Watching Kelley’s videos about how to make those yummy looking pretzels reminded me that I never posted a blog about our recent company wide stash exchange party. Oops! It was on January 13th, so it’s not like it was THAT long ago. There was definitely quite a bit of method to the madness. First you had to get weighed in.

This was a very important first step because there was a prize for the person with the hugest stash, and we all had to sit in a circle starting with the lady with the biggest stash (ahem, Karen) and ending with the person who brought the least. I was near the end because I’m still kind of a new knitter and I haven’t built up a very large stockpile of yarn yet. I think I brought 1.7 pounds.

After you were weighed in, if you had any contenders for the “ugliest yarn contest” (not Knit Picks yarn,of course!), they went on a special table for judging.

The rest of your stash went in the middle of the room.

Then you could snack on cookies, cake, and caramel chocolate covered pretzels at the all chocolate potluck buffet until it was time to start. Marci tried to come up with a savory chocolate treat, but her experiment with Brie, chocolate, and crackers didn’t work out.

Vince judged the ugliest yarn contest. He picked this one.

Personally, I would have picked this lovely specimen.

Then Tina broke out the stop watch. Each person had 15 seconds to grab an armful of yarn from the middle of the circle. The person to your left timed you. It was interesting to see everyone’s methodology. Some people like me just jumped into the middle of the stash and started digging. Others circled the stash, eyeing their prey and pouncing suddenly.

Some people were irresistably drawn to a certain color.

Some only picked out yarn if there was enough for a whole project.

We had a couple of new knitters who were building their very first stash.

And we had a few co-workers who were firmly committed to busting their stash and refused to take home anything at all. I was very impressed by their discipline. Most of us left with less than we came with, and we all had a lot of fun.

The leftovers were donated to SCRAP!, the School & Community Reuse Action Project!, a local non-profit that provides educational experiences and affordable, recycled craft supplies to the community.

I hope this becomes a Knit Picks tradition!! <