We are now more than halfway through September, and I am only now getting to posting this blog update (whoops). In general, things have been a little crazy around, with prepping for Baby Girl (due in October!), working full time at my day job, and trying to keep track of what seems like a million WIPs. But I have been spending the past few weeks- if not writing a blog post- at least reflecting on last month’s progress towards my goal to Attack My Stash 2020.
With another month down, we are 2/3 of the way through the year. I had big hopes that I would decrease my yarn stash below 400 total skeins this month (don’t be alarmed, many of those skeins are miniature one gram skeins or already partially used). I have been working hard to use up my yarn this year, with an ultimate goal of decreasing my yarn to only 25% of what I started with in January; you can read more about this goal here. I intend to go from over 500 skeins of yarn down to around 125 skeins to meet this goal in an effort to save money, declutter, and develop more intentional crafting habits. This is a gargantuan task, so I am a bit behind, but I have posted some tips as I have worked on this process here. I also have monthly updates you can check out to see how I follow up on my goal. These posts are linked here: January, February, March, April, May, June, and July.
August felt like the most normal month of 2020 after the pandemic hit. We were able to travel for my brother-in-law’s small wedding, and we have been steadily accumulating baby items for our little one that is coming soon. I am realizing that as we get closer to my due date (Halloween!), it becomes more and more imperative that I use up my yarn stash and get it out of the nursery. I call it a nursery, but really our second bedroom is the toolshed (for my hubby), the craft room (for me), and the nursery (for baby). If you have ever had a baby, you know that while babies are small, the stuff for the baby takes up a lot of space. The countdown is on to declutter my stash this year to make room for bigger and better things.
I tested a few patterns, one of which used up ten skeins of worsted weight yarn (gotta love garments!) and I also made some baby items for my sister-in-law, who is having a boy in December. This month, I had a harder time deciding on items to crochet, but I still feel like I made progress towards my overall goal to attack my stash.
My Budget
I actually spent a good chunk of money for yarn to complete a pattern test for a friend. My original barrier to making the Genevieve Cardigan by @the___hook___up was the lack of yarn in my stash with which I could make a whole adult garment. I found my best bet, four skeins of olive green worsted weight wool, and set out to the craft store to find a coordinating color of wool yarn to use. I was able to stay well within my predetermined monthly yarn budget because I only bought the yarn I needed to complete this project. And while I definitely spent a little time browsing the fiber aisles, I just didn’t feel like I needed more yarn. Nothing was tempting enough to buy because I had no other planned projects that required yarn I did not have. I am happy with how I used my budget in August because I feel like I have truly built a habit of only buying yarn I will use intentionally.
My Yarn Stash
My overall stash fluctuated greatly this past month, more so than other months this year. As I mentioned above, I bought six skeins of worsted weight wool for a cardigan pattern that I tested. That’s the most yarn I have purchased at a time in months- since before quarantine! My original goal for the month was to decrease my stash below 400 skeins, which would have required using up approximately 25 skeins of yarn (if I did my math right). Since I bought six skeins, I needed to use up a total of 31 skeins to decrease my total below 400. Additionally, my cousin gave me two skeins of yarn she had leftover from a project. I love free yarn! And it is the perfect minty green color for our nursery. Unfortunately, I still don’t have a project in mind for that yarn, so I added two more skeins to my overall stash. I worked hard to use up my yarn this month, but with all of the yarn I accumulated in August, I just was not able to get my stash below 400 skeins. I used up 24 skeins of yarn, which left me with 16 skeins fewer than I started with at the beginning of the month. In all, that left my total skeins of yarn in my stash at 409 skeins. I did not reach my goal, but I tried hard to use up the yarn I accumulated, and was for the most part successful.
Things I’ve Learned
In general, I think becoming more minimalist means becoming more intentional in what I let into my life. Intentional yarn shopping means that I go to the yarn store with a project or purpose in mind. I am realizing that my stash got so out of control previously because I didn’t have these intentions in mind when I shopped for yarn. As a result, I only ever bought a skein or two of most yarns, which won’t allow me to finish most crochet projects. Even the yarns that I absolutely love I bought multiple colorways but only one skein of each colorway. That makes it extremely difficult to make a garment or afghan that suits my style. I really don’t want to make that kind of mistake again- I need to know for what project I am yarn shopping!
For those projects that I imagined when I did buy yarn with a purpose, I need to either make that project when I am inspired by that yarn or else make a different project according to what inspires me now. I cannot wait to crochet what I intended a yarn to become if I have already been waiting months or years to actually make it; I need to make what feels right and motivates me now. For example, I bought some yarn to make knit socks a while back. Have I learned how to knit socks since then? Well, no. Granted, I could still tackle this goal in 2020. But instead of just waiting around for the perfect time to start those knitted socks, I need to just make a pair of crocheted socks instead. Or, I can find an entirely different project that suits the yarn. Just because I had an idea months or years ago doesn’t mean that I have to follow through on that idea. If another idea sparks creativity within me, I should pursue that lead.
Finally, I need to not worry about the what-ifs of my makes- is it good enough? Would someone want this? Is it the exact right shade of green? Is this pattern the best I can create? I have definitely felt “analysis paralysis” when it comes to crocheting projects, whether that it something to sell, something to gift, or something to design. I love to crochet, but when I worry too much about the final outcome I can miss out on the joy of the creative process. The yarn does not have to be 100% perfect for the project to turn out really good and something worth selling or gifting. As far as designs go, I will constantly be learning more about crochet as I write my own patterns. They don’t have to be perfect to be worth putting out into the big, wide world! I just need to give pattern writing the best effort I can each time and strive to learn along the way.
Things to Change
During the month of September, I have some things I want to focus on in my efforts to attack my stash. I want to start a few bigger projects that I can work on continually to keep up my crojo momentum. Sometimes, I have a lot of different things to work on, but then when I suddenly finish all those pattern tests I am left with no ideas for what to crochet next. I will use up more yarn if I already have some bigger projects set aside to work on when I need a break from all the smaller, quicker projects.
I have been working hard this month to try and get ahead on the number of skeins I am using so that I can reach my short-term goal of using up an average of one skein each day of September. I did this once before, in July, so I know I can do it! In August, I started to fall behind and couldn’t quite catch up. I want to push myself more this next month to use up more skeins than that one-skein-a-day goal so that when things inevitably get busy I won’t feel so overwhelmed by the thought of playing catch up.
I have a lot of patterns and projects that I am working on this month that I hope to show everyone. I have plans to start the testing process for my Sweet Pea Wrap Top, a classic shirt that is functional for maternity and nursing wear. I am also working on a boxy crop pattern that requires velvet yarn that has been on my mind since last year. I hope to have at least one free pattern listed on my blog, which I think may be the Sweet Pea Swaddle. I am also participating in the Falling for Textures CAL hosted by @pineappleandpine in an effort to use up some of my stash yarn that is in eight different colorways even though it is all the same yarn. My blanket will probably turn out stroller sized, which will be perfect for our sweet Baby Girl who will be due just after the CAL ends. If you want to participate, the link to learn more about this CAL as well as to get access to all the patterns for free is here.
I have high hopes for September. There are a lot of exciting things happening in my life and I hope to successfully channel my creative energy into many new projects. We are currently halfway through the month, and I have some work ahead for me to reach my short-term goals this month, but I hope to really make some progress on attacking my stash. We are almost to the last quarter of the year!
You can stay up to date with my progress in this year-long goal by following me at Instagram @crowchetcreations or through the hashtags #crowchetcreations or #attackmystash2020. Please share with me the ways that you are using up your stash, I would love to see your progress and share in some motivation!
XO, Emily
