How many kilos of yarn do I have? // Stash tour
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- Опубліковано 20 січ 2023
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Sharpei Sweater by Creadia Studio / creadia.studio
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Önling No 12 in Solbær Sorbet 36 int.oenling.com/collections/o...
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Thanks for sharing. The filming was fine. No worries about the sound. The only thing I can think of might be to take the bags out and put them on the bed - pause filming - and repeat with the next drawer. That would mean you could stabilize the camera. On the quantity, that’s your judgment alone ❤ I look at my stash and may feel the “should” creeping up. Then I think, no, it’s fine. I love wool. I feel connected to the animals, shepherds, and makers around the world who contribute this beautiful fiber. Pieces of their stories and their contributions to life are in my hands. I have started taking some yarn out of my tubs and bags to display it. I’m inspired when I can see and touch it. For me, being with my yarn and meditating on it a bit (a suggestion from Jackie of A Good Yarn podcast) has challenged me to knit what my heart wants rather than pile on pressure around production. We are so lucky to have whatever fiber is around us! It’s a joyful part of life - thanks again
Awww this is such a beautiful way to think about fibre and you’re absolutely right - we are so very lucky to have so much of it ❤️
Someone else made the suggestion of laying it all out so I’ll do that next time 🥰
I've been working on reducing my stash this year and last year and have managed to knit some sweaters, 4 or 5 with yarn I've had for 10 plus years. I had initially thought of just letting the yarn go to charity shops until I realized what the replacement costs would be if I wanted something else! I knit every day so hopefully I'll see reductions this year. Trouble is there's just too much nice fabric these days and just not enough time to do it all! Curbing my enthusiasm for new purchases can be problematic!
I so know that feeling Susan!!! I still find myself dreaming about new yarns and I do miss being able to buy yarns for a project I'm exited for and knit it up much quicker. Well done for getting some older yarns out of stash! Earlier this year I gave away some yarn for free that I had from Aldi that I knew was no longer to my taste and it was lovely to let it go.
I enjoyed your video! Whatever you have is what you have and only you can determine if you’re comfortable with it and the amount of space it takes up in your home and your head! I have half the yarn you do and am hoping to get below 5,000 grams this year. Organizing my yarn and looking at it is one of my favorite things to do when I’m stressed so my yarn is pretty neat and tidy. I have a small closet with four shelves and eventually I would like all of my cross stitch on one shelf, my painting supplies in one shelf, my yarn on another and the last for tools like my swift, ball winder, box of knitting needles and various project bags. Right now the tools and embroidery have their selves but the knitting is taking up two shelves so that’s why I want to cut my stash in half.
Sounds like a wonderful way to store it! I'd like to be able to do something similar one day.
Thank you for charing! I do think that you have a big stash but I do too. Do not feel bad about it, just keep on knitting and use it up! 🤩
Glad I'm not alone - happy knitting 🥰
I like the stats you gave rather than just looking at the yarn. It’s given me some ideas in tracking the shopping from my stash I want to do this year. My stash also includes excess yarn from when I closed an online yarn shop I ran earlier in the 2000s plus my yummy yarn purchases. And like you I still love the yarn I have so want to use it. To make room for some more beautiful skeins. I think you stash isn’t too outrageously large and your plans for this year should tame it. Thanks
Awww thanks Lee, I’m glad it was useful! Your stash sounds lovely 😊
I have been knitting for almost 65 years- my stash is likely way over 20 kilos- it’s scary. I need to do a really big destash, as most of my knitting has been baby sweaters, hats and mitts- mainly acrylic for ease of care. My tastes have changed, times have changed, and what I am knitting has changed- and there is always something new and wonderful to tempt me. I hope to organize my stash better. Your system is amazing and so helpful to be able to find what you need when you want it. I forget more than I remember what’s in my stash.
So easy to forget what’s in your stash! That’s why I realised I needed a way to organise it all and be able to see it with quantities as otherwise things would just get put away and forgotten.
When I put the yarn I no longer wanted up on Facebook marketplace I was really touched by how many were looking for yarn for charity knitting and I hope at least some of it has gone on to become something that brings joys to others instead of collecting dust in my stash 😊
This was really interesting! :) As someone who has been "building" my stash for almost 10 years, I feel like your stash isn't massive, it seems reasonable? But of course it depends on whether you think the colours, qualities etc will still bring you joy in a few years or whether your taste might change?
