Ravelry made me do it
I’ve been meaning to catalog my stash for a while, but the final push came recently from two directions: the faboo Ravelry and my no-more-yarn decree. I gathered up the troops and everyone got a nice mugshot outdoors last weekend. The good is that I thought I had many more oddballs than I actually do. The bad news?
That’s 18 sweaters worth of yarn, arranged roughly by weight. Clicky on the picy for details. When I first started knitting, I bought lots of random skeins of ooh, pretty! Now I’m a bit wiser about buying yarn, but hot damn! For the record, I have knit 5 sweaters in my knitting career, one of which I’ve actually worn out of the house.
There are a couple of beginner-knitter-with-credit-card, um, mistakes up there. Like the Nadia, which is a thick-and-thin, alpaca-blend yarn in a whopping 72 yards (!) per skein. Or the Lang Fantomas, which is essentially sock yarn, but I have enough to make a sweater and socks and I’ll still probably have extras (damn you, Webs tent sale!).
I’ll also say there are a couple of groups that Don’t Count. The Rowanspun Aran is currently becoming a robsweater, although that sweater’s on the back burner for now and I’m considering frogging it because of pattern issues. The black Rowan 4 ply cotton is enough for a sleeveless sweater, and that’s about it. I’d love to track down another ball, but it’s been long discontinued. Anyone have any off-black 4 ply cotton that they don’t want anymore? I’d love to take it off your hands!
The really good news in all of this is that 15 groups in the photo above were purchased at least 30% off. Go me. The lesson learned is that this will be the summer of sweaters. Seriously, I need to knit this stuff up!
There will be a teeny exception to my knit-from-stash decree - my birthday is in one month (3-0), and I’m going to buy myself Kim Hargreaves’ Petal as a gift. I really wish that she sold her patterns separately, since I maybe have the yarn to make it in three different colors.
RSS
Petal looks awesome!
I have been wanting to photo document my stash for awhile and I thought Ravelry would push me over. But I find I’m a big ol’ scaredy cat and am afraid to see just how much I really have! Eep!
Oooh, it’s all so pretty. I have to start doing this tomorrow, and I’m scared of what I’m going to find.
The colors are so pretty, I love all the plums up there! I have the contents of my stash on paper, I bet having pictures of all of it would be helpful.
I too wish Kim Hargreaves patterns were sold separately, but Petal is so gorgeous the splurge is worth it (Esp. for your b-day!)
I am in love with your sweater stash! :) And most of it is great warm climate stuff!
You’re still doing the no more yarn thing? ;)
I looove Petal and all of the new spring/summer patterns–maybe someday I’ll take the plunge and order a kit.
man NICE JOB!! :)
i’m not really into making alot of sweaters…and i look at my closet filled w/ wool i will never use. i’m thinking about just selling it all and sticking w/ cottons, baby yarn and sock yarn. muahaha! :) I’ve come to this realization now as I try to document all my stuffs :)
oh…i forgot!
you turn 3-0 this year too? I do too in June! OMG! your bday is only 2 days before mine!! :)
I asked Kim a while back about selling patterns separately, and she said nope. I said oh well. But it’s a super pretty pattern. What color are you getting??
I think I can get a sense of what colors you like :) This whole Ravelry thing has made for some interesting posts. I can’t wait to get an invite :)
its fascinating being on the outside of ravelry while many post and podcast about it. it will be fun when I get on it - and get inspired again.
the shawl you’re knitting looks particularly delightful, even if I don’t like the triangle shape!
That stash is a beautiful thing - what pretty colors!
That’s going to make some beautiful sweaters someday. I’m still in denial about my stash and will probably never have the courage to catalogue all of it like this.
Petal really looks like it’s worth a birthday gift. :)
! I can’t wait to join Ravelry. I keep going over to the website, hoping it’s public. alas
I think it’s time I ought to document my stash. If I see it all staring at me via a computer screen, maybe I’ll feel even more motivated to use it up.
Your stash is awesome! I love your color choices.
Sigh. See Flickr comment re: Scrooge McDuck. I’m in love.
That.Is.A.LOT!
