Knittin' Crap: The Bliss of Stash Reorganization

Any knitter (and I'm sure this applies to most hobbies which require raw materials) who buys yarn without plans to knit it immediately has a stash. Depending on your level of self-control and/or ambition, this can get large. And yarn takes up a lot of space. I was a hard-core beader for over a dozen years. I've been a hardcore yarnie for less than 3. The yarn is taking up more space than the beads.

I use those really large 60+ qt storage bins, which work pretty well. I have a list (queue) of projects-to-be, and if I've already gotten the yarn for them, they're kind of organized in order of the list, to make it a little easier to find. Of course, as stuff gets pulled out of the bins, I don't move the yarn queue up, so the bins start getting empty. Meanwhile I have several large cardboard boxes of yarn sitting around I need to categorize.

At the fabric store the other day, I saw those Space Bag thingies on sale, so I bought a box of 4. Today is "reorganize the stash" day. Well, Day 1 of who-knows-how-many.

Pros of stash reorganization:

• Space reclamation
• Opportunity for yarn fondling. (Ella Rae Bamboo Silk is beyond exquisite.)
• Rediscovering yarns you'd forgotten

Cons:

• Realizing exactly how much yarn you have
• Wondering if you'll ever get to it all

I'll let you know how it goes. If you don't hear from me soon, send help.