Tossing The Stash

Warning…more cleaning and organizing!

If you are a follower of The Yarn Harlot, you know that Ms. Stephanie likes to “toss” her stash once a year. She’s not getting rid of anything, just mixing it all around so the old stuff is not constantly stuck on the bottom. I decided I needed a bit of the same thing. Even though my yarn closet had a little bit of organization to it, it had gotten a bit out of hand and I’m not sure what all I have anymore.



These are shots of my closet. It was stuffed. I couldn’t see the floor anymore and to get the folding tables out, I would have to pull out several bags of yarn first. This was really starting to irritate me.

Step 1 is to get everything out of the closet! As usual, my guest bedroom is the staging area for the mess that was to ensue.



I had already taken the sheets off the guest bed to wash. If I had not already done it, it would have been necessary after this. Piles of yarns makes a mess and something in my stash makes me itch a bit. I have no idea what as I touched everything so I’ll have to keep an eye out when I finally get to knitting some of this stuff. Note, both the bed and the fold-out table in the back are covered with yarn.

Some of my yarn is still in the bags they were purchased in but so many of them had the misfortune of just roaming free. If you really need a reason to keep your stash organized and neat, just take a look at the yarn nests that had been created.



The situation was actually worse than it looks in the picture. It took hours to get all of the yarns untangled. And actually that black has not been completely untangled yet. I think I’m going to have to devote some serious movie-watching time to this one. To keep this from happening again, I have separated all of the yarns into separate plastic bags. I have collected a mass of those plastic covers from sheets, pillowcases, curtains, etc. And I am so glad that I have. These things really come in handy. When I was out of those, various sizes of zip bags fit the bill just fine.



Getting it all organized and neatly put back into the closet has made me want to get back to my yarn crafts, but there is one more thing I am determined to do first. More on that later. For now, look at how great my closet looks now. I’m so happy I can actually see the floor and my folding tables can slide out with no yarn shifting at all.



For all you yarn crafters out there, are you a regular stash tosser?

2011 Project #1

My crafting is getting off to a great start. I have completed two triangle shawl/scarves. This one is for me. The bright one is for my older sister. I am going to start on one for my younger sister later today. I wear min as a triangle scarf, but they are also perfect for wearing as shawls.





These are quick projects that really only take 2-3 days to complete. Not only am I on a crochet kick but I’m also on a never ending quest to cut down my stash. I did a pretty good job of it this past year but a trip to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival and a visit to Webs in Northampton, Mass derailed me a bit.

But this year, I am tackling it with a greater desire for organized storage space. I am starting the year off with a total of 75 yarns in my stash as listed in Ravelry. All of my yarns are listed there with the exception of the cotton I purchased during the holidays. Some of the 75 yarns are single skeins. Some are 10 skeins or more. The stash number only decreases when all skeins of a particular yarn have been used or given away or in some other way out of my hands. I still have more of the JoJo Land yarn used to make my scarf, but the yarn used to make my sister’s was just one skein of Noro sock yarn. So, I’m down to 74. We’ll see how things go in the new year.

How are you all doing on your stash?

I Am Serious About This!

I am all about getting yarn out of the stash, especially considering Stitches South is coming up and I know I am going to come home with too much new yarn.  So I am knitting away, determined to get at least half of my stash into projects for me or for the many new babies that keep sprouting up in my life. I track my yarn in Ravelry and right now I have 82 yarns (Some of these yarns consists of several skeins) in my stash. They can only come out of the active stash when they have been completely knit up or given away.  So, the goal for April 20th of this year is to be down to 41 yarns or less.  I encourage you all to do the same.

I was happy to find the Amelia Earhart Cap pattern that I used for the little cap in the last posting. It can be knit using one skein of yarn and is really cute.  Be careful that the yarn you use has at least 140+ yards though. The latest is white and very cute.

 I have already cast on the next project which will allow me to knock one more yarn off my count.  It's knitting up beautifully so I'm looking forward to finishing.  I'll post more about it later.  I have some  knitting time scheduled with friends later so I may just be able to finish it this weekend.

Aside from getting to clear the stash, all of the knitting is giving me some much needed stress relief.  I did so well to make it through the work week and I attribute it to the knitting.

The Atlanta Trip-Finale

While in Atlanta, a trip to IKEA inspired me to go ahead and start the recycling program at home I've been wanting to for so long. Finally I would go ahead and do it. I purchased 5 bins-2 large and 3 small for the common divisions of trash-paper, plastic, aluminum, glass, tin.

