Although I’ve been busily knitting, I’m currently trekking through the (endless) wasteland of stockinette stitch on two different projects. It’ll be a while before I have a finished project to show you. I’m alternating between my Hebrides cardigan in black KidSilk Haze (this may be my last black project ever) and the Water shawl. (Those are Ravelry links.)

I’ve finished the fronts, backs and bands of the cardigan and am making progress on the sleeves. (I knit sleeves both at once.) It’s possible that I’ll have it finished in the right season to wear it, which would be great. The Water shawl is finished as far as the directions are concerned, but because I changed the yarn and needle size, it’s too small. I’m adding more repeats – I’ll probably extend it to nine pattern inserts, as I like the idea of the ninth wave.

As I knit along, I’m thinking. 🙂 Today, I’ll share what I’m thinking about knitting stash.

It is the middle of August, and each year, Koigu has a tent sale around this time. (It’s this weekend.) I’ve gone for a number of years, but decided not to go this year. I had the (incredible) thought “I’ve got enough yarn stash.” That’s new, and interesting, so I had to think about it a bit more.

I didn’t attend many yarn events during the pandemic – we went to Koigu last year, and it was lovely to be at a knitting festival again – but I still have most of the yarn I bought at those events. The last time I went to the KW Guild’s Knitters’ Fair, I was on the hunt for a gradient dyed yarn to knit Nim Teasdale’s Don’t Panic, a shawl pattern published in 2017. (That one’s a Rav link, too.) I found it, caked it up, and haven’t cast it on yet. It’s sitting in the stash with the pattern, waiting on me. My Ravelry project page shows 23 projects on my needles, incomplete, but I think there are more than that. Then there are the lots of yarn in project bags with patterns, like Don’t Panic, waiting to be cast on. I have a lot of string.

I generally don’t buy for a specific project, which explains both the size of my stash and the fact that when I choose a project, inevitably, I don’t have the right yarn – in gauge, colour or quantity. So, I’m going to switch things around, and think of my stash in a different way. I’m going to look at what I have, and find a project or pattern to suit that yarn. No more buying a ball of this because it’s pretty, or a sweater-quantity of that because the price is right. It’s time to use it or get rid of it.

And that means that if/when I go to knitting events, it will be to browse and get ideas, not to augment the stash.

I like the plan. We’ll see how it goes. I’ll also start sharing some reliable stash-buster patterns here. I’m thinking of one right now, a pattern of my own for fingerless gloves that is a perfect use of half a ball of sock yarn. It’s scribbled on a torn sheet of notepaper. I can envision it – now all I have to do is find it – and once I share it here, I’ll know where it is.

What’s your stash like? Is it extensive or under control? Do you buy for specific projects or do you add to your stash because you like the yarn? Do you think (gasp) that you have enough stash, too much or not enough?