Dot’s Knit Bits
Splish, Splash, I Was Makin’ A Stash
Knitters, crocheters, quilters, and others on high fiber diets keep a stash of fibers on hand for future projects. A well-stocked stash is like money in the bank. It is the hope for lean times, the promise for the future. It is a 401K account, the “K” stands for knitting. We fiber enthusiasts would run back into a burning building for our stash. And if the laws of eternity ever change, we will take it with us. She who finishes with the most yarn wins.
The stash is built up in two ways. The first is harmless. Save all of those leftover balls of yarn in one place such as a closet or under the bed. It is best to have a king size bed.
The second method of stash building is dangerous. It starts with sale yarn you just have to have. Then on vacation you spot this other yarn, and you know you shall not pass that way again. Then there are store closings, garage sales, gifts, and special rare finds that you just have to have. You are now storing yarn for projects into the year 2015. This is good. You never want to outlive your yarn.
My stash took a quantum leap years ago when a yarn shop closed. It was like a death in the family. But I consoled myself with balls of yarn which I stored under the bed. When we moved houses, my burly teenage nephew lifted up the mattress, took one look and said, “Auntie Dot, do you want me to help hide this yarn so Uncle Keith doesn’t see?” My reply was, “Wait till you start to move his tools.”
A chest of drawers makes a good stash holder. I evicted my son from his bureau, “Son, now that you are married with mortgage, please remove your baseball cards, wrist rockets, and rubber band collection from the chest in the spare room.” The chest now has five wonderful drawers: wool, synthetics, novelties, spinning supplies, and yarn purgatory.
Spinners do not put their stash of beautiful hand spun fibers in drawers or under the bed. We display our skeins in specially constructed, lighted niches. Yarn Gogh.
As you build your stash, remember a few simple rules:
- Always store your yarn with the ball band. This will avoid weeping and gnashing of teeth. You might decide to make a felted fish. My felted fish mouth was not wool, as I thought it was. In the felting process it just stretched and hung down about four inches. Large mouth bass-ket case.
- Keep your wool separate and check your wool stash for livestock. Cedar blocks which do not come in contact with the fiber are one livestock repellant. Use soaps specially formulated for wool labeled, “permanently mothproofs.” Freezing conditions also destroy livestock, so I put my wool stash in my enclosed porch for a few days each winter.
Happy stashing!