Stashdown

I am still working on my stashdown this year.  It's a good thing I didn't try to go cold turkey because that NEVER would have worked.  Forcing myself to use anything less than the perfect yarn for a project (aka something from my stash instead of whatever yarn I think is best) would have made me a very unhappy knitter.

So far, I have knitted approximately 11000 yards, sold approximately 13000 yards, and purchased approximately 15000 yards.  So, I am more on a 2:1.6 ratio than a 2:1 ratio, but the key is that I am still ahead and I'm not going to beat myself up over it.  As long as more yarn went out than in, I am happy.  This was the first year I was trying to do this and I have learned a great deal about my purchasing habits that I can hopefully use to curb those same habits in the future.

1.  As we all do, sometimes I impulse purchase because yarn is a "good deal" on sale, bulk discount, etc.  Sometimes this is worth it, and sometimes it's not, I need to be much more discriminate about these purchases.

2. Sometimes I stop at the yarn store because I have had a really bad day or week and I just need a pick-me-up.  If I restrict this to physically going to my LYS and don't do this online, I think this is okay every once in a while.  I'm only human!

3.  If I feel like I need to shop, I can spend an hour or two shopping online, putting things in various carts and baskets, and know that if I want to buy them later, I can.  It's the act of selecting that fills the immediate desire to shop (this MUST be part of the gatherer instinct), I don't have to go through with it to "take the edge off".

4. If I buy yarn to make a particular project but then can't get gauge or my passion for it fades, I should just go ahead and sell the yarn on Ravelry instead of waiting for the next "perfect project" to use it for.  Somehow I associate the failure of the first project with the yarn and steer away from it for future projects.

5. Some yarns, like Brooks Farm, Lisa Souza, Briar Rose, Sweet Georgia, Sundara, etc, are hard to come by and when I find one I like, assuming that it is unique, I can and will buy it and have absolutely no regrets. 

6. Sometimes it's nice to have random yarn on hand, because when you see a cute little pattern, you just might have the perfect yarn to knit it with.

Like Leaflet, in O-wool, that I got crazy discounted because it was discontinued.

I didn't love this sweater when I first saw it, but I thought it was cute and I had yarn that would work, so after thinking on it a bit I decided that I would love it if I added 3/4 length sleeves to make it more of a transition sweater, eh voila - and now, still, waiting for colder weather.

So, basically, I am still trying to stash down, I put even more stuff on my Rav sell/trade page, but I am not trying to get rid of my stash completely.

Comments

[KathleenC]

Yeah, #2 is my main challenge. And I've tried to restrict my automatic dropping in (on the way home). And I want my LYS to keep going, of course, so I feel very okay about buying when I do.
Online has never been a problem for me...

[KathleenC]

Oops! Totally spaced adding that your sweater is super cute! And well done with a very nice fit too.

[Connie]

Congratulations on being ahead in your ratio. I still think I can catch up if I would just knit faster. Somewhat delusional, I know.

[Jocelyn]

That is a great sweater! It looks wonderful on you - and how fun that you had the right yarn for it. I like the list you've made of yarn buying habits, that seems like a useful thing to do. I've been trying very hard this year to avoid impulse buying, and to either buy with a project in mind, or in project amounts (e.g. a sweater's worth of yarn I love, rather than one skein). It seems to be helping.

[Susanne]

Nice sweater and it looks great on you! Nice to see you posting again.