Personally my stash (which I am pretty sure is bigger, but I don't log it anywhere so who knows!) is 95% filled with things I absolutely love and intend to knit with, even if some of it has been sitting in my stash for over 5 years. That may sound crazy to someone but I feel like I will like it in the future and if not there's always destashing so it doesn't really stress me.
Having said that, I am trying to work from stash and use things up this year and thanks to the variety of yarn I have, I am really enjoying it.
Also, as a perspective: I bought a fair amount of yarn before having a kid when disposable income was very different and now with a child and a cost-of-living-crisis I am actually very glad to have this massive ressource of yarns and don't "need" to spend more money on yarn unless i choose to for whatever reason.
You're absolutely right that it is important to look at the joy your stash gives you! I'm, like you, also really thankful that the size of my stash now means I don't have to spend lots of money on yarn, unless I really want to so I never see myself having no stash at all 😊
Thank you for showing us your stash. My opinion on the amount of someone’s stash is totally personal and if you know you’re gonna knit with it then more the merrier.
It is a very merry stash ❤️
it was very fun. I'm looking forward to seeing you knit some of the projects. I don't know how much yarn i have but i made a list of projects I have all or some of the yarn for, and a plan. it amounted to 68 projects. So I have a plan to knit from stash along with you 😉
Hehe Lotte - that is a long queue, just like mine!!! Glad to have somebody join me in reducing stash 😊
I have an idea about your leftover mohair/fingering yarns - save them for a (or a few) Spot Sweaters, pattern by Anne Ventzel. The lefterover yarn Spot sweaters on instagram look very intentional and pretty, they don't look like scrappy sweaters at all.
I haven't archived my stash completely yet, but I my storage system is pretty much the same as yours - not very aesthetic! But it's what we need to do to protect the yarn until we use it. I'm also a bigger size than you, and my favourite yarn shop was also Knitt, so I have many sweater quantities worth of yarn that I haven't knitted up yet.
Like you, I've also changed my mind about the project I've bought them for, so it's been a struggle to think of projects to repurpose those yarns for. However I've been practicing intermittent fasting lately, so hopefully as I lose weight, the possibilities of what projects I can make with the yarn quantities that I have will expand (because yarn I previously bought for a vest could probably make a sweater or cardigan in my original size).
I have seen some of the scrappy Spot Sweaters and they are very nice!
Weight loss is a hard thing and it can be mentally exhausting - if you look back I spoke a lot about it with the upcoming wedding! My weight was higher when I first started podcasting and the surprising thing is that it wasn’t always connected with how happy I felt. I’m a big believer in making what makes you feel happy for the size you are now with the yarn that brings you joy ❤️ I don’t regret any of my makes that are now maybe a bit big because they brought me joy when I first made them.
Hi Karoline. Thanks for going to the effort of showing us your yarn stash. You have some real hum-dingers in terms of gorgeous quality yarns. If you wanted ideas on how to structure this if you did it again, I would've loved to see the bags laid out on your bed, with you holding a ball/skein of each and talk about composition/weight etc. That is a heck of a lot of work for you to do though, so certainly not an expectation of you at all!
In terms of 19kg of yarn in your stash, that seems a glorious smorgasbord of options to someone like me. I don't have a figure for my stash in weight, but I know I have 10 Sweater quantities of wool AND accompanying mohair/alpaca silk. I also have 4 quantities of summer top (Knitting for Olive 100% silk), and a collection of yarns to knit a shawl. On top of that is my leftovers. I have an awkward amount of yarn left over after each jersey I knit, so I have about 1.5 jerseys worth of leftovers (I plan to knit the Aros Sweater by Petite Knit to use up a lot of the leftovers). Other leftovers I have are from baby Knits - I knit baby blankets for friends, so have a collection of superwash yarns from those. They'll all get used eventually but in the meantime they do take up room.
So I guess what it comes down to for me is whether I love everything in my stash or are there yarns I know I won't use. And also if I hold myself to a time when I expect to knit things by. I'm lucky that I do love everything in my stash, so I don't have dread or guilt about it at all. I also have an idea of what I will knit with most of it. I have stopped buying yarn unless I need it for a particular project, and I've decided that will be how I buy yarn from now on, with the only exceptions being when I go to yarn festivals.
