17 comments

1. Victoria / August 16, 2015 i have a good sized stash. But I need it!! (Doesn’t everyone “need” more?!) I always have 100’s of projects I want to get to and when I complete a project, I look at my stash and make my decision from there. See what colours call to me. Feel each ball and strand. To choose a fibre that matches the season of the year. I need choice and variety…. And that equals to a good sized stash which I’m proud to call mine, mine, all mine!!! After I use up 2-3 projects worth, it’s time to fill that sad, empty void with fun new stuff.

2. Donna / August 16, 2015 I have always felt that a stash is completely necessary. It is what we use to make our works of art. Imagine if Van Gogh had only one color of paint and only one brush. What could he have accomplished? Our stash (and our needles) is the same. There have been times when I have enhanced my stash and other times when I have used what I have without shopping for new yarns. I have to admit that when I use a lot of what I already have, I have a sense of accomplishment. But then that means that there is room to buy more!

3. Ari / August 13, 2015 I have a fairly small stash, I buy for projects as well as if there is a color I love or something that’s super soft. Since I’m new to knitting I have been trying to buy/test out a variety of different types of yarn to get a feel for what I like! And if I try a yarn bought specifically for a certain project and like it, I’ll pick up more to have on hand!

4. Roxanne Stevens / August 10, 2015 I would consider my stash to be of a medium size. I have 313 entries on my Ravelry stash page, but a lot of those are multiple skeins. And the majority of it is Knit Picks yarn. If there’s a yarn on sale that I know I’ll want to knit something out of it at a later date, I’ll buy it with my fun money from my budget. Right now I have KP yarn stashed for three blankets, have already knitted two blankets out of KP yarn and have two blankets of KP yarn on the needles. I just reorganized my stash over the weekend. I have a book case that is full of just KP yarn that isn’t already planned for projects. I really like having a nice size stash. Whenever I want to knit something, I just shop my stash first. Last week I made four baby bibs from Simply Cotton that I bought at the Cyber Monday sale in 2012. My daughter looks at my stash as her inheritance. And I have a plastic tote of yarn that was my grandma’s.

5. Cindy Swett / August 10, 2015 When I see something that I like, be it a good yarn or a good color, it’s hard to resist adding it to my collection. Sometimes I have found yarn at flea markets and even though I might hesitate, I usually buy it because I feel like I would appreciate it like no one else might. I have found some old wool yarns in this way and also some unique little yarns that are so interesting. It’s really fun to look and exciting to find!

6. Alex Graves / August 10, 2015 My stash is unbelievable and out of control. My great grandmother was constantly crocheting from the age of 16 to 83, and would still be at it today if she remembered how. She was always making baby blankets and clothes for people she cared about and would pick up yarn at sales “if it was soft” or “I’ll need this for the next grand-baby!” I am the ONLY person in the whole family of 60 odd people continuing the tradition… so I inherited 50 years worth of a yarnie’s stash. It fills a garden shed and a small bedroom. Some is nasty old acrylic from the 70s, some very nicely wrapped vintage alpaca lace. There is no telling what I’ll find when I dig thru it and considering how long it will take me to organize it terrifies me. I’m proud to keep it though because it contains so much love and well intentioned generosity from an incredibly caring person, even if at 89 she sometimes has trouble with names and faces. Every time I make something from her stash, I feel like its doing her tribute.

7. amy g / August 10, 2015 I have a large stash! I have it organized somewhat so particular yarns are easy to find. I have a bins for sock yarn, sock yarn for me, feltable, dye-able, WIP’s (individual 4-inch deep, clear bins), leftovers (hopefully one day these will be an afghan), washables and/or baby yarns and, of course, collectables. Collectibles are gifts that people have given me from their travels or single skeins from my own travels. Again, one day they will become something! Most of my yarn is in Rubbermaid bins for easy, stackable storage. (I also have a separate bin for needles and one for project bags). Unfortunately, my stash does not prevent me from purchasing additional yarn at estate sales or sock yarn from wherever I go!

