The Importance of a Yarn Stash

Every serious knitter/crocheter has to have a yarn stash.  It's a must - for every self-respecting knitter/crocheter, that is.

And I most definitely am a self-respecting knitter/crocheter.  Very.

The size of the stash separates the hard core knitters/crocheters from the "others".

The bigger the stash, the more hard core you are.  

That being the case, I am hard core.  Certifiably hard core.  

Certifiably hard core.  

I have enough yarn stashed in bins in my basement to keep me busy for a very very long time.  I can't die anytime soon.  I have way too much yarn and too many projects to complete before that can happen.

Stash happens when there is leftover pieces of yarn from a project or too many skeins of yarn bought for one project.

Stash also happens when the crafter goes to to a yarn store whether it be Michaels i.e. a chain store, a local boutique yarn store, a knitters' fair, Mary Maxims or my favourite, the Spinrite Factory Outside annual tent sale.

Any place where the there's lots and lots and lots of yarn to tempt the eyes.

On the side of this post are pictures of various aspects of my stash.  I have all kinds of yarn:  worsted weight, baby yarn, sock yarn, dk weight, novelty yarn, bulky weight, lace weight, ribbon.  You name it, I probably have it.

There's acrylic, wool/wool blends, cotton, linen, silk ....

And colours.  Lots of various colours. Soft pastel baby colours.  Bold brights.  Cream, white, black, grey, brown for neutral effects.

However,  while what you see may look like a mess, a waste of money, even a woman with a severe yarn hoarding problems, what I see when I look at all these balls of yarns is something different.

I see lots of projects just waiting for that magical moment when creation happens.

Inside those bins, lurked the prayer shawl above which I made for a friend whose Mom had been diagnosed with cancer.  This project was not only made entirely from my stash but started out with the yarn left over from her mom's prayer shaw.

Then there's the large granny square afghan I started when a friend gave me what was supposed to be the beginning of a baby blanket for a friend's baby.  She ran out of yarn too soon and we traded - her unfinished square for one of my finished projects - also created from my stash.  I finished this afghan from bits and pieces from my own stash only purchasing enough yarn of the lavender colour (which originally came from my stash).

And there's one of my personal favourites: a "prayerghan" made for a Syrian refugee family in our area made almost entirely (but not quite) from my stash.  I started with an idea and what I call a "recipe" and let my mind, needles, hands and imagination go from there.

Personally, I don't know what I'd do without my stash.

More reading maybe?

#12 on my "Wish List"

 Quite a while ago on my main blog, Ramblings of a Deranged Mind, I posted a blog entitled "My Wish List".  It included a lot of things - most of which have nothing to do with knitting or crocheting - which are on my list of goals.  Number 12 said that I wanted to become as proficient at knitting as I was at crocheting.

This was early on in both my journey of recovery post workplace abuse as well as in my journey learning to knit.

I've been crocheting for more than 40 years; I've only been learning to knit since the fall of 2011.

When I began to learn to knit, there wasn't much I couldn't with with my crochet hook, yarn and a pattern.  At the same time, there wasn't much that I could do with knitting needles without or without yarn and a pattern.

So the learning curve was going to go straight up.

I originally started this blog to share my ongoing adventures with learning how to knit.  However, learning how to knit is very closely related to my ongoing journey of recovery from workplace abuse.  Without the one, there would probably not be the other.

I knit to heal.  Knitting - and crocheting - are my primary right brain therapies of choice in this road to recovery.  They allow me to rest my mind from all the the questions that puzzle me - and continue to puzzle and disturb me almost five years years post workplace abuse.

They spike my creativity.

I start out with a pattern which I will follow exactly as written - the first time.  As I'm knitting or crocheting that pattern, my mind takes flights of fancy with all the things I can do with it.  I can change it.  I can play with colours.  I can do this or do that.  I start to feel alive with the possibilities of what I can create with these few resources: needles - or a hook - yarn, and a pattern.  The possibilities are endless.  Or close to.

A "frilly" scarf

I like colour!  The brighter the better.  The more, the merrier.

I love to play with yarn.

I love to watch the item taking shape beneath my fingers.

I love the feel of the wool/yarn in my fingers.

I am at my happiest and most contented state of well being when something is forming on my needles or hooks.

A prayer ghan from my imagination, gifted to a friend
struggling with kidney failure.

I feel motivated and alive when I see what I am creating and imagine the pleasure it will give someone.

And yes, I still crochet.  I do both. When I can't seem to do one, I can usually do the other.

Between the two skills, I stay grounded and can cope with the world as I know it.  I can cope with a scrambled mind.  I have a purpose in life.  I may not have the most active life in the world, but  I'm not completely useless. When the words fail, the hands, needles and yarn don't.

And I have fun.  I have something not only to do, but to talk about.

My first shawl - made of very fine silk yarn

Part of the losses involved with workplace abuse, is that the social circle gets smaller and smaller and smaller.  With physically debilitating effects, I could no longer go out and about like I used to do.  With cognitive effects, I couldn't talk coherently like I used to do.  Because the cause was trauma and PTSD due to workplace bullying, it's not well understood by regular, ordinary, run of the mill people.  Even church people have huge issues with my issues.

But. I. Could. Knit. Or. Crochet.  Even if it was one row one way and another row back.  I could still do that.

Chemo hat.  One of my favourite endeavours

I've learned to knit (the garter stitch).  I've learned to purl.  Combined they create the stockinette stitch.  I've learned how to cable.  Lace.  Ribbing. Basketweave stitch.  I've learned how to use double pointed needles - or as I call them double pointed crowbars because the first time I used them that's what they felt like.  I've learned to use circular needles.

I started with the fashion scarves - the ones that twirled around and around and around.  Then I started on regular winter scarves.  Next came a cowl using both circular needles and the cable stitch.  Fingerless gloves followed.  Hats. Since then I've gone on to baby cocoons, 18 in doll clothes, baby - and other - blankets. And the list goes on - and on - and on.  I practice new stitches on dishcloths as they're small projects, easily ripped out and started over again, if need be.

I've used different weights of yarn from fine sock yarn to Lion Brand Homespun Bulky to novelty yarns. I've used thin needles and very large needles.  I've learned how to knit in the round using both DPNs (double pointed needles) and circular needles. I've  used cotton, wool, wood blends, acrylic, even silk.

Those are the times I feel proud of myself.  Those are the times I know healing is taking place.  Those are the times I know that while I may not have completely achieved item #12 on my wish list that I'm getting there.

By God's grace and a heck of a lot of work, I'm getting there.

And I couldn't be happier.

Prayer afghan originally started for my mom when she was dying
later gifted to a good friend whose mother was dying.