So in short, if you love the yarn you have, perfect! If you have any you don't - get rid of it! Life is too busy to be guilt knitting! 😂😁
I like the idea of that format and will probably aim to do that in the future when it is a wee bit smaller - I think it'd be much more aesthetically pleasing to watch even if it is more work! Actually kinda wish I had done that now 😂 I guess there will always be a 2024 stash tour!
That sounds like a great amount of stash and your friends are very lucky that you knit for them 😊 Life is definitely too short for guilt knitting!!!
I don’t think you need to worry too much 😊 There are so many facets and approaches to having stash. A little bit like you I started buying yarn because I liked and no plans which is now biting me on the bum!! I reviewed my fingering weight and have about 50 skeins of, mainly, one colour 🙈 I’m hoping to move later this year so am focusing on stash busting - the thing with that is the makes might not then be those new jumper patterns that I’ve got in my library but we’ve got plenty of time! I’m focusing on socks and blankets for these first few months and see how I go. Good luck 🤞🏻 😂
Good luck to you too, sounds like we both need it 😂 As long as the yarn still brings me joy I'm not feeling too guilty but I am ready to reduce it!
Great to see the way you organise your yarn and keep track of what you have. I might try using Ravelry for that.
Once it is all on there it is really practical! Especially if you stay on top of taking photos of it as you can see it all at a glance.
Thanks for showing us all your treasures, what fun!
Honestly my stash is probably twice as large ( at least). I do plan on not buying unless it’s for a specific project. I’m going to donate some as well.
I've been glad to hear in the comments that there are stashes the same size or bigger 😂
I agree that everyone’s stash can and should be viewed different. If 19 kg works for you then it works. Also I really appreciate the info you included on Ravelry. I’ve just started logging my stash on there and didn’t know I could do all that exporting and such. Maybe a “how to work ravelry” would be a great video.
Thanks Carrie! In my day job a lot of my role is to teach others how to use different systems but I have to say I don't know all parts of Ravelry that well - I might include more Ravelry chat in other videos where I use it, I find it really useful for planning leftover stash projects 😊
I've just stumbled across your channel and really enjoyed this video. I have over 24 kilos of yarn, all with projects and ideas attached, and I often struggle with seeing it all as just a giant to-do list. So I'm definitely stashing down this year in order to actually knit some of these projects I've been wanting to knit for ages rather than falling for the next new thing all the time. And I look forward to seeing more of your videos about your own journey! (Also I wanted to let you know that I for one appreciated seeing how your stash and your space looks in reality, rather than a totally tidied and hoovered version!)
Thank you Margaret! It is sometimes hard to stick to what your original plan is when there's constantly new patterns and new yarns to be dazzled by! I saw another podcaster talk about how yarn can lose a bit of its "magic" over time and I can sometimes feel that but then looking at my stash again I often get excited.
Don't feel like you have to apologise about how "disoraganise" it is. I love the fact that you're realistic about how you keep your stash! 😊When I first started watching knitting videos, I would drool over the shelves and crates of yarn.
After accidentally buying all the yarn my heart desired, I realised a little too late that I don't have the space to display my yarn or the speed to knit through them without them getting dusty 😅
I haven't tried separating my stash into project quantities with the ikea bags. Might try that out today to make it visually more managable 😊
It does make it easier to find and see things I find - at least when your stash is the size mine is now! And thank you for saying you don't mind it being disorganised - I've also drooled over others organisation!
What a lovely overview. I am participaties in the yarnnobuy challenge and I did film a short podcast on it as well, I am not ready counting my yarn and I already have over 80 km so I think yours is perfectly normal
Glad I'm not alone in having a big stash 🙈😂
So interesting to hear you analyze your stash! I’m very determined to work on my stash this year. I have a lot of hand-dyed single skeins. I’ve started My Favorite Blanket knit along with Kay Jones. So far, I’m using these skeins which is perfect. Another problem I have found is that I really have no idea what to buy for a sweater quantity. So I think I have: shawl, vest, and crop tops quantity in my stash. I’m hoping to get started on one of those. Thanks for sharing!
That sounds like a wonderful way to use up single skeins! And many other wonderful projects lined up 😊
19 kg would be a lot, when there would be lots of yarns that you don’t want to use anymore, I think. I am sure that most of the yarns in your stash will eventually get in to a project. Just enjoy your stash and if you see something that you want to make, think first of options in your stash and don’t be ashamed to buy new yarn if you don’t have the right option in your stash ❤
Aw thank you Jessica! I think I'm finding more and more that I don't have much desire to buy other yarns as I have quite a lot of variety in my stash - but then last year I did get a lot of the same dopamine rush you get from buying new yarn when choosing yarns for test knits.
