30 May 2012

Exploring the stash

After reading Truly Myrtle's post on "stash grooming", I was inspired to reevaluate my own stash.  I actually have two stashes as many college students do, one at my parent's house and one at college.  Inevitably, I often forget what I have in my home stash.

So, this morning I broke out my stash, organized it, and entered it all onto Ravelry, and it felt great!

Here it all is (not counting a bag I'll mention later):


I've got a healthy mix of handspun, luxury, self dyed, and acrylics (that people always seem to gift me).

I remembered how much I loved to dyed yarn a couple of years ago.  I've had some pretty experiments and some not so pretty experiments.  I'm definitely going to make time to dye some more this summer.  I especially want to try dyeing with tea again (the brown skein below).


Some wonderful family friends gifted me some amazing new yarns that I've never tried knitting with before.  The first two are Cascade Sierra (cotton/wool blend) and the third one is Manos Silk Blend.  Didn't they pick out the best colors?


Lastly I dug through my undyed base yarn bag and I have a lot of yarn to work with.  I have a skein of Knit Picks Bare DK, 6 skeins of Cascade 220, and 5 skeins of Cascade 220 Superwash.  This was excellent news because Lisa and I have been planning a yarn dyeing party this summer, we are going to have a blast!


I've always been proud of being able to maintain my stash at a reasonable size, this summer I'm planning on downsizing it a lot with some great new projects.

Have any exciting stash plans?

22 comments:

  1. That Manos is gorgeous, what are your plans for it? Looks like you are going to have some fun knitting this summer too

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  2. I feel like I had my stash under control then suddenly it exploded. I blame my friend for introducing me to nice yarn and socks. I was really more of a plan a project get the yarn and I didn't buy willy nilly because mostly it was acrylic. Then socks called my name and I just kept buyng. Now I have 4 bins filled with yarn in my apartment. Alas, perhaps a yarn diet is in order.

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  3. Your stash does look very reasonable. What's your secret?

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  4. You have such a pretty stash! I get mine out and I'm not inspired much at all, but I could do something with yours for sure. ;) I can't wait to see all your yarn dyed up and knit up!

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  5. You've got some lovely yarn!
    Oh my goodness, I am never showing a picture of my stash - it is much much larger .... oh dear - I have a lot of work to do! Thanks for the linky luv :)
    I am this close to learning to spin - you have HUGELY influenced me - what will that do to my stash????

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  6. Wonderful stash Ivy. I like the variety that it offers!

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  7. I'm de-stashing my sock yarn leftovers by
    knitting up some scrappy sox. First pair completed, second pair/first sock on the needle.
    hugs

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  8. YES We need to dye! I want to try natural dyes, something, oddly enough, we were talking about in my figure class that I can't wait to share with you. I plan on grooming and organizing and getting it ALL on ravelry once I move out and have more space for yarn storage. Is it weird that I can't wait to do so?

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  9. What a cute stash you have :O). I see you're attracted to blues.
    I need to organize mine by weight.

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  10. Oooh, what a lovely stash! Gorgeous colors, a nice mix of fiber blends, and not at all unruly. And your hand-dyed yarn is totally scrumptious! Reading your post got me thinking about my own stash, which has been quite static for several years now. Early in my knitting life, I used to buy yarn just because I liked it, not because I had a project in mind, which resulted in lots of random yarn purchases. Now I either buy or spin yarn for a specific project, and usually knit it up before it even has a chance to go into the stash at all. Oh, the joys of stash management! :)

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  11. Ugh, stashes. Mine, well, it's a little large. I have a bad habit of "adopting" yarn I find at thrift stores and yard sales.

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  12. I always suffer from yarn envy when I see pictures of your projects. Today is no exception. I am so drawn to the amazing blends of colors and textures. I've never dyed or spun my own yarn, but I'm inspired by your summer plans. What would you recommend for a first time?

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  13. I am embarrassed at my yarn stash now after seeing how small yours is... ouch.

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  14. No exciting stash plans here, but I do love your collection of ready-to-dye yarn! I look forward to seeing what you create!

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  15. I love the different colours and textures of your yarn stash.
    Me, I am trying so dang hard to actually use my stash before I order anything new, even though there are so many lush yarns I would love to own and stroke

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  16. Love all your blue skeins :)
    I went through my stash a couple of weeks ago with a little help from Eirin,and it Ffeels good to finally know what I have!
    I am also trying to knit up some of it before I buy more. Just allowing me to get some skeins from some yarn clubs ;)

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  17. I'm really excited to see how your dyeing goes, I'm sure you'll come up with some fantastic colours. You have some great friends! I love wool/cotton, it's one of my favourite blends. :)

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  18. I'm knitting with Manos silk blend now (my Amari Shawl) and it's gorgeous. Let me know what you think when you cast that baby on!

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  19. ooooh... i think that my stash is decidedly out of control.

    like... ridiculous.

    BUT! there are worse things...

    :)

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  20. Your stash is yummy! I can't wait to see the yarn that you dye:) Stash plans? not really but I should give it a fluff and see what's in there. Maybe that's where my mojo is:)

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  21. Your stash looks great! I'm a sucker for blues so I love your hand dyed skeins!

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  22. I just decided to tackle the home-stash basket! I'm still working on the big knot I found in there.... .__.
    Your stash looks so colorful! I can't wait to see what you do with it!

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