We take a certain winking pride in the knitting community when it comes to our stashes. We know that we potentially spend too much money on yarn. And that we may never have the time to finish all the projects we have planned. But we just keep buying. The fantasy makes us happy. The daydreams about challenges faced and conquered fill our hours. But the “treat yo’self” attitude that can come with buying yarn isn’t always healthy. Is it really a treat if we do it all the time? And unless you, unlike me are independently wealthy, money is always some level of concern for each of us. So does it make sense to have hundreds, oh who am I kidding, in most cases a thousand dollars or more just sitting in a closet. That money could be in a 401k. It could pay bills. It could be converted into singles and we could make it rain on a deserving loved one. Admittedly, as a Catholic, a native of the Midwest, and someone a single generation removed from poverty, I am especially prone to both guilt and fiscal responsibility. But I don’t think there is anything wrong with taking a look at our yarn buying habits, and at whether our healthy knitting habits have turned into a dangerous but delicious hoarding habit.
I live in an adorable but small apartment with limited space so I have to consider not just the cost of yarn but the need for storage. In order to make sure I’m not buying more than I can knit I invented a Stash Management System in which I always have something to knit, but I also am actually knitting the yarns I buy.
THE GREAT PURGE: A few years ago before I moved I got really into the Marie Kondo KonMari method. This resulted in me throwing away any yarn that was ratty and cheap that I knew I would never use. I also gave away anything I didn’t love but that someone else might. We don’t knit with yarn we don’t like, so why keep it? I gave away a large trash bag full of yarn to a friend who was new to knitting and didn’t have her own stash. This reduced my yarn collection down to one large Rubbermaid tote.
FLIRTATION, COURTSHIP, CONSUMMATION: Last year I read Slow Knitting by Hannah Thiessen. It is a very good book that caused me to think about where my yarn comes from, what it takes to create it, and how I am participating in the global economy. It also reversed my thinking when it comes to buying yarn. I used to decide I wanted to make a project and then I would go out and buy the yarn for it. Now I fall in love with yarn. And I decide that I want to work with it. An example of this is the Goldfish Mighty sock from The Lemonade shoppe. I loved it when I saw it on Etsy. But I didn’t rush to buy it. I thought about it. I let myself wonder what I would make out of it. And then one day it came to me. KNEE SOCKS. I love knee socks. I want Knee socks. I want Knee socks out of that Goldfish yarn I saw. I found a pattern. Bought the yarn and the socks were completed in a month. Maybe it would’ve played out the same way if I’d been perusing patterns, decided I wanted to make that specific pair of socks, and then went shopping for the right yarn. But I don’t think so. I was in love with the project. And I only wanted to be with it. I looked forward to when my next chance to knit would come.
COMMITMENT: In order to keep myself from falling in love and buying all the yarn in the world. I only buy yarn when I have been knitting enough that I know that it isn’t about cheap thrills and one night stands. So I use my Stash Management System. I set a goal number. Usually 1000 points for a sweater quantity of yarn. 500 points for a new project. And when I get enough points the debit card comes out.
I don’t know if this combination of discipline and hippie dippy yarn love would work for most knitters. But is has kept me from buying so much yarn that I don’t have room for clothes, food, or friends. And I am knitting up a storm. Since I am excited about every single skein and ball of yarn I have, I can hardly wait to work with it. If any of you try it, please let me know.
Yarn Stash Management
10 pts Cast on project
50 pts Give Away Yarn
100 pts Sell yarn
75 pts Finish a project
25 pts Trade yarn instead of buying
250 pts Finish a project gestating more than 2 years
150 pts Use yarn bought more than 5 years ago
The stash before I got to work.