This year I start with 77 kg off yarn 🤫🤫🤫and it's OK. I knit a lot, and I know that I will used it all, eventually 🤣🤣🤣
Glad it's not just me with a bit of stash 😂
I really enjoyed this episode and seeing your stash and how it’s organized. I also loved seeing the portion you showed of your stash on Ravelry. I also put my stash on Ravelry and link it to projects, very handy tool. Your stash seems reasonable to me but I like your goal of working through it this year. I am going to tabulate how much my stash weighs now😬😂
Awww thank you Keiko! I'd be interested to hear how much you have in your stash 😂
@@KarolinesKnits I will calculate it and see how much it is. I am a little afraid to see the amount, it will be fairly large I think!
My stash is Soo messy too so no worries for real 😃 I did a de stash last week to have my yarn more organized and I like how it looks. I am always so excited to peek in others stash so thank you for sharing 🐱
It's such a nice feeling when it is freshly organised I think!
I'm really looking forward to put my stash into ravelry now.. It's something thats right up my alley I think and you've now convinced me to do it! :)
Awww Marlene glad to hear it!!! It's a lot of work to do it the first time but so much easier when you're just maintaining it.
I love how many different ways there are to view stash. I've watched a bunch of these videos as I do love beginning of year "yarn resolutions". I too store everything to the yard in Ravelry as I find that system to be the clearest, esp since I use Rav to keep detailed notes of every project and favourites etc. I don't need to display any yarn to know exactly what I have to apply to any new project. My own take on stash is that I aim (and have done every year I've knitted) to use every last yard of my yarn - which means that every few "new yarn" projects I end up doing a couple of "yarn remant" projects. (As I don't love the look of most scrappy things, it's taken me a while to find my sweet spot on this front.) Note that I never do get down to nothing, nor do I actually expect to. There are too many variables for that - including the need for some stash to motivate creativity. For that, I want to have at least a couple of sweater and shawl quantities at any diff time. Right now I have 5 SQ and 2 summer top quantities in addition to many, much smaller remnants and sock yarn. I have far less stash than you but I have a low tolerance for "too much stuff" (as I interpret it). I also rip back projects routinely - either while in process, once finished or after years. Once I've realized that I won't wear something, I'd rather have it as yarn potential than as an unworn garment taking up space in my wardrobe. One thing I will say about me: I am pretty comfortable buying the min amount of yarn for any given project because, in all but maybe 5% of projects, I still have yarn left at the end. I'm also small / short waisted and I do a lot of pattern alteration for fit (which usually means that I use less yarn still). So I'm not one of those people who buys 2 extra skeins just in case. Instead, I'm that person who gets a dopamine hit from playing yarn chicken. 🙂
Yarn chicken gives me the absolute fear - you're braver than me!!! It can completely kill my joy for a project if I'm nervous I'll run out, which is probably why I still have so many single skeins lying about. Funnily enough in other aspects of my life I don't like having too much stuff and routinely ruthless clear out all sorts of things. So far though it hasn't really applied to my stash 😂
@@KarolinesKnits It really is so interesting how people tend to fall into the "buy extra skeins" or "play yarn chicken" camps. FWIW, I feel that it makes me more creative on the fly (cuz I have had to find work arounds). And apparently I'm quite cheap when it comes to having potentially extra skeins. The last time I did that was with Lamana Como Grande - a hard to find yarn in a gauge I rarely work with - and I bought 2 extra balls to be safe. That ended up costing me 50 extra dollars CDN and I didn't use the yarn and it wasn't really enough to do anything else with (that I was interested in).
Wow I love how organised you are with recording your stash! Major inspiration here Karoline 😅 I’d never considered using Ravelry to record it all but I now see the benefits. Thanks for this ❤
It is a big undertaking at first but I love having it all in one place! Makes it so much easier when you collect a lot and have nowhere to display it 🙈
Hej Karoline. Det var en hyggelig rundvisning i din garnsamling. Tak for din podcast. Hilsen Anne
tusind tak Anne ❤️
So 19 kilos sounded like a lot until you showed it and I realized that after 20 years of stash acquisitions my stash probably weighs something obscene. I do also organize in plastic zip top bags that I reuse. I don't have everything in Ravelry but each bag has an index card with the yarn weight, number of skeins and total yardage so I can easily look through them without opening each bag. I am also hoping to work through stash this year. I am currently finishing my test knit of the Eclair for Laura but I swatched for a stash Justin lento where I actually plan to alternate two different hand dyed mohair yarns and use up some merino singles I wasn't sure what to do with.
