Flashing My Stash

OK, here we go.Here is the majority of my stash, laid out on the couch. It normally lives in a cardboard box in the corner next to the couch, with my WIPs in a basket next to it. The sweater hanging on the back of the couch was thrifted specifically to unravel and reclaim the yarn.


Starting from the left, these are my oddballs - anything less than a skein. Unlike some folks, I do use these, particularly for hats. I really love mixing yarns. The project in front is supposed to be an armwarmer, but I made it up as I went and forgot to write it down, so doing a second one would be a big pain. I haven't decided yet whether to rip it out or press forward with the project.

This center section of yarn is all 1-2 skeins. Some of these are leftover from other projects, some I bought for a specific project (like armwarmers or a hat) and some I just bought a single skein because I liked it. The project on the front left was just a swatch. I've now made one garter stitch wristwarmer with that yarn and have started what will become either a belt or a headband, instead of starting the second wristwarmer.
Close up of a few of the nicer yarns from the previous picture. L to R: a hand-spun yarn I bought at a farmer's market in Brooklyn (promised long ago to become wristwarmers for a friend), Mountain Colors Mohair Loop in Huckleberry, Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande (slated to become a hat), and some recycled silk sari yarn left over from the shawl I made my mom for Chanukah.
And this is my Lion Brand stash. Hanging on the back of the couch is, appropriately enough, the shawl my mom made me for Chanukah out of Lion Brand homespun. The pile on the left is Lion Chenille "Thick & Quick," generously given to me by D from my knitting group, because she had it leftover from holiday projects and she'd seen me use it on a couple of projects. Not sure yet what I'm going to do with it.

The pile on the right is all Lion Homespun, destined to become part of a big cozy multicolor afghan (which I am only a few inches into, as you can see directly in front of the pile).

OUTCOME: It was good to lay out my yarn to see exactly what I have. However, most of what I have is only good for small projects, and a lot of it is acrylic or acrylic blend. Both of these are more a matter of budget and space constraints than my yarn taste. I think my challenge for the next few months is to adapt or create some patterns for larger projects that can use a cheaper yarn for the base, but showcase one or two skeins of really nice yarn.

P.S. There are a few more skeins of yarn I aqcuired since these photos were taken, but Flickr is moving very slowly right now, so I will post them later.