Attack of the Stash

Or my revenge on the stash.  This is a plea for accountability!!

So, I realized that I am a pack rat - okay not a new realization, just has new emphasis.  There are two places in my life where this is very easy to see, collected curriculum and yarn.  Both of these have exploded in my spare room. I can hardly move through that room due to the digging into the curriculum that this year has required, and the stress casting on I tend to do when I feel like life is spiraling out of control.  This is bad, this is very bad! 

Because of this explosion of stuff, I need to go on a purging cycle.  Just the thought of that with the memory of what my spare room looks like makes me want to hide (and maybe cast on a few new projects.)  So that is where my revenge on my stash comes in.  (Deal with stash first - then curriculum...)

First and foremost: THE STASH IS NOT ALLOWED TO GROW!!  This means no new yarn until I have figured out a way to reduce the size of the current stash.  I have two large Rubbermaid totes nearly full of yarn - I need to start shopping out of the stash.

Secondly, I keep discovering half finished projects in nearly every place I hide my yarn.  (I didn't realize I had that many needles!)  So I am going through and reclaiming - yarn, needles, or entire projects. 

If the yarn is crappy (aka acrylic) I am going to reclaim the needles and figure out what to do with this.. garbage... I discovered that nearly 1/3 of my stash is stuff like cheep acrylic yarn, lion brand fake wool, etc.  This is yarn that I will never knit with, some of it is pretty from a distance but the moment I touch it I feel like I am going to break out in hives.  I feel bad just throwing it away.  I am thinking my best bet is to vacuum seal it away until I have someone that wants me to teach them how to knit, and then have them use that.  Acrylic is more forgiving than other fibers and the risk of felting doesn't exist - good for learners, not for fiber snobs.  

If the yarn is good, but it's the project that I don't like - reclaim the yarn, sort, and put needles and yarn into storage.  Then I can use this yarn to "shop" for projects later.  However this method does not reduce stash size - but is good for stash management.

Lastly, if the project was good, the yarn was good, and I just put the project into exile - then I need to finish the project before I cast new things on.  I am trying to set weekly goals for each project that I pull out of exile.  And only pulling out a few at a time is also helpful.  The goal is to have finished half of the exiled projects by Christmas - or at least the end of Christmas break... (Good Luck...)

Only after all exiled projects are completed and the stash has been reduced to one tote can I begin to learn a new hobby - spinning.  If I think I have stash management problems now - wait until I am making my own yarn... oh brother...

That is my goal as far as my revenge on the stash goes.  I will keep you updated.