Dramatic Stash Reduction

My stash lives in our guest room. I have a large dresser full: one drawer for wools, one drawer for cottons, and one mostly of odds and ends and leftovers. There's also an old china cabinet with all the books, sock yarns and other special yarns jammed in there. I keep sweater quantities in the closet, along with lots of other craft supplies. It's been a easy way to keep organized, but this summer we anticipate some longer visits from various family members. And this fall, we'd like to do some remodeling to the master bedroom and bath, so Mr S and I will have to move into the guest room during the duration of the construction.

So this Spring, I have been reorganizing the yarn room, making more room in the closet for our guests and their things, and getting rid of some other, unused things. But as I was working in there the weekend before MSDW, my husband got a full-on view of the stash. He saw all of it. At once. His eyes bugged out in shock, but just for a moment. He didn't say anything except something about my plans to buy more yarn at MDSW the following weekend.

Later, he acknowledged that I do knit a lot. And knitting a lot requires a lot of yarn. He really did understand. He was just surprised that it was that much. I've never hidden any of my purchases from my husband. I stay within the budget, and since he pays the bills every month, he knows how much I spend. And although he didn't get at all angry or even seem annoyed, I realized it was time to really reduce the stash. It has gotten a little unwieldy.

Dramatic stash reduction was called for. I not only had to make room for my guests, but I had to prove to my generous and understanding husband that I really did intend on using all of that yarn, that my abundance had a purpose. There was only one thing to do: crochet a huge scrapghan. Being a crochet project, it would use up a ton of yarn, clearing a lot of space in the yarn dresser, and it would create a useful item for the whole family.

I cleared out all of the worsted-ish woolen leftovers, singletons, or random yarns bought for unrealized projects from the wool drawer. I stuck them in the basket and began Bella Dia's Vintage Vertical Stripe Blanket.

Week One: 27 rows

I have been crocheting at a feverish pace for two weeks, and currently have 56 rows of double crochet, or a blanket about 70" long x 20 " wide. The rows are long but simple, as this pattern has you crochet into the space created by the row below, instead of having to insert your hook into the V's of another stitch. As a crochet beginner, it is a great project. I'm trying to crank out as much as I can while I am still enthusiastic about the blanket and before the weather gets too hot to have a huge wool blanket on my lap.

Week 2: 56 rows

I'm still working of different knitting projects as well, all from stash. But for now, it's all about cranking out those long double crochet rows and using up all this yarn.