Kerrie Giles sells these perfect bags along with many other great gifts for yarnies in her Etsy Shop BlackTypographic.  Go check them out!  I love them -- even though they kind of prove that I am no lady.  

I have a LOT of yarn.  I do.  I can admit this now.  I may not have as much yarn as a lot of other yarnies, but I live in NYC and I just don’t have the storage capacity.  I’ve decided to do Stash Dash 2016 in order to make a dent in my stash.

Stash Dash is the brain-child of The KnitGirllls.  The KnitGirllls, Laura and Leslie, co-host a weekly video podcast about all things yarn (knitting, weaving, crafting, spinning, cross-stitch, dying, crochet, and more).  They discuss what they are working on, review knitting books, answer listener questions, and announce and discuss upcoming fiber events.  Laura and Leslie also discuss books they are reading.  I have learned a great deal from these ladies so I highly recommend giving them a look/listen.  In fact, if you're a yarn stasher, just go subscribe now.  Laura and Leslie have great rapport and a delightfully twisted sense of humor so they are well worth your time!  (Leslie cross-stitches quotes such as “When work feels overwhelming, remember that you are going to die.”  Episode 291:  Wool is Cool)

Stash Dash 2016 is the fifth annual “insane and amazing” virtual race created to motivate you to use up your yarn stash and finish works-in-progress (WIPs).  To participate in Stash Dash 2016, you must use yarn in your stash to create a finished project.  You can use your yarn for handknitting, crochet, spinning, tatting, and weaving.  Every meter of yarn you use up counts towards your Stash Dash goal.   There are five levels at which you can compete:  3K, 5K, 7K, 10K, and 15K.  Stash Dash is “super cheater-friendly” per Laura.  This means you can have your work almost completely done and as long as you add at least one stitch during Stash Dash, the meterage of your entire project counts towards your goal.  Stash Dash 2016 starts on May 27, 2016 at 12:01 am EST and ends on August 21, 2016 at 11:59 pm EST.  This gives you 89 days to get through your stash!  You can find all the details on Ravelry in The KnitGirllls board under Stash Dash 2016 or listen to their recent podcast called, “The KnitGirllls Stash Dash 2016 Overview.”

So now I go back to Jo Milmine’s advice on Knitting Goals (Shinybees podcast, episode 77) and get to planning.  I currently have three WIPs that if I complete, could add up to 18,000 meters.  Actually, I have four WIPs, but I’m not sure about the fourth one.

I'm not sure I'll be able to complete this WIP for Stash Dash 2016.  I started making crochet granny squares with leftover sock yarn in 2008.  I'd love to have a blanket for my daughter, but I’m just not sure I have enough yarn to complete it.  So, this one is still in the maybe pile.   

Last week, I mentioned how my yarn situation has become WHACO as defined by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee  and I'm officially off buying yarn until my yarn can be contained.  (insert stoic tears here)  I needed a plan of action so I turned to my trusted knitting sages -- podcasters Helen Stewart, Jo Milmine, Jasmin and Gigi, and Laura and Leslie.  I listen to a lot of podcasts and there are many wonderful podcasters who have provided me with great advice (I'm thinking of you Dr. Gemma and Marie Segares, and Kara Gott Warner), but these ladies had the information I needed to help me out of my WHACO situation.

First, I listened to Helen Stewart of the podcast Curious Handmade.  In episode 105, she made some new year yarn resolutions (I meant to do that too, but . . . ) and declared January Stash Appreciation Month.  Her excellent suggestions included making an inventory of the yarn.  I promptly unpacked all my yarn again (to Tiki's great delight -- see photo above) and made an itemized list on a spreadsheet.  It took a lot, lot, longer than I had anticipated, but using a spreadsheet allowed me to tally up the yarn amounts I have.  

​Turns out, I really do have a lot of yarn.  Not counting mystery yarns (yarns for which the labels fell off), cone yarns gifted to me by Peruvian cousin, Ana, and yarns that are in works in progress, I have at least 11 miles/18 kilometers  and over 27 pounds/13 kilograms of yarn.  If I were to add in estimates for my other yarns, I know I've got at least a half-marathon's worth and comfortably over 32 pounds/14.5 kilograms of yarn.


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So what to do?  I turned to Jo Milmine of the Shinybees podcast.  Helen Stewart put me on to the Shinybees podcast and I'm so glad!  Jo Milmine is seriously committed to making her podcast funny, irreverent, insightful, and relevant!  I'm in the process of listening to every single one of her podcasts so I listen to her first recordings from South Africa in between listening to her current London musings.  And in this world of tea-drinking knitters, Jo Milmine urges us to get a beer or a gin drink and settle in to listen and knit! (no shade to tea, but I'd much rather relax with a glass of wine)  In episode 77, appropriately titled "Knitting Goals" Jo Milmine outlines how to set realistic knitting goals, including how to stay motivated, focusing on progress instead of actually reaching your goal, and making sure you are accountable for your goals.  I can do this!  I can reduce my stash!  But how to stay motivated?  And how will I deal with the accountability aspect?

Enter the Knitmore Girls.  In episode 377, Gigi and Jasmin discussed Stash Dash.  (cue angelic voices) Gigi is gearing up to win Stash Dash and explained that Stash Dash is a virtual race created by The Knit Girllls where the goal is to bring down your stash!!!!!!  The Knit Girllls also have a fabulous podcast, actually a video podcast, where you can see what they are working on.  Stash Dash will begin on May 27 and has multiple goal levels.  There are even prizes!  The rules are all in Ravelry in The Knit Girllls forum.  I'm in!

So, I have a goal and a method of accountability.  Now I will set myself to step 4 of Jo Milmine's setting knitting goals advice and get to planning.  

I think it happened.  I don't want to admit it, but I believe the situation might be undeniable. 
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​In her wonderful book Knitting Rules!, the hilarious Stephanie Pearl McPhee (aka the Yarn Harlot) defines a stash as "The yarn you've squirreled away for a rainy day."  She adds, "Possessing a stash is not only noble and decent, but a source of inspiration as well."  She wisely advises, "Don't allow others to make you feel guilty about your stash, even if it has reached WHACO [sic] proportions."  WHACO, for those of you who haven't read Knitting Rules! (and I strongly recommend that you read this and all of Stephanie Pearl McPhee's books) is, "an acronym for Wool Housing and Containment Overload."  Basically, WHACO happens when the knitter's stash overflows from its containers.

My stash definitely inspires me and brings me joy, but I can't close the lids of most of the containers in which I keep my yarn.  Mind you, I've done an outstanding job of hiding the stash and just because it's overflowing, doesn't mean it isn't neatly kept.  My beloved really has no clue how much yarn I have and that, really, must be the definition of successful stashing.  (Actually, it is the definition because I read it on the internet here.  Thank you, George Lindsay-Watson!)  

However, when I took all the yarn out to get a sense of how much yarn I actually had, I felt a tinge of . . . guilt.  I don't feel guilty that I've spent the money on yarn because it is money well spent.  Plus, much of my stash has been gifted or is leftover from projects.  But it really is a lot of yarn that is not being used.  I feel that it might seem just a tiny bit like I'm hoarding yarn.  

Given that I live in NYC, there's just no room to increase the stash.  And, it sucks not to buy yarn.  So, I'm beginning a new quest to de-stash.  I will use this amazing yarn and I won't buy any new yarn at until my yarn fits in the bins again with the lids closed (or at least mostly closed).