Well with 20 years of collecting beautiful fibres that makes sense! Laura mentioned you had been a big help with the eclair, it is a beautiful pattern ❤️ Lento is a great idea, I'll keep that In mind
It's really interesting to me, to see how you organise your stash. For the handdyed yarns that you wanted ideas for, I recommend to check out Wool&Twine patterns. They have some great patterns that I think would look stunning in your handdyed yarns.
That's a great idea! Thank you
I loved seeing your stash in Ravelry. You have inspired me to maybe visit that feature and use it. It's a little daunting to get the initial stash set up in there and get all the photos, but maybe I will tackle that!
You can do it! The first time it takes a while but if you have a phone to take photos straight onto Ravelry and a scale it isn't too bad.
@@KarolinesKnits I am going to give it a go!
19 kgs of good quality yarn is not extreme, especially since much of it is in bigger lots and can be used for bigger projects...it means that you can cast on without visiting a yarn shop, when something inspires you. I love my stash for just that reason (and without checking, I think it may be bigger than yours...oops), and I can just grab something and get going on it, even when the shops are closed....and no waiting for delivery.
I go a little bananas at "Garnspecialisten" on black friday, usually...and a lot of my stash consists of cobweb and laceweight yarns in good fibres. I've added other yarns along the way, but it's mainly huge skeins or cones...that way I can hold together for specific colours or weights, making it easier for me to get gage or create fabrics I love the feel of (and they are more or less one-of-a-kind).
A lot of creators are talking about working through their stashes this season, which is all fine and good...but don't do it if your stash makes you happy :-)
Yes having a stash is great when you're as impatient as me! I don't have that many near to me yarn stores where I could go peruse, so I have especially stocked up while in Denmark (will have to look at Garnspecialisten one day!). I've always thought it's great to have a versatile stash, but I have to say I'm ready to reduce it a bit this year.
Your sharpei sweater is gorgeous! Since you have a bunch of lace weight scraps have you thought of making something for Pom Pom spring 22, like the cloudbow? There were a bunch of scrappy mohair designs in that issue.
Oh yes that is a good shout! I do remember seeing that on Instagram and liking it 😊
I knit a love note by tincanknits with some hand dyed skeins held together with a solid colour mohair and it turned out great. I think something like that could work for your hand dyed skeins.
Also 19kg is a lot but it’s not that much when you consider how many sweater quantities you have, those add up. No judgement here anyway. I have spent the last couple years trying to buy less and use more of my stash but I did have probably as much as you 😁
Thanks Em - I know so many people love that pattern! Good on you for knitting through your stash.... I do mainly have sweater quantities in mine!
The format for the video was okay! I enjoyed watching it. I would say you have a big stash but completely reasonable. I like how you have it organized with possible projects. I too have a stash similar in size to you, however I feel like I don’t have enough for a sweater in some of the colors. That can be frustrating. My goal going forward is to purchase with a project in mind. On another note, I did think you had a lot of needles! 😂 but no judgement of course just found it funny.
It's always hard when you have stashed yarn if you don't feel like it fits the project in your head - I do still get that even with the amount I have 😂
Yes, I do have a lot of needles! It took me time to find just the kind I liked and personally always really enjoyed trying different kinds. I used to have more but gave away any KnitPro Basix and straight needles I had as I didn't like them nor used them (and might do that with others in the future!)
@@KarolinesKnits My interchangeables are wood but i do think I’d like to get a metal set. I have the red and blue shortie sets and love them.
19kg is smaller than mine. Mine is 28kg and I feel it's too largel. Hopefully you still love each gram and can use them to make beautiful things you'll love.
Glad to hear I'm not the only one with a stash! I hope to cherish every single gram 😊
Your stash is not that big. And it seems that you have most of your yarn assigned to projects, not just sitting around looking pretty
You've got some treasures! 🙂
Really enjoyed the format of this video. I'm so impressed by the spreadsheet, i'm sure it is so useful! Note to self to make one too [impressedlazybum🙃😀]
I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the format! I really struggled to decide how I wanted to do this video. The spreadsheet is lovely - though my first entries into it was done when my stash was much smaller 😂