agree. I have been tempted many a time by a particularly lovely fiber, that then just sits on top of my stash. If you are swayed by the powers of fiber and do end up purchasing some new yarn, have a project in mind that you will use and love once finished. It breaks my heart when you finish a particularly long and hard pattern only to find out at the end that either you didn’t purchase enough yarn or blocking goes awry, so it just sits there. To help with stashbusting here are a couple of ideas:
Organize – sort through your yarn and organize by color and skein. Put all the same skiens in clear bags so it is easy to see their color and texture. Storage – Have a place to store your yarn that is within easy reach and is not impossible to get to. If you put your yarn in the back of the closet, in a storage tub, under your suitcase, you’re never going to get through your stash. Project Log – Make a list of all the projects that you want to do with your yarn. Record it in your journal and on note cards that you can easily slip into the bag of yarn that it corresponds with. If you already have a pattern to go with the yarn, slip that into the bag instead. Miscellaneous Leftovers – Usually when you come to the end of a project you have a bit of yarn leftover. Here’s a great article on how to make Magic Balls of Yarn with those pesky little bits.
Have other ideas on how to get through your stash? Let us know in the comments! More Yearn Worthy Yarn:
Silk Hemp Recycled
Image credit: splityarn on Flickr under a creative commons license