I did some research yesterday into the guidelines here in Chattanooga. I also had to check the schedule to see when the pick-up times are so I can make sure the items actually make it down to the road on the right day. They pick up once a month so I have to be careful I make the pick-ups. Otherwise I've be driving it all to a drop-off center. My intention was to label the bins and put them in the garage in a place that allows easy access. Looking at the website I saw that the city doesn't actually require you to separate the items. As long as they can be recycled, they can all go into the same bag and be put on the road. So, I decided to use one bin (a large one) and keep it in the kitchen for even easier access.


I'm not sure if that's where the bin will live permanently, but for now I think that's the best spot. Plus it elevates the plant for better sunlight access.

Glass can not be put on the road so I'll have to take wine bottles to the drop off center but I'm usually good about reusing other glass jars once empty. They are perfect for pantry organization. They offer great contrast to the store bought glass containers and make maintaining my pantry a little cheaper. Yay for reusing!









So now, what do I do with the remaining bins? Seeing that Atlanta is almost 2 hours away, returning them is just not practical or desirable honestly. So what to do? YARN STORAGE of course.

I took this opportunity to reorganize a closet that holds my sewing supplies. I put the bins in and labeled them for sock yarn, single skeins, small projects (for 2-4 same balls), and large projects (for 5+ same balls). I think this will work perfectly for my stash as I am still quite small in terms of stash. Since the bins aren't clear I can't automatically see what inside, but I'll use Ravelry to keep up with what I have as I am good about taking pictures of my stash.




The rest of the closet houses my sewing machine and notions and a table I pull out when needed. I added two baskets; one for large notions and patters, the other for WIP knitting. And of course, my knitting books are there.





Now I'm tired and off to clean and dust the house before I die from allergy attacks. Here's hoping your home is organized and dust free as well!

Yarn Crawl 2008-My Stash Grows and Grows

So much happened on my trip to Atlanta this weekend that it's impossible to capture it all in one post. So I'll have to post in pieces. I and four friends ventured to the Atl to see the Yarn Harlot. But more on that later.

I'll start with the Yarn Crawl portion of the trip and outline all of my purchases and wins (more about this in another post!!!). These are not in order of store visited but in order of picture uploaded.


Knitting Emporium-Kennesaw,GA
1 skein Colinette Jitterbug
2 balls Laines Du Nord Cleo
Book-A to Z of Crochet




Why Knot Knit-Atlanta,GA
1 skein Araucania Ranco Sock Yarn
1 skein Noro Kureyon
Knit Klips
Project Bag



Yarn Harlot/Knitch Event
Raffle Prize-5 skeins Noro Sock Yarn






Krazy Knitz-Dalton,GA
1 Addi Turbo Needle
2 balls Fortissima Sock Yarn-Teddy Bear
2 balls Cascade Fixation
2 skeins Antuco Cotton



Knitch-Atlanta,GA
4 skeins Claudia Hand Painted Sock Yarn
1 skein Mountain Colors Hand Painted Sock Yarn
1 Sock Guide
Book-Yarn Harlot
Book-Things I Leaned From Knitting
1 Addi Turbo Needle
1 Bag ground Knitch Coffee
Black Purse Handles


More about the raffle later. YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT ELSE I WON!!!!

Knitting Away the Stress

Being an engineer, stress is a natural part of the job. Add to that all the stress of just living life and I get a little wound up at times....okay a lot wound up. So, I've adopted the attitude that rather than binge on cookies and chips, I will keep my mind and hands busy with my hobbies.

Sometimes it jewelry making, sometimes it's scrapbooking and sometimes writing. Lately, the hobby of choice has been knitting. I find that concentrating on a pattern and working to finish a project really keeps my mind calm. And it keeps me from becoming the angry office 'B'.

But I sometimes procrastinate on starting a project. I will buy the book or pattern, get all the yarn I need and then nothing happens. Hanks of yarn have been lurking at the back of my closet for months with the fact that they have not been wound into balls my excuse for not starting those projects.

Well, last night I put aside that excuse and I sat and watched TV as I wound 7 balls of yarn that have been waiting for me to get into gear. A couple of those skeins wound into pretty big balls. No more excuses!

TIME TO CAST ON!!!!