Hehehe, yeah, knit sweaters in summer. That’ll be fun! :-)
Awesome stash! I love your colours. :-)
Actually, I have 1 ball of black Rowan 4 ply cotton in my stash, and it’s yours if you want it. I can check the dye lot for you when I get home today.
Yeah, loading pictures of the gargantuan stash to Ravelry has made me feel officially mentally ill…I am in the same sinking boat with you on the yarn for sweaters account!!
All of those photos make such a nice collage! You know, when you do get through knitting all of this up, you can be guaranteed that the leftovers will all match each other for a nice blanket or something!
Ravelry is wonderful and evil all at the same time, no? I have big plans this weekend to at least start taking stash pictures . . . like P-La, I’m a little bit scared to see how much I have. Plus, I’m afraid that once I get it out of the yarn closet, I won’t be able to fit it all back in!
You have some lovely yarn there, and good on ya for buying stuff suitable for warm weather! I, on the other hand, have a large amount of wool in my stash . . . really sensible for Texas! (not)
I’m sensing a nice theme in your color selections! I’ve been trying to buy yarn “smarter” as well. It’s hard when you’re at the store or the festival and you see something you love and you’re standing there trying to come up with a project for it. I’m trying these days to settle on a pattern first and then find the best yarn match. Buy yarn makes good decoration - yes?
That’s amazing - you can clearly see what colors you lean towards with that photo!!! I think we could both comfortably knit from your stash all year! ;) At least you have lots to choose from, and you can always destash to have more funds for new stuff!
Nice stash! I wish I had enough yarn to knit that many sweaters! Well, I do, in a way, so long as no one minds mix-and-match sweaters made from many different colours in many different thicknesses of yarn. :p
If you have a summer of sweaters, at least you’ll be warm once winter hits!
Lovely, lovely stash! Hopefully I’ll join you at Ravelry soon, and my stash will make you feel better about yours. ;-)
Nice stash!
NICE!!!
i can’t wait to see you work your way thru your stash! me? i have A Lot Of Work To Do with My Stash as well. Lots. (the capital letters are warranted.)
also, man, those Kim Hargreaves patterns are sooo pretty! i’m going to see if my LYS has that summer book or not. for once, i like almost all of the patterns in a pattern book! amazing…
and i also really like the color palette of your stash! it’s vaguely familiar…looks a little like mine…haha! i haven’t posted it all to ravelry though. :o)
Everywhere I look it’s Ravelry this and Ravelry that. I’m so jealous! Gah! I’m ready. Doing Yarn Pr0n Fridays for the last year has me one step ahead of the game.
Ha! What a lovely site - all those gorgeous stash yarns, and such pretty colors, too! (Purple and blue much?)
I’ve just started with Ravelry, and I need to get some pics taken. But its tricky to keep the cats away from the lightbox. (Tee hee)
Since you have all that Lang Fantomas (and it IS sock yarn), any interest in a swap?
The nice thing is that your stash is all along similar colorways, so you can coordinate stuff or mix yarns fairly easily, I think. I’m moving so am cleaning out stuff–I found the destash blog very helpul! As for Petal, it does look nice! If you were up to trying to wing it or something that would look similar from the front, you might think about doing a short sleeve version of Knitty’s Tubey and just add the glass beads.
Ahhhh, That’s 18 gorgeous sweaters mind you! I can’t stand it anymore - if someone doesn’t give me an invite to Ravelry, I am just going to spontaneously combust! I mean it. You guys are just making such pretty pages.
what a purdy stash you have! I have yet to catalogue anything really but the projects… we’ll see about the yarns… it is hard to come to terms with what you have… oh and I love Petals!! I’m itching to buy some kits of Kim’s… this one is so on the list!
OMG, I know! Isn’t Ravelry the best!
Mmmm… I love the colors of your stash! They remind me of a bowl of mixed berries (with a little sprig of mint).
Love the stash pictures… those are all really pretty! I’ve been too scared to delve into my stash cupboard and see what’s lurking there - but after seeing those pics maybe I’ll make a try. I think it’ll be comforting to be able to see everything on one page in tiny image form!
[…] stashes - such as this one, this one, and that one. Lolly recently shared her stash stories, and Kelly catalogued her enviably color-coordinated stash. There’s much discussion in the blogosphere […]