Over the last decade, my yarn stash has grown to gargantuan proportions. I could run a store out of my craft room, except that my craft room is a horrible mess. Was a horrible mess.
It was kind of sad because being in my craft room normally makes me happy. But over the past year it turned into a catch all junk room, and walking into it just made me depressed.
About a week ago, I bit the bullet, rolled up my metaphorical sleeves – because long sleeves are entirely optional in Texas – and started cleaning. I cleaned the storage space off the laundry and moved Kid 1’s soap and candle making supplies there. I boxed my sewing supplies and moved them to the storage too.
I threw away the blanket and other things, like the cardboard sewing mat, which had been ruined by Batty, our semi-feral cat, during her brief stay in the room while her nose healed. It was the only place we could’ve sequestered her from the other cats and she kept escaping.
I sorted my art supplies and bought a tall plastic dresser into which I would stuff my paint and knitting needles once it arrived.
I spread plastic on our new garage floor, and dumped all of my yarn in a massive pile onto it. I emptied the shelves, the bins, everything.
I swept and mopped the awful concrete floor. The next day my husband kind of quietly disappeared in the morning. After about 45 minutes, I went looking for him and found him in the craft room. He had spare rubber floor tiles left over from when we made our home gym and he laid a new floor in the craft room for me. He didn’t say anything about it. I just walked in and there was a new floor. It’s soft. 🙂
Once everything was out, it was time to deal with the yarn pile. I sorted through it for three days. The weather was nice and the garage faces a well-walked street. Some masked neighbors stopped by because the site of me crawling around in the garage around a mountain of yarn was very amusing. I gave away two 25 gallon plastic containers worth of yarn. One of our neighbors knits blankets for feral cats, which is all kinds of neat.
Also a Texas millionaire stopped by to welcome us to the neighborhood. He lives in a house down the street. He was riding his fancy motorcycle down the street, pulled a U turn, and drove into our driveway, mostly to talk to Gordon who had come outside in solidarity and was sitting in the sun, reading his Kindle.
They talked about the bike a bit, and about the previous owners, and how we have lived here for three years now and he is both shocked that much time had passed and sorry that he hasn’t come by sooner. At some point, he told us that some neighbors were moving to a 20 acre ranch and scoffed a bit, “That’s a play ranch. A ranch is about 500-600 acres. I had one. Best years of my life.” You get these a lot in Texas. They don’t wear expensive clothes, but you can usually tell there is money there by what they drive.
It became clear that the amount of yarn I have greatly exceeds our storage. I blame my therapist. No, seriously. A few years ago, I had the mother of all burnouts and I went to therapy. I had an absolutely amazing therapist, who tried very hard to figure out what I actually liked to do for fun. And it was determined that I like buying yarn, but I also felt guilty, because most of the yarn I bought hasn’t been used. She said, “Does the yarn make you happy?” I said that yes, it did. She said, “Buy the yarn and stop worrying about it.” See? I’m blameless.
Okay, I sounded like Ascanio there. But still, blameless.
The right answer to the overabundance of yarn is, of course, to buy less yarn. When I told that to Gordon, he gave me this man look reserved for when wives say something that husbands believe to be absurd, and told me that the answer to this crisis is more storage.
I bought a really neat plastic cube set and built another storage unit out of it. My plan is to sort the yarn even further. Right now I have it separated by weight and somewhat by fiber. (That means I set cotton aside, if you’re wondering.) I could probably separate it by color, too, since I have a lot of sock yarn.
While sorting through all of the yarn, I found some half-finished projects. So here is my hall of shame. Behold all the things I worked on and didn’t complete.
2/3 Of a Sweater
A sweater and a sleeve. Worsted wool. Probably made for one of the children. I don’t remember anything about it. I don’t know how many stitches there were for the other sleeve or how to join the sleeves to the body. I don’t know what pattern this is. I do have the yarn, however. It’s rolled into a ball. Without a label. Mystery yarn.
Probability of finishing: Maybe. 50%. I mean, it is 2/3 of a sweater, so that was a lot of work. I just don’t know how I would finish it since there is nothing in my pattern library that remotely resembles this. Did I free-hand it?
1/8 of a Shawlette
I do know what this is. This is Hitchhiker by by Martina Behm. Knitted in Silver Shiny from Destination Yarn. The pictures don’t show it well, but it’s very shiny. I remember why I stopped this. While the yarn is gorgeous, the pattern is very… well, it’s just miles of garter stitch.
