Every six months or so, since the first Flash Your Stash meme, I drag out my stash and photograph it. Since my last stash photo is called “mid06.jpg”, and I’m getting all fired up for Knit From Your Stash, I decided it was time for another:

I know it’s not big compared to some knitter’s. (There’s also another of the small boxes filled with ’emergency’ acrylic for craft/charity projects or for people allergic to wool, but I figure that doesn’t really count because I don’t actually want to knit it up.)

But there are projects in there I badly want to knit and it frustrates me that I’m not getting to them. I’ve experienced this stash frustration before. I used to sew a LOT and even did a patternmaking course. My stash of material that grew so large that one day I realised it would take several years to sew it all up even if I spent every weekend sewing.

Each unfinished project was a little voice calling to me, joining with the others to form a constant clamour. Each time I added another project the noise got louder. Finishing one didn’t reduce the volume much, and I started to work faster, and I stuffed up a lot, and got so frustrated I stopped enjoying myself.

Eventually sewing even small projects would put me in a foul mood, and I realied I no longer liked sewing at all. I stopped sewing and gave most of my stash away.

I know this makes me sound like a crazy person. I’m not. (Honest.) I’ve always suspected that I inherited my father’s tendancy to collect and hoard things and my mothers neurotic obsession with tidiness and finishing things. I can ignore housework for weeks, then suddenly go on a mad cleaning spree. Knit From Your Stash is me trying to do a slow, sane version of a mad cleaning spree.

(How did I get to mad cleaning sprees? I certainly wasn’t planning to digress this far. What was I going to talk about? Stash. That’s right.)

A good way to get through a lot of work is to break it down into smaller tasks – so set goals. So I’ve been thinking, how can I break down the task of reducing my stash? I’m fired up now, so I want visible progress straight up. Success initially shouldn’t be rated by the number of projects finished, but by the amount of room I make in the stash. So I should:

* knit large projects (removes more yarn from stash to wip bags!)
* knit 8/12ply and sock yarn as these boxes are full to bursting
* knit thicker yarns as they take up more room
* if crochet is faster and is suitable, crochet instead
* if weaving is faster and is suitable, weave instead
* use established patterns rather than designing (faster and a good excuse to buy more books!)
* but convert pattern to working in the round, to save time spent seaming
* use simpler patterns (faster and I can read books at the same time)

So I should knit socks and large garments. Which, ironically, is what I was already trying to do. But plain socks and garment I’ve already got patterns for are top of both categories now.

And my first big goal: free up one underbed storage box ready for my NZ yarn crawl.