Clearing Out The Stash

Last Updated on August 2, 2017 by lydiaf1963

It finally happened! The day of reckoning had arrived…I could no longer delay sorting through and decluttering my yarn stash.

Years ago my grandmother taught me how to knit and crochet. I relearned knitting and really caught the bug two years ago after Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander became a TV series on Starz. Have you watched it? Although lacking the rich storytelling of the novels, there’s no faulting the fantastic locations and even more incredible costuming. Almost overnight all kinds of Facebook groups opened up, devoted to sharing textiles inspired by the series.

Like so many others, I was also inspired to create some beautiful cowls and other knitted items. Thanks to the Knitting4Knewbies Facebook group, I’ve become a knitter. At first I used fat, chunky acrylic yarns that are easily handled but as my knitting skills have improved, the yarn has become finer and of better quality. I’m currently working on a project with a hand dyed merino yarn that’s soft and squishy. I don’t even want to work with some of the first yarns I purchased anymore.

My knitting area is in a corner of the living room. I have a POANG chair and a RASKOG cart from IKEA so I can sit and knit while watching television. Like other corners in my home, things get a little out of control if I don’t stay on top of them and before I knew it, my area was overflowing with unfinished Works In Progress, leftover balls from completed projects, and skeins of yarn I bought because I liked them and had a vague purpose in mind.

When my initial stash outgrew the dresser drawer, I upgraded to a Ziplock product which fits under the bed so there was yarn under the bed plus that on my cart. The first step to confronting a problem is to admit you have one and the first step to decluttering a yarn stash is to lay it all out on the bed.

It was a little embarrassing even though I know my stash is a modest one.

First things first, I put all the long straight knitting needles and afghan crochet hooks into a case Rick bought me for a birthday present. The regular sized hooks and needles are currently stored in repurposed makeup bags. The different pockets are great for holding all the accessories, too.

Then I sorted through the cheap acrylic yarn I had kept thinking I could make hats to donate to charity. Well, it turns out the cheap acrylic stuff makes terrible hats and I only made a couple. It all went into the donation pile.

Next, I sorted through the balls of yarn leftover from completed projects.

Finally, the yarn I wanted to keep was sorted by type and weight, then bagged up to await the perfect project.

Now, there’s probably a similar system in other cities, but where I live there are recycle bins all over the place and the custom is to put items that other people might want by the recycle bins. I set three grocery bags full of yarn in the area on my way to my Spanish class. Would you believe it was all gone when I came back an hour later?

We’re halfway through our Decluttering Challenge. Have you joined our Facebook group for more resources? When I started I listed three areas I wanted to address: my clothes, my crafts and my blogs. With the stash under control I’m ready to move on to the next item; beginning with my desk.