A Fall, the Stash Flash - and a Jump Start!

Oh how the mighty have fallen! I was so happy to once claim that I only needed this one drawer to contain my yarn:



Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.(Prov 16:18, AMP)

And what a fall I found! In the spirit of full (and soul crushing) disclosure, I offer the following evidence of my out of control stash:



These are my (gallon!) baggies of extra yarns - ends of skeins from projects - anything from a few yards to most of a skein. Should I store it by weight or color? I can never commit to one or the other, so I have the convenience of both at the same time. Anyone remember a person collecting sock yarn remnants for a charity project? Any thoughts on using leftovers? Have you seen the CUTE skirt from Greeting from the Knit Cafe?

Here are my designated (projects waiting) sock yarns (another skein or two showed up after the photo shoot):

Included are socks for my husband, flip flop socks for me (2 pr.), socks for my son, another pair that should be my primer for using 2 circular needles (need right size), and a two skeins that are too small for adult socks, but might make a pair or two or kiddie footwear.

Other designated yarns:

This innocent collection is shielding a tank top, hat and mittens, fingerless gloves for next Christmas, Knitpicks Candlelight shawl, and a mobius cowl.

Another Christmas project:

It's the Hanukkah pillow from

Handknit Holidays using Knitpicks Shine Worsted. Major concentration needed, but should be done for December this year (if I can stop starting new projects!).

More on the needles:

Malabrigo hats for the little people, Argosy in Hempathy for me, and an eyelet front-tie shrug for my daughter.

The Knit Picks Color Burst Skirt for my daughter:

I really wanted a project to try Fair Isle and this looked cute. I failed to notice the very large numbers of solid stockinette rows before the "fun" begins. Just needs a little time and attention. It's a bit of a slog right now, so was discarded for a zippier project (or two, or three...).

Here we have more Shine Worsted for a Sitcom Chic sweater and dye able sock yarn:

Here is some wonderfully funky yarn from my Knit Night friend that is begging to be a swing coat with a funky loopy fringe edge:

I really need a top down pattern so I can stop when the yarn runs out. Might have seen a candidate in Yarn Girls' Guide to Knits for Older Kids. Anyone have this book? The purple and silver sparkle strand combination = pure little girl delight!

Still with me? Here comes the real foolishness:

WHAT is all of this?

I have Knit Picks Crayon yarn that I was thinking was much heavier when I ordered it. And then I ordered more! The rainbow yarn is the craft yarn we keep on hand for kid projects. There is a whole blue alpaca skein left from a hat, green washcloth yarn, two baby hat/sock yarn ideas, gray yarn for some toy I can't remember. Oh look, there's that nice skein of Kool Aid yarn created by my son - but what will it be? Also appearing are skeins of free yarn for hospital baby hats, more Christmas projects, a failed legwarmer project, and an Alison scarf that I really like but am having the hardest time with technically.

I hate this kind of yarn. Full of possibilities, but loose plans at best and lots of space requirements.

Same with the Cascade 220 collection:

I kept buying to "save" another skein, then project ideas grew and morphed into this pile. I'm thinking of vests for the Afghans for Afghans kids.

I took my wide friend's advice and decided to weigh the whole stash:

TWENTY POUNDS! Yikes!

But what is half of 20? That's right: 10!! Keep 10 and use/release 10. Ten Ten. Nice.

So here's the jump start:

You bloggers have really inspired me so I want to return the love. Up for grabs is:

• Knit Picks Crayon yarn. Three skeins are in one colorway and five are in another, but both are cream and could work together if you mixed your skeins up a little. Offered as one batch or two.
• One skein of Knit Picks lace weight something in mossy green with an illegal copy of the Elizabeth I scarf patterns for which it was bought. I have two other green scarves in the works, so I know I won't get to this. Attractively packaged in the latest knitting tote collection from Ziploc.
• One skein of gray Paton's Astra. Can't figure out which pattern I wanted to try with it, so it is moving out.

How to get your free yarn? Leave a comment any time before Sunday the 22nd of April. Just let me know which yarn you'd like (any or all is fine!) and I'll have my low-tech random generators pick the winners. Feel free to share this post with others who might be interested.

Next up - the project list!

Ahh, I feel better already.