SABLE or HOARDER?

Earlier today, I read an article about hoarding yarn, fabric, etc.. One of the commenters said the following: 

“I told my husband there is a special place in heaven for men married to women who crochet (and collect yarn). He just rolled his eyes.”

I still have tears rolling down my face from laughing so hard I had to run for the bathroom!
That is so my husband! 

He grew up with a knitter/crocheter so he knows about SABLE ! Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy

I inherited his mom’s small collection of knitting and crocheting paraphernalia when she passed away in 2001. Thankfully, he along with my daughter and my best friend are enablers. 

One person called the various collections that we choose to ignore Elephants...

As for Elephants, oh yes, we have quite a few between the 2 of us.

Collections that he will never part with...

1. Assorted painted miniatures of fictional characters along with the supplies for painting such.
2. Enough books to start our own lending library (about 1/4 are mine) LOL
3. Computer parts, old monitors and ancient towers
4. Magic the Gathering decks from when he competed
5. Poker paraphernalia
6. Board games! lots of board games we never play anymore! : ( stored in MY bedroom/office/craft room. My bedroom is NOT THAT BIG!
7. Graphic Novel (Comic book) collection

Collections I will never part with...

1. stamp collection
2. yarn and yarn accessories: breakdown of yarn: 10 large rubbermaid bins, 4 large boxes, 3 under the bed type storage bags, 8 reusable shopping bags, 2 large fabric bags and a nylon laundry bag. Most of which is stored in my bedroom that also serves as the office. OH, and my daughter is bringing another bin’s worth of yarn. See above about enablers LOL My daughter found one of these vintage hinged velvet-lined carrying cases 2nd hand that has multiple storage boxes within. It’s packed with knitting/crochet paraphernalia.
3. 61 gigabytes of patterns, magazines, books, photos about knitting and crochet on a separate drive (computer has 2 hard drives and 2 external drives)
4. the 1/4 portion of books of which about 1/4 are about knitting and crochet
5. a plastic reusable shopping bag filled with fabric for lining hats, dresses, bags & purses
6. tiny wind up toys which my BFF enables me! :)
7. beading supplies stored in a 3-drawer bin on casters (could use one more)

We live in a small apartment and storage is at a premium. No storage locker so it all has to live with us. For most days, I can easily ignore the collections, but other days I would give anything to have an extra room that I could store everything in and not have to look at it all the time! Don't take me wrong, I love my yarn to bits! I just would like to not have it stare at me in the face wherever I turn LOL

There seems to be an afinity for nerds/geeks and fiber lovers to attract each other.
May be because we are hoarders at heart?
Don’t speak a normal language? and we understand each other on a cellular level?
Whatever it is, I love it!

Do you have one of those you share your life and living space with?

Stash Wars cont'd

Well, I did it. After spending a weekend sorting and cataloging my stash I bit the bullet and put it all in Ravelry so I can keep track of what I use, how much and on what I used it. At least now it will be easier to shop my stash LOL

Now all that left to do is to go through my finished projects and substract the yarn from the stash. Shouldn't be too difficult. I kept written notes of yarn used and to which project it was attributed.

With all the sorting, I also found that when I threw all the bits and pieces and less than 1/4 skeins into one bag, I have quite a bit. I should think of something to do with all those bits and pieces. Maybe an apple core blanket, or a fish blanket. I did have my heart set on doing a cardinal blanket but I have nowhere near enough black or red yarn. So that is going to go on the backburner for now.

I also joined the Stash Knit down 2009 group on Ravelry which should help me get a lot of the stash knitted into serviceable items, garments, etc.

Stash wars!

Last weekend I finally decided to catalogue my stash since it was getting to a point where I had no freaking clue what I had anymore.

My husband walked into the living room and burst out laughing. I looked up at him to enquire as to what was so goshdarn funny. He picked up the camera and took a picture for me to see what he saw. LOL Ok, so I'm surrounded by yarn, bins, patterns, needles, cables, books, bags, etc... etc... etc... You have to make a mess to clean a mess... right? Oddly enough, no Gambit to be seen. I think I scared him. LOL


No wonder he was laughing. It looked like a bomb had gone off in the living room and I was at it's epicenter. Over 2 afternoons I cataloged every last ball of yarn I own. I used a photo book to hold business sized cards with yarn info, # of balls, and a sample of the yarn attached to each. Eventually I'll get a business card book which will be a lot smaller and easier to take along on yarn forays. I also made a hand written list to be kept on the side for quick reference.

So now my yarn is contained in 2 rubbermaid bins and one wicker clothes basket. The short bits and pieces that tend to accumulate when you knit are now in a large bag stored in the basket easily reached when I'm doing small projects or need a piece of yarn for eyes, etc.

It certainly makes it a lot easier to find what I need and now I at least know what I have and where it's stored. It's not a huge stash, but it's mine!