Probability of finishing it: Meh. 30%?
1/3 of Crochet Shawl
This is Blue Heron Rayon Metallic yarn. It’s very sparkly, which you can’t see in the pictures, and the colors are gorgeous, but there is zero elasticity. It’s like cotton. This can be put to a really good use when mixed with wool.
This is a shawl I knitted in 2017. I blocked it once to open the wool lace sections, and I haven’t had to block it since, because the garter sections of Blue Heron are holding it open.
I am not sure what is happening with the partial green-brown shawl above. It’s crocheted lace at the appropriate gauge for the yarn weight but the lace holes are huge. This is not a functional garment. This is more of a decorative garment and I am not sure if it is pretty enough to justify that label. I clearly meant it as a summer shawl, which I will wear in Texas never, because it’s 50 degrees, 50 degrees, and then 102. There is no in between.
Probability of finishing: Meh. 30%.
1/4 of a Shawl
This is The Joker and The Thief by Melanie Berg. And this was a gift from Laura, who decided that she would never make it herself and sent it to me with one request, “Make it and wear it.” I am the worst person. The worst.
This pattern had ends. And ends. And ends. The grey sections were painfully awkward and weaving in ends drove me nuts. I must’ve been having a hard time when I tried to knit this, because I remember thinking, “This is too hard and I just can’t do it.” Looking at it now, what’s so hard about it? It’s garter stitch, mostly.
Probability of finishing: Probably. 75%. Guilt factor is high.
3/4 of a Blue Shawl
Okay, so you can’t tell from the pictures, but this thing is massive. It has over 1,000 yards of sock weight yarn in it. Looks like 2 full skeins and I have about 2/3 of a skein left. Judging by the speckle on the final yarn, probably Hedgehog Fibers.
I remember this one. It was during the phase when everyone on Ravelry was doing these enormous fade shawls. I decided to free-hand one because I wanted something mindless to knit. I am going to pat myself on the back and say that the quality of fade on this one is quite good. It is quite pretty and will be prettier once I block all the weird stitches into uniform fabric. This was stress knitting and it shows in a couple of places.
Probability of finishing: Probably. 75%.
Once I am done with the craft room, I will take pictures. Or maybe not. Depending on how guilty I feel about the size of my stash. But the craft room is now 95% done and it makes me very happy. And while I didn’t finish some of these things, at least I now know they exist and where they can be found. 🙂 And knowing is half of the battle.
At least that’s what I tell myself.
Never, ever feel guilty about the size of your stash! You are just playing s/he who dues with the biggest stash wins! You can never have too much nice yarn or cloth!
A little late but just saw/read the post and am here just to say that Gordon is a treasure.
Glad to know I’m not the only one with a sock yarn addiction. Just saw an article in Vogue Knitting where they said that having a stash is not bad, especially in times like these. As for the unfinished projects, it’s better to start new projects and not finish them than never start anything new. They’re all beautiful.
????
Impressive! I just moved out of my craft room and now I need to go through all the crafts in the dining room before I have to move them into the kitchen. Maybe next week.
????????
Tell me about it. I’m in the process of cleaning my own craft room. Why is that the room that turns into the dump room. We have a second room to use as a junk room and it always seems to go into mine!
“Why does this crap always end up in my craft room?”
“Hey! You wanted me to clean up the
mess in the laundry room, and I’m
quoting you here, ‘that’s where you
work on stuff’…So that’s where I put it”
“Love of my life, I have NEVER, and will never work on the carburetor of your Chevy Biscayne in my knitting basket.”
In my old place I had an craft room but now I don’t and I realized how big my hoard might be. I decided it just means I need and better bigger craft room in the next place.
Or build a nice crafters shed. I have a friend that weaves and she has her looms and spinning wheels in one.
A She Shed?
Good for you! I am just finishing up my craft room, which I am fancily calling my studio. It has been a year since we moved to our new place, and it took 3 months to get the bookcases, with doors on the bottom half that we installed last week. I am looking forward to getting everything put away so I can find what I am looking for! I have drawers, boxes and bins and have no idea where some things are! Just have to talk myself into doing a final sort and get the last boxes out of my way.
