Skip to main content

Take 5 with Knitting Sarah!

Knitting Sarah
A few weeks ago, I introduced the Take 5 series, which is where I ask fiber-loving folks to share top five lists on a variety of topics (click here to get caught up). This week, I asked one of my favorite midwestern bloggers, Knitting Sarah, to share a list which could stop cold sheepers in their tracks...or, at the very least, make those of us with lesser resolve feel better about our frequent bouts of stash enhancement. Presenting....

Knitting Sarahā€™s Top 5 Excuses to Buy More Yarn


  1. Yarn doesnā€™t go bad. As long as itā€™s stored properly, yarn will happily sit in your stash for years waiting for you to find just the right pattern and moment to knit it (trust me, Iā€™ve personally tested that theory). So really, why not add to it?
  2. Incentive. Sometimes we all need an extra push to finish up a certain work in progress. I find that the promise of new yarn on the way or new yarn upon completion of said WIP often helps me cross the finish line. I think itā€™s totally rational that Iā€™ve come to consider the prospect of new yarn as a finishing tool.
  3. Souvenir, v. to remember. The verb ā€˜souvenirā€™ in French means, ā€˜to rememberā€™ and what better way to remember a vacation or a special occasion or, you know, the fourth Monday in March than a nice sweater quantity of yarn?
  4. Matchers. Ironically, sometimes the only way to use my stash yarn is to add to it. Those single skeins often need new beautiful partners and I simply canā€™t stashbust effectively without adding new skeins to the fold.
  5. TEOTWAWKI*. Itā€™s important that we as knitters are prepared for all possible scenarios, such as a disruption in yarn supply. Whether itā€™s due to a coronal mass ejection shutting down the power grid or itā€™s Sunday and your LYS is closed, you owe it to yourself and your loved ones to be ready.
In case you were worried, Iā€™m pretty sure that #5 has you covered no matter what kind of stash enhancement youā€™re after, so go ahead and give those pretty new skeins a home!

Sarah also sent over this handy flow chart from amusingyarns.com which she frequently refers back to when the temptation to buy more yarn arises.

Be sure to check out the Knitting Sarah blog for more great ways to enhance your stash!

*TEOTWAWKI = The End Of The World As We Know It - for anyone who was wondering!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Overdyeing A Finished Knit

Even after just a few years of knitting or crocheting, you're bound to have some finished projects lying around that never get worn or used. After 10+ years of crafting, I have more than just "some" or "a few"....and with my ongoing quest to declutter my house this year, I've become obsessed with going through these forlorn projects and making some Big Decisions. Sometimes, they are perfectly fine and just need a new and loving home. Other projects may have not turned out quite right: there might have been some mistakes in the knitting that I thought I could live with, or the yarn was gorgeous but not well-matched to the pattern, or my  taste has drastically changed since I finished making the project...in any case, why on earth did I keep knitting?! Who knows, but I don't feel good about gifting anything that falls into this category to someone else. These projects have been relegated to the "frog pile" (or should I say, frog pond?), to b...

A Finished Sweater, With Cat Hair

After losing Tilly and Robin within a year of each other, I sure didn't think I'd be finding cat hair in my knitting any time soon. But the universe had other ideas. Over the winter, a white feral cat adopted us. I'd noticed her when we moved into our apartment last summer - I would see her hiding in the bushes or sunning herself in the grass when she thought no one was looking. I assumed she was someone's cat until I realized how skittish she was around humans, plus she had a tipped ear, which is a universal sign that a feral/stray cat has been spayed. Neighbors confirmed that she was a feral kitty (descended from several generations of feral cats, in fact), and that she has survived on her wits and whatever food various residents put out for her.  We had some bitterly cold days over the winter, and I just felt so sorry for this poor kitty! I started offering her treats and slowly gained her trust. She didn't even want to come inside our apartment at first, much le...

Australian Superfine Merino Yarn Review & Giveaway

After more than ten years of knitting, I can still have new experiences - even with well-covered territory such as merino yarn! This recent merino experience actually took me by surprise: I've spun with it, I've dyed it, I've knit with it, and I've even crocheted with it...I was pretty sure I knew all there was to know about merino! Turns out, there are four different classifications of merino fiber, sorted by micron count range . At the bottom of the spectrum is Strong Merino , which ranges from 26-22.9 microns; above that is Fine Merino , which ranges from 20.1-23 microns; next up is Extra Fine Merino, which ranges from 20-15.6 microns; and at the very top of the heap is Superfine Merino Wool , with a micron range of 18.5-15.6. If you're into numbers and wondering how these four classes stack up against other fibers you may be familiar with, here are a few for comparison's sake: BFL (Blue-Faced Leicester) has a micron range of 24-28, Cashmere goat down ...