Many years ago a very dear friend said to me (while creating space for yet another book case in his modest sized home) 'little enough time to read has never seemed to me sufficient reason for not buying a good book when I see it'.
He always planned to read more when he retired - and he did. It can be a little like this with yarn.
There probably comes a time in all truly Dedicated Knitters' lives when we have to fess up to the true extent of our stashes. Now I don't just mean the odd tweets, like this...
@chopkins_knits OMG!!! Just had to buy some positively divine cashmere #justoneskein #nowillpower.
to which fellow knitters reply
@aknitter show us!! POIDH
No that's small potatoes. I mean a moment such as I had today when I was looking for materials I'm going to need for tomorrow. Most of my yarn is in a huge walk-in cupboard above our staircase. When I last spoke about my stash it was fairly neatly contained in two plastic boxes with clip on lids (the clips just worked if I sat on the box lids) both fitting more or less neatly under our bed, it's bigger than that now
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| Not Pretty |
The two boxes are still there (together with three boxes of fabric and a fourth for haberdashery, we'll gloss over these for the moment) But there seems also to be bags and bags of other stuff. Rather neatly categorised I am proud to say but that doesn't stop there being two large bags of sock yarn, bought just because it is pretty, hand dyed yarn in various fibres (merino, cashmere and alpaca in the main), skeins of luxury yarn just enough for a small shawl and several bags of sale yarn, enough for a sweater, from bigger producers like Rowan and Debbie Bliss.
When I turned it out onto the landing and surveyed its full extent I had to admit I might have more yarn than I can knit in a lifetime. Now I know I made a new year's resolution to knit up much of my sock yarn but I'm also going to share another plan with you. I'm going to shop my stash for a while and ban my self from making impulse buys from yarn shops. Like my friend I am retiring soon so this might be a good time to stick to my plan.
POIDH? (pics or it didn't happen) A tiny sample of what was in the bags and boxes
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| ready beaded kid mohair and silk lace weight by tilli thomas |
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| falkland merino 4ply sock from The Skein Queen |
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| British gotland lace - 'storm coming' by The Little Grey Sheep |
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| cashmere DK, hand-dyed (from her garden plants) by Elisabeth Beverly |
Some yarns make it quite obvious what they should be made into, others don't so much, I think I have about half an half here but all will be revealed in good time
xx
c
4 comments:
That cashmere DK looks particularly inviting to me, but then I have a soft spot for both the fiber and the plant-dying! ;)
Thank you for reminding me that I should find some yarn to destash for a giveaway. It's time! The only thing that's standing in my way is all the stuff between me and the stash boxes...
Your stash is lovely! I've sworn to only knit from stash this year, and so far I've stuck to it. Currently I'm working with my P3 purchase, merino/cashmere fingering for a cardigan. And if we're talking acronyms, then it looks like we both have a bad case of SABLE (Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy). ;-)
Fabulous all! I'm especially jealous of your Tilli Tomas (which I know I helped "enable" you!). I acquired the same skein earlier this year myself but now I'm wishing I'd snagged it in that fabulous colour!!
You've heard of SABLE of course? Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy (in case you hadn't). I'm aiming for it but I've a way to go yet I hope!
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