gelukkig in de jaren zestig

for a while now, i wanted to write about having a yarn stash. i don't know about you guys but i had (until quite recently) a HUGE yarn stash. i collected so much yarn over the years. it came from everywhere, from sales, from the fleamarket, donated by other knitters and family, from webshops (because ordering just that one skein is so silly!),...

my big yarn stash has been bothering me for a while now, i already wrote about it in this post about my "crafty resolutions" in january 2014. i was actually doing really good at following my own rules, this year i bought almost no new yarn and what i bought is already processed and in use.

 some time ago, when i was home alone one evening, i started knitting a scarf with some stash yarn and it seemed like i couldn't make anything nice out of it. a case of wrong project, wrong yarn. i showed it to my boyfriend and he simply said "why don't you stop wasting your time and just make some pretty things instead?"

that one sentence got me thinking, because it's so true. i was spending so much time trying to make something nice out of yarn that i didn't really love, just to get it out of my stash and so that i would feel less guilty when i did buy some new yarn. i also learned that no matter how nice the pattern, if you don't like the colour or the yarn anymore, there is no feeling of accomplishment and pride when finishing your project.

so... one evening, we got all of my boxes out of the basement and laid everything on our coffee table. (and next to it and on the couch because it couldn't possibly all fit on the coffee table.) we made 3 piles: "keep", "donate" and "sell".

i kept the really nice or expensive yarns, and all the yarns that i really loved. i donated most of my acrylics to charity (my acrylic-days are over!), and sold the rest online. i was worried that i would never get rid of it all, but only one day later there was a nice lady who wanted it all. woo-hoo! and now my stash fits in one basket. i repeat, ONE basket.

 

left: box of sold yarn. right: my new stash!
 

i never thought destashing would feel as liberating as it did. going trough my stash now is about discovering real treasures of yarn and being excited about making something with it.

i'm now planning on doing the same with my fabric stash and also with my clothes.
and, ultimately, with all of our belongings. because why do we need so much stuff?

 now i'm really curious about your thoughts on having a stash.
does having a stash work for you? does it scare you to destash?



you can find some inspiring reads about destashing here:
Fringe Association: Q for you (read the comment section)
No stash girl