Like most things in the world, knitting has a set of rules and conventions. Sometimes, we knitters break them. This is my knitting confession.
Yes, you read that right, my stash is no good. It is totally random. It has no rhyme or reason to it. When I started adding skeins to my stash, I would buy one, maybe two skeins of something beautiful. Mostly, I would buy when I traveled to new cities while coaching volleyball, and I would try to buy something unique that I hadn’t seen before or couldn’t get in Louisiana or Memphis. You know, a good yarn souvenir 🙂 This resulted in some beautiful things, but just one skein of beautiful.
Up until May, when I started my blog, this was ideal for my knitting plan: knit accessories. Usually those only require 1 or 2 skeins, perfect for small projects.
Here is the real confession:
Initially, when I started knitting I had no desire to knit garments. Sweaters? nope. Tops? nope. Jackets? nope. Sleeveless tank? nope.
I believe every knitter has a different journey into the knitting world. Everyone has their own taste. I wanted scarves and hats. I wanted mitts and socks. Maybe a headband. I started with small things. Manageable things. Things to cast on and finish that wouldn’t take that long. Truthfully, the thought of sitting down to knit a sweater was insane to me. Sweater knitting involved lots of yarn, costing lots of money and taking lots of time. I could go to the mall and buy one that I liked, would fit, and it would be instant. No waiting. No extra work. I just wanted to make scarves and cowls that you couldn’t find in the stores.
I was not even tempted to knit anything to fit me until I started reading blogs and blogging myself.
Now, I dream of cardigans. I yearn to cast on a pullover. I desire to snuggle up in a hoodie. All of these that I keep seeing on other blogs. My only problem is that my stash is full of 1 and 2 skeins. Not enough for a garment. And I’m on a yarn diet. Until Chicago. Which leads me to my plan.
On this upcoming trip, I want to acquire stash with a plan. Maybe pick out some projects ahead of time and go into the Marketplace to find yarn for that project.
Until then, I’ll bide my time, working on my Whispers top and maybe that Twist vest along with the other 10 things I have cast on already.
 
What about you? What does your stash look like? Is is all about big projects, little projects or just pretty skeins?
v’s & bumps,
Jenna
Linking up with Brandy for my Knitting Confession.
hardknitlife 
It’s crazy reading this because I am going through the same problem. Initially when I started knitting I was convinced I would never knit a garment, especially since for the cost of yarn I could easily make a few shawls and other accessories I could get more use out of. Now I am queuing various sweaters with intricate cabled designs, dreaming of cozy grandpa-style cardigans, and even fitted pullovers! I am not sure if I am going to actually knit a garment yet (Xmas knits have already started looming in my head) I do plan on considering actually purchasing sweater quantities now.
Most of my stash consists of fingering weight yarn (like you, the lone skein because it is easier to convince yourself that one skein won’t add much to the stash :D), and lacks any other weight. I need to introduce worsted yarns into the stash so whenever I want to make the odd hat or mittens I can easily do so without having to visit a store to get the right yarn.
Love how the Whispers top is knitting up!
I’m so glad to hear I’m not alone!!! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
When I started knitting I also was not interested in knitting garments at all. I mainly bought random acrylic yarns for stuffed animals or simple scarfs, so there is still a lot of leftover yarn from that time. By now I am interested in bigger projects, so my stash is also slowly filling with larger quantities of the same yarn.
I’m so glad to hear that I’m not alone in my not wanting to knit garments. I’m also impressed that you knit stuffed animals! I am not sure I have the patience to piece those together 🙂
My stash is/was very similar! The more I’ve been knitting (15+ years by now) the more large quantities of yarn I acquire. I *love* knitting sweaters, they’re my fave! So, I like to make sure that I’ve got sweater quantities of various yarns. I still have plenty of single and double skeins that need to be made into accessories, those little odd balls seem to hang around longer than the large quantity counterparts!
Isn’t ironic that the big quantities find a project to become and the small ones are still lingering??
Believe it or not I have the exact opposite problem! I’m sitting here on sweater quantities of various yarns and thinking “I just want to design another cowl with this”.
At least I’ll get a lot of accessories out of each yarn, and they’ll match :p
Very true! You can knit matching sets of cowls and not worry about running out of yarn!!
I can’t believe how similar our journeys were. When I started knitting I told people I’d NEVER knit socks! Every project I had made was a 1 to 2 skein. Hats, scarves, coals, shawls. My stash reflected that, skein after skein of random lovely yarn. Then I cast on socks, and spent the next year only knitting socks. At least these were still 1 skein projects so the stash stayed relatively the same. I never thought I’d want to make sweaters or cardigans. Until I did a KAL and the whole world changed. I have spent the last year almost exclusively knitting cardigans and sweaters. Now my stash seems completely inadequate. With yarn costing what it does, I have found that I have to have a pattern in mind when I buy yarn. My stash doesn’t grow the way it used to. In fact it seems stagnant, not growing. Because now, I buy the yarn then knit the yarn. Buy then knit, repeat. It’s a different process now, but I love the process. It motivates my to keep working on that project till its’ done so I can buy yarn for the next one. Some day I may be able to afford to buy a “sweater yarn stash”, until then it’s one at a time.
She Knits in Pearls
Oh socks!! The gateway knit 🙂 I got sucked into a KAL that I did not really keep up with, but just working on my Whispers top has me queuing all the sweaters I can!! And I go into my stash without being able to use it!! So I cast on something small…but I do love the idea of shopping for a specific project and then working on it. I have seen lots of your beautiful cardigans and no doubt have been more inspired to get knitting!!
Mine is no good too for a different reason. My friends and family think all yarn is made alike and therefore it is OK to buy me garbage bags full of partial skeins that don’t go with anything, and hundreds of full skeins of scratchy acrylic that are in colors so hideous only a non yarn user would think it’s OK to buy at a garage sale and gift…
I feel your pain of not having a good stash!
I’m very grateful people haven’t been buying me garbage bags full of yarn that I wouldn’t know what to do with it…maybe there is a charity knitting group that would be able to use the “gifts” you’ve been given. All the more reason to visit the yarn stores…
I totally get this — totally! When I just started to knit, it was … “ooooooo pretty” so I have have a whole bunch of random skeins with little yardage. I was trying to tame my ginormous stash but I’m not … if I want to make a sweater, I’ll get the yarn for it.
Love the way your sweater is working up.
Thank you!! I’m so glad I am not alone in this! 🙂