from Tracey

When I learned to knit, I started out with the mindset that I would buy yarn as needed, meaning for the current project I was working on or soon to be working on. And at that time, it was an easy thing to keep in check. I was new and I didn’t know much, so I wasn’t really looking ahead to any other projects, except the immediate ones. It was easy, I had one Rubbermaid plastic tub that fit the job of holding all of my yarn nicely.

Let’s flash-forward to almost 3 years later. Jeremy and I are doing a little more work in what we call The Room of Requirement (Harry Potter reference ?), which was my mom’s room when she was still alive and living with us, that has now become exactly that – The Room of Requirement. It’s a collaboration of all of our things, and things that have no home end up dumped in there. If you’ve ever watched the tv series “Friends”, Monica (the neat freak) has a secret closet – it’s an open-at-your-own-risk kind of thing, it’s where all the clutter ends up, etc. That’s kind of how our Room of Requirement has ended up. Well, now that Harry is getting older, he really wants his own space, instead of the room he currently has upstairs, which is more like a loft area that leads to our master bedroom. To get to my room, you have to go through his – worked great as a baby and toddler, even a young elementary kid – but not so much as an official middle schooler. We’ve decided it’s time to revamp The Room of Requirement to be what it now needs to be, Harry’s space.

So, my goal yesterday was to get all the yarn I’d been keeping in there moved up into my “new” closet space upstairs (we redid the flooring up there and revamped the closet spaces to be more usable). I didn’t count on Jeremy helping me and the upshot of that is that I am now banned from buying any more yarn until I use up a good portion of what I already own.

As I’ve grown in my knitting, more and more projects have become available to me – so I have more projects I want to make now in the queue, which translates to “I found a pattern that I really loved and immediately bought the yarn to make it” or “I bought a bunch of this yarn because it was on clearance, and I just know it’ll make a great sweater when I find the right pattern for it!” Not to mention, those projects seem to get put on hold, because for gifting projects I have to buy more yarn and my stash just sits. My one container of yarn has now grown into um, maybe 10? Give or take a tub or two… This all led to the hilarity that was yesterday’s project: me gathering and moving my yarn containers.

As I’m moving things around to get to my containers of yarn, Jeremy decided to come in and help. He finally got to see just how much yarn I have accumulated in the past 3 years, and it was hilarious. I was laughing so hard I had tears running down my face at his incredulity when seeing container after container of my Official Yarn Stash (henceforth known as OYS).

So, being the one who now needed to defend her OYS from undue criticism, I said “I haven’t bought yarn in ages, well um, aside from the yarn I purchased for the Christmas gifts, and the yarn I just bought recently for the sweater and the yarn for the throw blanket I’m making for myself… I’ve practiced restraint!” To which he replied with “But, you were JUST looking at yarn online not one hour ago!!” And I said, “oh yeah, but did I BUY any? Nope! So there!”

In relating this escapade to Kris later in the day, I also discussed that in all honesty, I too had just discovered just how much yarn I have! Oh, my goodness. I knew what I had, because the bulk of it has been bought for particular projects, but when you see it all together, in one area, it’s a little overwhelming. I had had it all over the place, some here, one container there and so forth. So, when it’s all put in one spot, it’s rather impressive, but also starts to look like a storage problem! I was in a mild panic that it wouldn’t fit where I swore up and down and on my life that it would fit. I can honestly say I wasn’t so sure anymore after seeing it in all it’s multi-container glory, but not that I’d EVER admit that! Nope. So, after some creative consolidation, (thank goodness yarn is squishy!) I made it all (well, almost all – I still have a couple of containers that won’t make it at this time) fit into my designated space. Yay me! Now I just have to get it organized better – like fibers with like fibers etc. But I’m going to let myself enjoy the fact I got almost of it put in one spot!

So, after all of this was accomplished, I was rather pleased. There is something pretty satisfying about knowing you can make almost anything you want to, when you want to because you have the supplies. And when you live in an area where the nearest yarn/craft store is 45 min away, it’s doubly nice to have! For me it’s akin to a well-stocked freezer and pantry – with a much longer expiration date! And it’s just plain fun to have it, it feels like one of the perks of being an Official Knitter. I’ve officially joined the club – I have a REAL stash! An OYS of my very own, it feels like a very important milestone in my knitting adventure! I now just need to stop storing it and start “making” it!!

 

From Kris

When Tracey started relating to me her story of having a serious yarn stash, all I could do was laugh, knowing the scenario way too well.  I also had to own up to the fact that I started her on this lifelong journey of collecting.  Learning to knit is an entry drug into the great big fiber world of colors, textures, possibilities, and imagination. Looking at it practically, however, its a much healthier addiction than alcohol or drugs…though in the long haul it may not be less expensive.

I have been knitting for thirty plus years.  To say that I have accumulated quite a yarn stash is a gross understatement.  Almost every closet in our house has at least some yarn hidden away in it, hence the reason we are currently having a craft room added,  one that has dedicated yarn storage.  In preparation for moving into this new space (this is premature thinking but it makes me happy), I have been cleaning out closets.  I came across a tub that I thought for sure was photo props from when Tracey and I were doing regular food blogs.  I knew it was stuff I didn’t use regularly, preferring to use my real, everyday kitchen items.  I decided that I would just toss the tub and its contents, no problem. Secretly I thought that getting rid of a tub of things I was no longer using would free up space for more yarn.  I opened the tub and…guess what…my wish was immediately granted.  It wasn’t photo props, it was yarn!!!

This got me thinking about how a OYS is built:

• It’s on such a good sale!
• What a pretty color.  I know I can do something with it.
• I better buy an extra ball, or three, so I’m sure that I have enough for this project.
• Friends know the best gift to give you.
• Tail ends of balls from finished projects accrue.  Yes!  There are finished projects!
• I’m not sure which color I really want to use so I’ll buy both and see how it goes.
• It’s a souvenir.  Buy it in the place I am visiting and when (if) I make the something with it, I have double the memories of my trip.
• I know I had something specific in mind when I bought this but now I can’t remember what.
• I like it and it makes me happy!

The fact that yarn makes us happy is a good enough reason to buy it, don’t you think? It is such a simple pleasure.  And in the long run, having an OYS is relatively harmless…well…until those tubs start falling out of the closets on top of innocent loved ones or their escaping ends ensnare the unsuspecting limbs of someone innocently rummaging through that closet for a lost mitten.

My girls joke with me all the time about the fact that all they will inherit from me is a ton of yarn.  Maybe so, but discovering it in all of its various hiding places will be the scavenger hunt to remember!  And maybe, just maybe, they’ll take the time to go through those tubs and find that tail end that was from the afghan I made for them when they left for college, or from the hat with ear flaps and braids that was requested in lime green, or from the blanket they wrapped their first baby in when he came home from the hospital, or that afghan that was strewn on my couch for all those years that now is strewn on theirs…

All that to say that having an OYS is a long road to happiness.