Such a mood. I think every knitter/crocheter/crafter knows this feeling. I am weird in that I just really love blue things– blue clothing, blue yarn– to the point where I feel weird wearing any other color. So I buy a lot of blue yarn and then realize that there’s a limited amount of actually useful things that I a) can crochet or b) have the patience to crochet. Currently there is an unfinished dress and an in-progress scrap blanket because I have all this Caron Simply Soft. I mean, some people hoard taxidermy (taxidermized?) animals. At least yarn doesn’t look at you with marble eyes.
Though no shade to taxidermists. Taxidermy is cool, but I’d be more disturbed by walking into a room with that much taxidermy as opposed to that much yarn.
Makes me want to put googly eyes on the skeins.
I stumbled across your blog this afternoon while looking at sessions referred by website on my store and it noted your site as a referrer which I thought was incredibly odd. But to come here and see that you are a knitter/crocheter made my day. 🙂 Congrats on working in the craft room and getting aspects of it squared away! Currently my very large yarn stash (of mostly other indie dyers) is living in our master bedroom. Makes it cozy but detracts from the ambiance. 😉 Hope you are well! Can’t wait to dive into the next book!
My word. you are just like my daughter where yarn is concerned. She has a bedroom just for that and shelves on all walls from ceiling to floor full. She also has plastic bins full stacked up. She loves it. If it makes you happy go for it. Do not feel guilty for a thing that brings you pleasure. Take happiness where you find it. GOD Bless.
regarding 1/2 finished projects, gather up the project and remaining yarn, but in a zip lock bag and take to good will. SOMEONE will do SOMEthing with it. that’s what i do when i’ve reached the end of my craft projects, blocks from quilts, yarn, beads, etc. i’ve bought enough stuff at good will i know someone will use it if you won’t. guilt free. Thank it for it’s service before you pass it on, i learned that from the japanese art of cleaning or something like that
Oooooo, excellent suggestion!
If you want to get rid of some of the UFO’s you don’t think you will finish, you could donate them and the associated yarns to an assisted living center or a retirement home. If you do finish something and decide not to keep it you can give it to a battered women’s shelter (they may give them to the residents or sell for operating expenses) or other non-profit group/convention. These will often put it into an auction for fund raising.
I finally had to start cleaning my craft room. I have several major hobbies including cardmaking, scrapbooking, miniature painting, terrain, and recently picked up resin. I have been buying molds left and right and have just plain run out of room to store stuff. And as bad as my craft room was, I made the executive decision to start moving tons of stuff out and then slowly moving it back in. Thankfully I’m almost done, though I still wish I had more workable room.
How about displaying your pretty yarn in shadow boxes on the wall. Then its not unused yarn making you guilty when you buy more; its art. Take it down when u decide to use it. You could place the frames around the house for you to enjoy and dream about what it could be made into
You two are my husband and I, and I love it! I was sorting fabric in my quilting room last month, and just sighed to my husband and sadly said “I should really stop buying fabric, I am out of room to store it.” He just looked at me and laughed, then said he will build me another shelf. Husbands are the best!
All those not-finished-projects are beautiful. Seeing the sweater made me sad as that must have taken ages to do but without a pattern…what can you do? As for that shiny shawl in that Shiny Silver yarn…unravel it and do something else with the yarn because shiny yarn is a treasure.
I too have a (much smaller due to budget constraints) stash. Having yarn enough to just pull it out and start a new project the second I finish the old one is wonderful. Socks are my go-to project so, in my opinion, you can never have enough sock yarn. Besides socks are practical and pretty. Shawls can be practical too in the summer, when the evenings get cool or when the movie theaters blast the AC so high a snowman would complain it’s too cold.
Also, pat yourself on the back for actually cleaning that storage room! Go, you!
Be sure to include the “before” pics, especially of the stash on the garage floor! It will make us all feel kinship over too much yarn and not enough space 🙂 I think the she shed idea is good too!
Here’s my two cents: Guilt is an unnecessary emotion. Abundance is marvelous!!! Bottom line: keep whatever sparks joy! (yeah yeah yeah, Marie Kondo taught me that – but it works!)
Thanks for sharing this awesome story. I’m so impressed and happy for you that you got so much done with clearing out your yarn room in relatively quick time.
I especially loved the part about Gordon’s solution to your yarn crisis – more storage! Yay! What an amazing husband. That put a big smile on my face and a chuckle out of my lips. =D
If yo come across any yarn that u don’t want anymore, your local nursing home or assisted living home would love you if you donate to them. I’m a CNA at a NH and I can tell you most seniors have a very limited amount of spending money and are Arts and Crafts programs are very under budgeted if given any money at all.
