A Curated Yarn Stash

As a fibre artist, a curated yarn stash is the back bone of our designs.

Hello fiber gang, I know we are already well into the new year, but some things have not changed. I don’t know about you, but I feel that my crafty time has diminished and as a result, my carefully curated yarn stash has remained idle. So much yarn, so little time.

Like many of you, I also intend to remedy this stash situation. The yarn stash is taking over and these carefully curated yarns need to be put to use. Especially because at the beginning of my curating stash days I bought without rhyme or reason. I know, those poor neglected hanks of yarn. Well, no more. I am going to delve into my collection and walk through some of the projects that these beauties have assigned.

Stash

• (verb) – Store something safely and secretly in a specified place.
• noun – a store or supply of something.

These are not the definitions I associate with a Yarn Stash. To me, a Yarn stash is a collection of carefully curated hanks, skeins or balls, of varying weights and fiber blends that were purchased to brighten our homes and our souls. True, sometimes the purchasing can get out of hand and then we wind up with more yarn than we know what to do with. What then is the solution? Assign a purpose to your curated yarn stash. I know this can be a very long list, so I will only mention a couple of the yarns that have projects assigned to them.

1. Lolli Yarn by Conway and Bliss – I overbought when I was making the Secret Garden Dress by Cassie Ward and I had 5.5 balls leftover of the Lemon Colorway and 2 of the apple, (among other colors) but these were the two that I decided were going to be combined to make a Riveret Top from Pom Pom Magazine.

2. Aqua colored yarn from Argentina paired with Aqua speckled Yarn from Emmy Couture (she does not dye yarn any more) I have been meaning to crochet Hannah’s Frost Shawl  with this yarn combo. I don’t know the makeup of the yarn from Argentina but I’m pretty sure it is a worsted weight wool blend. I just have to decide what sections to work with which yarns.

3. Yarn from craftsy, I bought this yarn at least 3 years ago to crochet the fingerless mitts from Making Winter Book by Emma Mitchell. I still very much want to make the mitts using the yarn.

4. Solstice from Voolenvine – This yarn is very precious to me, subtle speckling on a light grey base, and I love the name of the yarn. For the longest time I had kept this yarn in my stash to make a Peter Pan Collar with but I have since changed my mind. Instead I am thinking of combining this hank with the Horcrux mini-skein set that Claudia of crochetluna gifted me and crocheting a Six Wives Shawl. I’ve even reasoned out the color scheme for each wife.

5. Random 1 dollar yarn in stash – I found this yarn at a knitting shop in Orlando that I visited with Caleisha, Hannah, and my mom (best day ever!) I actually bought this one with the express purpose of making a cropped version of the Adelong by Addie Day Designs. This crochet sweater has long since captured my attention because of its interesting construction. I just hope I have enough yarn because I can’t even read the label and it would be just like me to jump right in without considering yarn amounts.

6. Fibre Co Canopy from Knitcrate Membership Box – A gorgeous blend of Bamboo, Alpaca, and Merino in a light denim blue. I really had no idea what to do with these 3 50g hanks of yarn, but wouldn’t you know, Emma’s Hanging Rock design book I,  had just the Shawl for this amount of yarn.

Of course, these are just a few of the yarns/projects I want to work with this year, this list does not include any of the designs in progress, of which only 1 has been started. I have 4 Sterilite containers full of yarn. Perhaps I should add more garments to my list of projects, I will certainly use up the yarn faster that way!

Speaking of garments, I have a knit one that no longer fits (XS), made using Ella Rae Yarn in Evergreen and Silver. It is a cropped sweater with 3/4″ sleeves. I will be showing it in Episode 75 of the Podcast which should go live on Monday the 9th of March. If you are interested please comment on this blog post.

Are you organizing your Yarn stash this year or running away from it?

XOXO

Clarisabeth