Stash Progress from your humble hostess
My favorite thing about this blog is seeing all the creative ways that people are using their stashes. I also love all the supportive comments when people are tempted. In light on some of the posts seen here since the beginning of the swap, I want to share some of the best ideas I've seen in the comments.
Please, friends, read these suggestions in a helpful, gently supportive light. I have used specific examples with absolutely no intent of calling any of our dear SoSKAL-ers. You are the boss of your Summer of Stash, and you define its success.
1. Re: Yarn Sales -- figure out just how much you are going to save before breaking your commitment to yourself by not buying yarn this summer. Is a savings of less than $10 worth using an exception? You decide. A few people have suggested staying out of yarn shops, temporarily unsubscribing from e-newsletters, etc. Remove the temptation, if you need to.
2. Re: stash evaluations (i.e. "I have no sock yarn. I have no laceweight yarn, etc.") This summer is a great time to re-evaluate your stash, and decide on categories for future stash enhancement. Re-examine the yarns you do have. Fall in love with them again, or decide that you will no longer buy railroad ribbon yarn ever again, no matter how beautiful. Yarn has no expiration date. Your socks, your lace, your felting wool will all still be available in the fall.
3. Re: swaps -- please feel free to post requests for swaps. For those of us with more sock yarn than we could ever knit, maybe there is a knitter who wants to trade for something else. I will not be responsible for organizing large-scale swaps, but there is enough yarn represented on this blog to at least put it out there. Be willing to swap if you have what someone is looking for.
4. Re: exceptions -- consider being really stingy with your exceptions. You vacation yarn shoppers (and I am one of them), consider buying yarn only if it is not available in your LYS. Or just one skein of something special, that really speaks to you about where you have travelled.
We all have different reasons for joining this KAL, and we all have different temptations and irritants. I established the Summer of Stash so that I could spend the summer without adding to my "to be knitted" queue, so I could actually knit some of the beautiful yarns I already have, to clear out some distractions, some UFOs, some unloved yarns, and re-center myself as a knitter yet again. Keep reminding yourself why you have signed up for Summer of Stash, and let that guide you.
One of my ongoing themes in my Summer of Stash is annoyance with little odds and ends and leftover balls of yarn. I love that feeling of using anything up, whether it is shampoo or jelly or every last yard of yarn. So in that spirit, I bring you:
Two Balls of Cascade Fixation:
I think I have enough leftover for a headband!
Details and other ramblings on my blog.
Please, friends, read these suggestions in a helpful, gently supportive light. I have used specific examples with absolutely no intent of calling any of our dear SoSKAL-ers. You are the boss of your Summer of Stash, and you define its success.
1. Re: Yarn Sales -- figure out just how much you are going to save before breaking your commitment to yourself by not buying yarn this summer. Is a savings of less than $10 worth using an exception? You decide. A few people have suggested staying out of yarn shops, temporarily unsubscribing from e-newsletters, etc. Remove the temptation, if you need to.
2. Re: stash evaluations (i.e. "I have no sock yarn. I have no laceweight yarn, etc.") This summer is a great time to re-evaluate your stash, and decide on categories for future stash enhancement. Re-examine the yarns you do have. Fall in love with them again, or decide that you will no longer buy railroad ribbon yarn ever again, no matter how beautiful. Yarn has no expiration date. Your socks, your lace, your felting wool will all still be available in the fall.
3. Re: swaps -- please feel free to post requests for swaps. For those of us with more sock yarn than we could ever knit, maybe there is a knitter who wants to trade for something else. I will not be responsible for organizing large-scale swaps, but there is enough yarn represented on this blog to at least put it out there. Be willing to swap if you have what someone is looking for.
4. Re: exceptions -- consider being really stingy with your exceptions. You vacation yarn shoppers (and I am one of them), consider buying yarn only if it is not available in your LYS. Or just one skein of something special, that really speaks to you about where you have travelled.
We all have different reasons for joining this KAL, and we all have different temptations and irritants. I established the Summer of Stash so that I could spend the summer without adding to my "to be knitted" queue, so I could actually knit some of the beautiful yarns I already have, to clear out some distractions, some UFOs, some unloved yarns, and re-center myself as a knitter yet again. Keep reminding yourself why you have signed up for Summer of Stash, and let that guide you.
One of my ongoing themes in my Summer of Stash is annoyance with little odds and ends and leftover balls of yarn. I love that feeling of using anything up, whether it is shampoo or jelly or every last yard of yarn. So in that spirit, I bring you:
Two Balls of Cascade Fixation:
I think I have enough leftover for a headband!Details and other ramblings on my blog.
posted by Liz K. at 6:38 AM
2 Comments:
Thanks for summarizing this list. I've saved it in bloglines so I can go back and re-read it easily when I need a little boost!
And my vacation knitting exception (if for me) will only be something I can't easily get otherwise.
Thank you so much for this "refresher" post!! I find myself thinking about this KAL eery day now! I wnat to be really proud of what I've finished and the creaive ways I use my stash when Labor Day rolls around (feels like it's around the corner). Thank you again for hosting this!
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