You did a wonderful job!! So hard to start such a mega project and amazing to have made such grand strides! All those colors and such knowledge…. Enjoy yourself most of all.
I have significantly cut back on my fabric stash and still can’t help myself when I see ‘the next fabric’ I have to have. I think it is a sickness, LOL… And anyone with towers of fabric also has many unfinished projects. Blouse with collar made, No sleeves, out of Liberty of London lawn. Check. Dress from when my daughter was 8, bodice hand smocked and skirt gathered. Apparently I could not decide on piping… My husband gives me the same look as Gordon gave you when I say I want to use my stash first. Utter disbelief.
I would say your supply hoarding tendency is completely normal. And understandable. You just never know when you will need a new pair of socks and you have to be ready.
I would also like to thank for generously sharing parts of your life and your writing with us. They are a great escape and never fail to brighten my day when I need it.
I have an easier solution: Keep the yarn – at least, as much of it as makes you happy. (So yes, if it makes you stressed to have a mess because you have more than you can store, you’d still need to get rid of some.) Then buy and read Clara Parkes’ book, A Stash of Her Own.
Yarn stashing as feminist empowerment FTW!
I loved this post. Congrats on getting your craft room nearly in order! Kudos to Gordon; he gets you. 🙂 I don’t have that much yarn… yet… but I do have a lot of fabric! My husband doesn’t say anything, but he made sure there was a nice big room for my crafts when we moved.
A shawl from 2017…..?!?!?! That i recognized. From previous posts???????? heh, i know i’ve been reading your blog a long for a long time. I just realized how long ???? time flies when you’re having fun????
I always smile reading your yarn adventures. Thanks for lifting my spirits.
Two additional possibilites for over-yarning: make shawl, hat, vest etc and donate to nonprofit for homeless or to fund-raise; or link up with seniors’ or assisted living home knitting circle and gift yarn to them annually.
GI JOEEEEEEeeeeee!
If you can, would you post a pic of your new organizer for your yarn, please. I have a yarn problem, too; and I am trying to find an organizer that can go in the guest bedroom against a wall. thank you
I have a friend in England who loves to knit and collect yarn. He suffers from SABLE, Stash acquisition beyond life expectation. Is it possible that you have an American version of this?
I feel that the 2/3 of a sweater could, with a little mental rearranging, be 13/15 of a knit bag. Perhaps?
Must be from being cooped up so long that everyone is cleaning out their craft stashes. I took all the odd balls of yarn I had and dumped them in a basket. Then proceeded to crochet a blanket, close my eyes, pick a ball and add it in. It actually came out better than I thought it would. And much less yarn hanging around.
ha! didn’t mean to guilt you. you don’t have to finish it, I’ll still love you. 🙂
The beauty of your mind is displayed in your appreciation of beautiful yarn. There is no such thing as too much appreciation and you can’t be too beautiful.
I have far more projects — and far stranger ones — in my stash. Occasionally I just get tired of something I am working on and start something else. As I see it, such projects are a little like finding money you forgot in a pocket. Some of my favorite items are projects I dropped and then picked up later! In fact, I have a partial sweater I should just pick up again for these chilly days!
love seeing your works in progress. and i would absolutely love to see your craft room too! its always wonderful to see the different ways people come up with storing their supplies. my craft room has become a dumping ground too and desperately needs an overhaul.
Hello Ilona
These projects are beautiful.
I was wondering if I could buy your second project the “Hitchhiker by Martina Behm” made from the “Silver Shiny” yarn. I like small scarves and I find it cute as is. I can either pay you directly or donate money to an organism of you choice in exchange for the cute little scarf. Please contact me if you are interested 🙂
I know I am posting way late on this, but have you considered knitting/crocheting for a charity? There are a ton out there of various needs, some don’t even ask you for whole blankets, they just ask for a square (they piece them together). Its a great way to get rid of stashed up yarn, makes you feel good about it, and you can do mindless style knitting or crocheting for mental therepy. Save the intricate stuff for projects you actually want to do.
Absolutely Beautiful
Thanks for making me feel a little better about the size of my stash and the number of UFO’s. ???? Is there a correlation between knitting and writing novels? It seems like most of my favorite authors are also knitters…
Quite a lot of shawls. What about knitting a dress?