8. jenny / August 9, 2015 I love the wide varieties of yarns !! I can’t help indulging, knowing that I can start a new project at anytime, especially being the eldest of 14, and now there are 40 nieces and nephews and 5 greats and a grandgirl of my own. 🙂 Part of my stash is locked down in the back of my pickup-I have to basically sit on it to close the lid, and of course, my children have only seen the stash in the house-more than what is in the truck presently, however, the justification is this – this is my retirement fund/fun !!!! When I finally do – I will have enough to get me by 🙂 I have done charity knitting for 10 years, but the family is growing and I enjoy creating and giving–ok. I love the new adventures 🙂

9. Rosemary Gillanders / August 8, 2015 I wish I was like Jessica and had a little more control on how I accumulate my stash of yarns. Currently I have four large plastic storage containers of my “yarn stash”. If I see yarn I like, I buy! I have just recently found ‘Knit Picks’ and I love the way the pattern shows different types of yarns that can be used and all can be purchased together. What a great idea. I pick the yarn then spend months finding a pattern to match to it. I am trying to fit my yarn stash in with my quilting material stash, my sewing material stash, my cross stitch stash in my new Crafts room and having a little bit of trouble. So I am biting the bullet and taking a very hard look at all my ‘Stashes’ and reducing the size of all by donating to the Hospital Auxiliary group and giving away the majority of my knitting, crocheting, books as well. I have all types of yarn in my stash from acrylic to silk blends. I am setting up my projects for Christmas presents and donations right now. I hope to be in good shape with my craft room with plenty of room available in the New Year. Have a great weekend everyone!

10. Mary Bowe / August 7, 2015 Unless a budget allows for purchasing whatever yarn is wanted, regardless of price, whenever it is desired, every knitter NEEDS at least a small stash!! While MANY/MOST knitters & crocheters with whom I communicate, describe having what seem to me to be quite VAST assortments of yarns in their stashes, my personal stash is very small in comparison. Despite this, I am so very thankful for the little accumulation (over the past 2-3 years) of yarns that make up my stash to choose from in order to knit clothing, toys/amigurumi, and dolls w/clothes for my 18-month-old granddaughter and/or small items for special occasions of my dear friends and close relatives. Because I cannot depend on my body allowing me to function well on any given day, (due to a rare auto-immune disease: Systemic Mastocytosis), I am unable to work which means our budget is based on just one income, which must also cover my many medical costs. Therefore, our budget requires that I plan purchases carefully and only purchase when yarns are 25-40% off (even with KP’s lower prices). I am SO grateful that my sweet husband is very aware that knitting (and to a smaller degree, crocheting) isn’t just a hobby or something I like to do; Rather, knitting is a most effective therapy for me– it brings relaxation–a form of meditation, distracts from my ever present bone pain and allows me to feel (& be) productive and brings me joy by allowing me to give to others(rather than just needing to be given to). That said, there still remains the issue of the limited budget–something we (& many others) must always keep in mind. Subsequently, my stash began (2+years ago) by adding about 20 colors of cheap worsted wt. acrylic yarn a skein or two at a time as I found them on sale and our budget allowed. Over time, I discovered that the stickiness and rigidity of acrylic yarn was extremely hard on my hands, so for the last year, I have stopped purchasing & am transitioning away from using acrylic yarn; Instead, I have been watching for Cotton blends, 100% wool and wool/nylon blends to be marked down, because while they are more expensive, they are SO MUCH easier on my hands. Also, I’ve discovered that I greatly prefer knitting with Dk, Sock, Fingering and Lace weight yarns over worsted & thicker yarns, so this past spring/summer, I’ve added the 20 colors of Curio, a few colors of Swish DK, about 400 gms of the discontinued colors of Stroll sock yarn, one colorway of Chroma fingering. I feel SO blessed, and am eagerly looking forward to creating some new beautiful things for my sweet grand-girlie! In the future, I’d love to be able to purchase some Capretta and/or Capra so I can make some really special socks for my husband and other people who’ve been SO gracious to me since I’ve been sick, more colors of any style of Swish(or ANY sock yarn in ANY colorway), some Alpaca Cloud (for winter items for those C-O-L-D Virginia winters that my sweet grand-girlie isn’t used to. (just moved there). I’ll be perusing every great KP sale, watching for good bargains that fit into our budget. Thanks SO much, Knit Picks for helping me to be able to afford and enjoy knitting with some nicer yarns and actually have some of them in MY stash!!! Blessings to all the KP Staff! Mary Bowe usafpilotmomma@me.com

