Before knowing how the year would turn out (2020 screwed us all), I set a goal to “Attack My Stash”- to use up as much of my yarn as possible. You can read more about this year-long goal here. Basically, as I started selling finished crochet items and no longer had my time taken up with school, I quickly accumulated a massive amount of yarn. It was almost a hobby of mine to go to the craft store on my days off of work just to browse… and then I would inevitably buy a handful of skeins that looked interesting or that I thought would be useful for market makes. I’m sure tons of crochet makers have a lot more yarn than me, but I became overwhelmed with the volume of yarn in my possession. I wanted to become more minimal and intentional in my crafting to save money, space in my home, and the environment. While I could have just donated a whole bunch of my yarn and started from scratch at building an intentional yarn stash, I wanted to build habits for a more minimal crafting lifestyle. So, I set out to use up 75% of my yarn during the year 2020. I got organized at the beginning of the year and then worked consistently to track my yarn consumption and accumulation. I wrote monthly updates here to keep me accountable to this big goal and to regularly reflect on my progress.
Now that 2020 is over (finally), I can look back on my progress in December as well as the overall growth I had throughout this entire experience. Spoiler alert: I had such a mindset shift from my focused effort to destash my yarn that I plan to continue working on this goal, although with some modifications you can read about below.
My Budget
At the beginning of the year, I set a monthly budget to help me limit my spending for yarn, which in turn would help me be more intentional about the new yarn I would bring in to my home. While I struggled to keep to that modest budget for the first couple of months of 2020, March upended all of us from our routines as we went into quarantine. Craft stores closed and people only focused on buying the necessities. My spending on yarn halted abruptly, which ultimately changed my spending habits more quickly than if I had just my willpower. The entire rest of the year, I spent well within my yarn money budget, with many months spending no money at all on yarn.
In December, I only bought three skeins of yarn, and all of which were planned. Two skeins were needed to complete an order for a customer, and one skein was needed to complete a mitten set that I started for a pattern test. Honestly, my yarn spending before this year was very excessive, since my purchases were tied into my hopes for my business. Now that I understand better what products sell and how much yarn I actually go through, I no longer have the internal need to “buy all the yarn.” I used to be in an unhealthy spending pattern, but by limiting myself (even when I could have given reasons to go over budget) I have changed my habits and feel a lot more in control of buying only yarn I will actually use in a timely manner.
My Yarn Stash
While I worked hard in December to use up quite a bit of yarn, I did not make as much progress on my total yarn stash as I had hoped. In total, I worked through 18 skeins of yarn last month. Considering I had a newborn, went back to work full time, participated in a craft fair, AND celebrated Christmas with some family, I am proud of myself for how much I did use. Like I mentioned above, I purchased three skeins of yarn this month for projects I was working on. The biggest surprise was a package from my grandfather right before the end of the year that contained ELEVEN skeins of some unknown yarn. The bag was addressed, “To Maxine,” who is my late grandmother, so it is special that it is now in my possession. So my net total for December was only using up four skeins of yarn.
And now, what we’ve all been waiting for- my grand totals for the year 2020! I started the year with 509 skeins of yarn of all different sizes and weights. Some skeins were already started while many had not been broken into yet. I had more than 100 mini skeins of DK weight cotton yarn! My original goal was to use up 75% of that yarn, which would leave me with only 127 skeins. This was a very lofty goal, and while I didn’t reach it this year, I feel really proud with how many skeins I was able to use up through my crocheting this year. In total, I used up 213 skeins of yarn! With 46 skeins purchased and 13 skeins given to me by family, my net total comes to 355 skeins of yarn (if I did my math correctly). That means that mathematically, I used up slightly more than 30% of my yarn stash. While that is a far cry from 75%, that is still a significant amount!
Things I Learned
This year, I have learned so much as I worked to change my spending habits, develop my maker skills, and tried to be more intentional with my craft. Each month, I reflected on lessons I had learned within that month, which you can read here, but I want to include some of the biggest, overarching lessons I learned through the span of this year.
My spending on yarn changed drastically this year. I am so embarrassed to think about how much I spent previously! I had developed a bad habit of going to buy yarn for fun, which was a waste of money and space. As I diligently limited my spending, I saw my desire to browse for yarn decrease. Over time, I no longer bought yarn just to try out. This change is something internal, which is hard to describe. However, I genuinely feel differently about yarn in a craft store now; I don’t feel the same pull to collect as much of it or to buy some just because I think like it. Just like how if you limit your sugar intake, you eventually don’t want to consume as much sugar, I found my desire to spend my money on yarn decrease exponentially. I am so much more content with the yarn I already have. This practice made me more conscious of the consequences of consumerism in my life as well as the environment.
In another sense, as I worked hard to use up my yarn stash, I realized just how much time it takes to crochet. And since my time is limited, I cannot collect all the yarn that intrigues me- I would never get to use it all! If I really want to crochet with certain yarns, I need to limit how much I bring in to my life so I still get the opportunity to use that yarn. I will be purchasing yarn more wisely in the future since I understand how much yarn I can realistically use in the time I have.
Finally, I learned that while decreasing my stash one skein at a time will save some space, the crocheted make will take up just as much space if still in my home. I need to get finished objects out of my house if I am not using them. Like I mentioned above, I need to sell my old inventory at craft fairs and online to prepare for better branding. I want the crochet in my life to be meaningful and intentional, even the crochet I make to sell. As I use up more of my yarn, I will make room for the yarn that I truly love and that inspires me.
Things to Change: Attack My Stash 2021
My yarn budget was a great limiting factor in 2020 to help me be more intentional and less wasteful about the yarn I brought into my home. Since I feel really good about building a better habit for purchasing yarn, I will not be setting a monthly yarn budget in 2021. Instead, I will casually limit my spending based on how much money I make with Crowchet Creations. I don’t plan to spend all of my profits on yarn, but as long as I spend within that budget, I will feel okay about my spending habits. My greater focus for yarn spending will be on which brands I support with my money. I want to invest more money in high quality yarns from small businesses and ethical brands. As I support these types of businesses, I will be confident in whatever money I spend will be doing good in the greater world rather than just giving my value.
This year I realized that it doesn’t matter how much yarn I use up if the finished items stay lying around at home in my spare bedroom. In order to try and get those makes out of my house and decrease that clutter, I will try to make more gifts and donations during 2021. I participated in a few donation programs last year and I loved being able to make something that someone needed. Of course, I still sell items at an artist co-op, at craft fairs, and online, but I want to make a more concerted effort to make items to give to others.
I have a few works-in-progress around my home, and I really need to finish them. My mental clutter from having half a dozen projects going at once makes it hard to enjoy the process of creating. It also makes it harder to design new patterns if my head is full of half-finished ideas! This year I hope to minimize not only my yarn stash but also the number of projects I am working on at any given time.
Finally, I want to use up enough of my yarn that I only have two totes of yarn left. I think that is more than enough yarn for me to be working on multiple projects and making more market inventory. Honestly, most of my yarn has been sitting around for more than a year, which is part of the reason I know I need to use it up before buying more yarn. I think I could potentially reach my original goal of 127 skeins left in my stash by the end of the year, so I will try to work towards that as well. While the amount of yarn I have needs to decrease, I think the sheer volume of the yarn is a greater problem though. As I have less and less yarn to work with, I hope it will help me be more intentional in the things I make as well as the craft supplies I bring into my home.
Do you have any goals to use up your yarn or craft supplies this year? Let me know if you will be joining me in #attackmystash2021 down below or on Instagram @crowchetcreations. Whatever your goals are this year, I wish you luck and happy crafting!
XO, Emily
