Stash:
-verb (used with object)
1. to put by or away as for safekeeping or future use, usually in a secret place (usually fol. by away): The squirrel stashes away nuts for winter.

-noun

2. something put away or hidden: a stash of gold coins buried in the garden.

3. a place in which something is stored secretly; hiding place; cache.

4. Slang. a supply of hidden drugs.

 

Ok, so it’s a little different when you’re talking about a stash in the knitting and crocheting world, but I suppose if I had to pick the definition to closely match a yarn stash, it would be number 4. A yarn stash is like a yarn addict’s secret drug stash. It’s always sitting there, tempting us, mocking us, calling to us….yarn does have it’s own voice when brought together in any sort of collection and set aside; it does not  like to be ignored.

We are distracted by the colors and textures as we walk past our stash and catch a glimpse of it from the corner of our eyes. We can be doing something productive, such as homework, housework, or running errands, and occasionally our minds will drift to the supply we have stashed away and the things we could do with it. Oh! the possibilies…of course, it’s all those possibilities that make it difficult to actually use the yarn we’ve accumulated.

That wonderfully soft Frosting yarn I picked up when it was marked down from $3.99 a skein to .99 cents a skein a few months ago is the source of my frenzy tonight. That, and the fact that I haven’t knit  anything in a few months. I miss the sticks.

YarnBee’s Frosting in Candy Dots

I have crocheted a few items, but that’s mainly because I don’t have a lot of time and wanted to get a few finished objects out there. Crocheting is definitely the way to go if you want to finish a project quickly and mindlessly. Knitting takes much more focus and time, at least for me.

So I’m sitting here in bed tonight(feeling a little under the weather and blah), and my eyes wander to my closet, where the majority of my stash sits organized in a little closet hanger(and what can’t fit, stuffed in corners and boxes all around the rest of the closet). There’s more in a drawer storage container in the living room, but I’m not thinking about that now…I’m looking at the Frosting.

YarnBee’s Frosting in Party for Her

 

 

What to do with the Frosting. It’s so pretty, fluffy, and soft.

I didn’t know it would sit there that long when I bought it…I was sure I’d find something to do with it. In fact, I had only bought 2 skeins of each Party for Her and Candy Dots color, and was sure I hadn’t bought enough. I would have bought more, but I over-bought on Airy(also marked down to .99 cents a skein. Yay me!).

YarnBee’s Airy in Lime

So, in an effort to stop the taunting the Frosting was giving me, I grabbed size 16 needles(the pink, pretty ones I love to use so much), and cast on 10 stitches. There. I had started something with a few moments notice. I quickly knit a guage swatch with 10 rows.

Hmmm….it was looking like something already(and feeling like something to…oh, so soft and fluffy!) Aha! This is going to be a flashy, skinny scarf purely for decoration. It’s so light and fluffy, it should be fine to wear in the summer, too, so I’ll be able to put it to use soon. Take that, Frosting!

 

Of course, the Airy is still taunting me…laughing at me.

I have a few rectangles knit up out of the pink and the green, and will sew them together eventually. It will make a nice little throw, sparkly and soft and cushiony. Yum. But what to do with the rest of it? I used one skein to make my daughter a fluffy sparkly skinny red scarf a few months ago, which she loved, but how many skinny scarves of the same material does one household need?

I will have to think about this much more. I wish these specialty yarns from YarnBee had patterns and suggestions on the labels, but they do not. They tempt us with the textures and pretty colors, then once we’ve taken the bait, we are left with a closet full of yarn that thinks its’ jokes are oh-so-funny.

If anyone has used these, or similar yarns, please let me know what you’ve made from them. Even if you haven’t used them, please share any ideas or inspirations you may have when you look at them.

Sorry the pictures aren’t super great-they were taken with my cell phone. Usually the pictures turn out great when taken in daylight, but as it is after 11 p.m., that’s not an option.

Also, I have this Truffles yarn as well, and seriously have NO CLUE what to do with it. But isn’t it neat?

YarnBee’s Truffle in Dutchess