11. Eleanor Glavin / August 7, 2015 I have a HUGE stash, collected over about 40 years. I have a lot of acrylic from when my kids, and all my nieces and nephews were little. I’m keeping it for when I have grandkids and grand nieces/nephews. I also have some baby yarn for gifts, and again, for future grandkids, grand nieces/nephews. I have some exotic yarn: qiviut (which I bought in Alaska and LOVE) and camel (never used camel before, just have to find out about durability, and weather resistance). I have some novelty yarn which I use for special projects (knitting nests and eggs when I’m in the mood). I have some wool for felting projects. I have some cashmere blends that I plan to use for cowls to give as gifts. I have lots of sock yarn that is wool blends and I am knitting shawls like crazy right now (some I bought from knitpicks!). I figure I’m going to live long enough to use it all up, which means I’ll probably live to be 214 years….really…

12. Kym D / August 7, 2015 I keep a moderate stash. I don’t keep count of skeins, but it takes up a fair bit of my closets and garage. I have the bad habit of not only buying yarn for a project, but also yarn being discontinued, yarn I just HAVE to have and pet and ogle, and yarn I’m positive I’ll make SOMETHING with. I kept this awesome ombre acrylic boucle for 5 years at least, until the right sweater came along.

13. Minnie Kaiser / August 7, 2015 I do have a stash of knit pick yarn. I love to knit with the alpaca cloud and I like to keep a variety of colors on hand.

14. Jessica Burley / August 7, 2015 I personally have a small stash in comparison to other knitters i know. Maybe 20-30 skeins of good wool and lace yarns with projects to them and 20 partal skeins of acrylic yarns. I love having a stash because i can cast on a swatch in yarn that i have and then buy simlilar yarn to do the project. This way i dont have to wear out the new yarn swatching. Also one way to keep my stash small is that i buy for a project that is going to be started right away or soon afterward. Though what could really be keeping it small is my boyfriend making me only have 5 projects going at a time and making me finish one before new yarn is bought. 🙂

15. Rochelle Simon / August 7, 2015 I have a very large stash – collected over 48 years but for some reason, whenever I start a new pattern, I never seem to have the right amount of yarn in a suitable color/weight. Hmm.. then I wonder why it never seems to get smaller.

16. M Shelton / August 7, 2015 About ten years ago I decided I would begin accumulating a nice stash of sock yarns and other small quantities of yarn so that I could “shop my stash” and begin knitting a project as soon I decided to. And since some of those yarns might need to be wound before working with them, I added a ball winder and swift. I also decided to accumulate a collection of circular and double point needles in the sizes that I was likely to want to use, which led to purchasing sets of interchangeable needles. I currently have five sets of interchangeable needles… Several years ago I counted up my sock yarns and found that I had enough for something like 80 pairs of socks in adult sizes. That number would be considerably larger now. Most of those sock yarns were purchased at discount prices or at area fiber festivals. I have enjoyed having my yarn stash but I find I still have to buy yarn for larger projects, like adult size sweaters and for colorwork projects.

17. Inspiration, Podcast / August 7, 2015 A large stash is great to have, various colors, various types of yarn. When Knit Picks have their sales, I purchase. I am a Charity Knitter, so the sale price helps to offset the postage I have to pay for usually mailing the Charity Package. The yarn is nice to knit with. Also their Service has been great, usually five days, which is surprising.