Stash Management

Dealing with my stash is something that's constantly in progress. I have been buying yarn and fiber for many years now, so there's quite a bit of stuff in there, but I am trying to make a concerted effort to keep it under control. As far as the fiber stash is concerned, there has been a fair amount coming in due to the two fiber clubs I'm in. One way to try to keep that managed is to try to stay on top of the shipments -- which is why I put in several hours this weekend trying to finish spinning up the second bobbin of my most recent FatCatKnits shipment.

This is the second colorway (Sam of Sam and Dean), and I'd estimate that I'm somewhere between one-half and two-thirds done with it. I started it Friday night and spent about another hour on it today, so I think another evening or two should do it. I'm hoping to find time this week to finish these singles so that I can ply next weekend.

Another way to manage the stash is to use or get rid of the handspun I've spun over the years. I have knit with a good amount of it and given some away as prizes, but lately the handspun skeins in my stash have started to outnumber the commercial skeins. Luckily, I'll have an opportunity to liberate some of it in two weeks, when I'll be selling it at Indie Knit & Spin. My afternoon consisted of dealing with this:

This is just some of the handspun I've pulled out to sell at the event. What you can't see are the skeins that I already labeled and set aside as well as what's still in my stash (some because I want to keep it and some because I haven't gone through it yet). It's hard to get a sense of scale, but that's a pretty big plastic bin they're crammed in there. By the time I called it quits for the day, I'd pretty much filled the bin (many of these skeins were in individual plastic bags, which took up even more space) and there were still more skeins left to label. Some are going to take a bit more time because in some cases I need to reskein or do some calculations to determine yardage, but most of the pile has been labeled and accounted for. And by golly there's a lot! Digging into this was a bit like going back in time, because there are some skeins from when I first started spinning in this pile. It's hard to believe they've been sitting there all this time. I just home someone else will love them and take them home!