Yarn Diet – part 2

The big stash down has started and it’s actually quite good fun.  Last time I went on a yarn diet I learned a lot so I thought I would pass on some tips to you.

Take a long hard look

I have finally been brave enough to pull my stash out from all my favourite hiding places and take a long hard look. When you see the enormity of all the yarn you have collected it can be quite sobering.  Now is the time to steel yourself and harden your heart. Most of my stash lives in six apple crates and it was sorted in to weight of yarn and then arranged by colour groups, but when I unstacked the crates I realised what a mess it was.

Cut, slash and  bin

The first thing to do is get rid. Cue the internal dialogue.’Will you actually ever knit up that hank that’s been under the bed for a few years?  Yes, I know you like the colour but it doesn’t suit you’; ‘Eugh, what were you thinking?’; ‘Who did you inherit that  from?’ and so on.

Find a home

After a couple of hours I had several piles.  I find it helps to think about who might want each discarded hank or ball so I have a straight-to-charity pile, a maybe-someone-in-my-knitting-group-can-use-it pile, a birthday-present-for-a-friend pile and a sell-it-on-ebay pile.  I also had a pile of tiny balls and half knitted swatches that went straight in the bin because they really weren’t worth the brain power needed to find a home for them.

Reorganise

Hey Presto! My stash had already gone down by a good ten percent and there was enough room in my crates to arrange the knitworthy yarn that was left into some semblance of order, as well as imprinting what I actually have on my memory for potential projects.

Well, that’s the hard work done, now I can get on with the knitting! Who knew I had so much Noro?