Stash (n): a secret store of something

We all have a stash. I have a stash. Lea-Ann has a stash. Our stash just happens to be yarn! We bring that yarn into the house, put it away, buy more yarn we like, choose to use it for a purpose other than originally intended, decide to put the project aside and start something new, or just throw it in the stash bin and leave it as an unfinished projects. Here is my stash story:

Back in August, I bought Shepherd’s Wool for the Hayley Hoodie.  I’ve ogled this sweater pattern for a while in the store and decided to make it since my sister, Haley, would not. I bought the yarn and was vigorously knitting it during my lecture classes in college. It was a top-down, cable edge design, and I got the hood done. I was working on the ribbing inbetween the hood and the shoulders when I stopped. I got bored, or maybe I just wanted to get DONE with something!

So, I started to pick up one skein projects. I knitted two headbands (Calorimetry from Knitty.com) for friends Christmas gifts, a ribbed scarf with odds and ends of Shepherd’s Wool interspersed with one matching skein of Noro Kureyon which I didn’t use it for it’s original intentions, a hat for someone else, etc. It felt good to knit those items. I set a small goal for myself every time.For example, the ribbed scarf was being made for my trip to Chicago. I learned that setting dates and times for these projects helped me finish them.

Some of those projects were not one skein, some of them were two!  I bought Rio and knitted a 2-skein hat with that.  I rummaged through my stash and found yarn from a sale a long time ago. I had started something and got bored with it, so I stashed that.  When I came across it again, I searched on Ravelry for a pattern with my weight of yarn and found something I liked. The color of the yarn was pink, and I knew my sister-in-law would love it, too.  I made her a cowl in a couple of days with that yarn (it’s a bulky weight).

The point is, stashing is just fine. We buy yarns and don’t want to knit what we originally planned but eventually find a new purpose for them and renewed determination later to get that project done. It’s what I did. Many of us do that. If it’s taking way too long to make a sweater or your bored, do a couple quick one skein projects. My motto at the store lately is “if we get something accomplished, we need to push the ‘easy’ button.” Reward yourself for getting it done. It helps. Don’t be worried about putting something down and picking it up later, Lea-Ann can help you figure out where you left off or write yourself a note saying what row, repeat, etc. you stopped on. I know that the Hayley hoodie will be picked up again someday. Just not yet… 🙂

What project have you started and stashed?  What yarn are you stashing?  Did you know we have a sale at the store on Thursday and Friday of this week? Its the ideal time to pick up some project yarn or enhance your stash!