I have a lot for which to be grateful, and I felt that this month especially. November is my birthday month and I felt so much love and thoughtfulness headed my way. I definitely pampered myself and felt the love from my loved ones! Thank goodness for gift cards so that I could get some yarn I had been eyeing without breaking the bank.
Since January 2020, I have made an effort to decrease the yarn in my possession in an effort to foster more minimal and intentional crafting habits, which you can read about here. I write monthly reflections here on my blog that you can find at the Attacking My Stash tab up above related to my progress on this ultimate goal to use up 75% of my original yarn. Over time, my goal has evolved and my priorities have changed, which you can read about here regarding my 2021 version of this resolution. Even more recently, I have come to better understand my highest priority when it comes to attacking my stash and filling my shelves with yarn that inspires and excites me. Be on the lookout for an updated goal for 2022 as I work systematically to use up my old stash yarn that has been hiding in a closet for years without purpose!
I have been blessed with a lot of beautiful yarn this month! I am not quite sure how to include my “gift card yard” in my counts for this past month, so I am just going to include them like any old skein. My net yarn usage was much higher than I anticipated, but I was able to finish quite a few projects in November that I had started in October. My Coco socks, using Treehouse Knits Coco Collection yarn and the Color Palette Socks pattern by Laura Moorats, were a big item I finished, as well as my Autumn Doodle Cowl by Pacific Knit Co. I released the Feeling Pine Dishcloth Set crochet pattern on December 1st (on Etsy and Ravelry), so I completed the samples this past month for that design. I threw in a couple of random quick projects, like a Love Note by Tin Can Knits for my daughter and a pair of DK weight socks for myself, that used up some yarn I had lying in wait in my stash. If you want to hear more about the projects I worked on and the yarn I purchased in November, you can check out Episode 4 of my Crowchet & Knit Podcast on YouTube!
My Yarn Stash
What a month! I added *quite a few* skeins of yarn to my stash from a variety of sources. As I have been trying the past few years, most this yarn was purchased with intentional plans in mind rather than “what ifs.” Like I said above, I used more yarn than I expected in November! I was able to use up 22 skeins of yarn this past month. Most of those skeins were DK yarn from Georgia’s sweater, my socks, and my cowl. I also had quite a few fingering skeins from my Coco socks and worsted weight cotton for my newest pattern design. Since I finished off a lot of projects I was able to finish off a lot of skeins.
I did, however, bring more yarn into my stash- 37(ish) skeins to be exact. It would be hard to tell you exactly where all those skeins came from because my sticky note is mostly chicken scratch at this point. That being said, I can generalize the origins of my new yarn. I had a Knitpicks sweater quantity order (for a Love Note for me) as well as a few skeins for my Feeling Pine Dishcloth Set crochet pattern. I snagged a couple ready-to-ship sock yarns from a variety of dyers include Northwoods Fibers, Momma Jess Knits, and Ruby & Roses. I also was given a skein of yarn from a friend for my birthday, which was so sweet! The biggest parts of my yarn increase this month were the scrappy advent from The Graceful Tangle, Sewrella Yarn fall tonals for a future shawl project (using a gift card), and some yarn from Fillory, my local yarn store in San José (also using a gift card). To be transparent, I counted the 10 gram scrappy advent as just a single skein of yarn for this count because otherwise I would have acquired 23 additional skeins. Since they are so small and will be so quick to use up I felt like that was silly.
Even with me fudging the numbers for sanity’s sake, I realized that I now have more than 300 skeins of yarn right now (if you count all the yarn on its way to me). However, I feel really well set up for the big projects I plan to make in 2022. I also really want to get back below 300 skeins by the end of this year!
My Budget
Having two hefty gift cards for my birthday helps a lot with my yarn budget for this month. I also placed three Knitpicks orders (I know, right?). Two of them were during Black Friday weekend as they had a sale at the same time I desperately needed 6.0 mm DPNs for a project (large DPNs are surprisingly hard to find at a moment’s notice). Also, once I received word that my design ideas were not accepted for a magazine I applied to, I decided to purchase the yarn myself so I could still create that pattern to self-publish. All the other yarns I bought were either with gift cards (yay!) or just a couple skeins of sock yarn for a summer top or (you guessed it) socks. When I purchase a sock set I count the mini as a separate skein, so the exact number of skeins does not perfectly reflect the volume of yarn; not all skeins are created equal, which this numbers-based approach fails to acknowledge. I am still waiting on about 15 skeins of yarn to come in the mail sometime in December if not early January. I am grateful that I can invest money in this hobby and small business of mine, I recognize that I am in a privileged position and not everyone can afford to buy what I can. However, like I said, I feel mostly set up for 2022 projects, so I don’t think I will spend as much on yarn in the new year.
Things I Learned
While I am using up a good amount of yarn recently, I realized that most of the yarn I am using I has also recently been acquired. If my ultimate goal is to use up the old yarn in my stash that is just sitting around, I need to come up with projects for that old yarn. I need to figure out what to do with my old stash rather than only focus on making things with my beautiful new stash, or else I am just cycling through my newer yarns while the older yarns hide in the closet for even longer. That closet yarn is not serving me, so I need to brainstorm ways to use it so that it CAN serve me.
On a similar note, I learned that the content of my stash matters more than the amount I have in my stash. I am so much happier with the yarn in my stash right now than I was when I started this challenge, even if I have not reached my original goal of using up 75% of my stash. I wish that I was continuing to use up more and more yarn, especially since my total yarn count stalled out a few months ago and has increased this past month. However, the number of skeins does not reflect my stash’s volume or the purpose of my yarn. So while the overall goal is still far away, the general trend of my stash has evolved into something I enjoy much more.
I am really grateful for the blessing that was November. There were so many great things in my life, and yarn is part of that. My favorite indie dyers keep dyeing more beautiful yarn! And I keep discovering new wonderful dyers that I want to support. It’s hard not to feel FOMO (fear of missing out) on hand-dyed yarn because it feels like it is always limited edition. But I need to continue being intentional about the yarn I bring into my stash.
Things to Change
It is a little hard to focus on short-term Attack My Stash goals with the new year looming close. However, one big thing I want to change is how I use the older yarn in my stash. I think I want to make my 2022 Attack My Stash goal centered around how to use up my older stash. This upcoming month, I will be brainstorming and figuring out how I want to set up plans for my stash so I can clear out some of the yarn that isn’t serving me. My stash in its entirety doesn’t matter as much to me now as it did in January 2020, but the contents and purpose of the individual yarns in my stash matter so much more. I really need to give the old yarn some purpose!
I am contemplating setting a monthly hand-dyed yarn budget that I would take with my into the new year. Since I am not working right now, I want to be mindful of how much personal money I spend on this hobby and small business of mine. I would love to be able to support this hobby with my business profits, but that is a long way away from me right now. In the meantime, I need to selectively purchase the yarn I will be using for specific projects in a specific time frame so that it doesn’t become part of my old stash.
I have recently hit a turning point in my Attack My Stash goals. Most of December has been and will be spent figuring out my making goals for 2022. I really want to prioritize using up specific parts of my stash that I have previously not known what to do with. I am really happy with a lot of the newer yarn that I have chosen to bring into my home for current and future projects. I am looking forward to finishing some last minute Christmas makes this month and preparing for another great maker year!
If you are also participating in Attack My Stash, I would love if you share with me on Instagram @crowchetcreations through the hashtags #CrowchetCreations and #AttackMyStash2021 so I can cheer you on! Next month I will be sharing not only how December went, but also a review of the entire year of my yarn goal. I hope to see you for the next installment of this blog series!
Happy making!
XO, Emily
