Tag: stash

MyMuddlings 2017 Stash-Down-Along

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So the coming of 2017 has heralded the beginning of my first ever podcast -along! And I’m so excited about it! 😀

The inspiration for the -along came from my near heart attack inducing look at my stash via the exported spreadsheet from Ravelry. From memory, I have 118,000-odd yards in stash. At the time I worked out that at my 2015 rate of knitting completed, it would take me 4.75 years to knit through my stash. And that’s calculating at Ëœ24,000 yards per year of completed knitting! And I think that 24k yards per year isn’t too shabby! Of course, if I didn’t carry so many WIPs, my yardage might increase… 😉

So, with this in mind I decided that I desperately needed a yarn diet. Yuck. What a horrible thought. 😉 So my last purchase of yarn was from KnitPicks in late December when they had a sitewide 15% off sale. I gifted my mum and sister a MyMuddlings gift certificate (they’re available in the store too, check ’em out!), only the ones I gifted to my fam were for an item of their choice rather than a dollar value. So I ordered the yarn I needed for my mum’s gift, and also to make up my $100 free postage order, I grabbed myself a Flax Light quantity of Stroll Tonal in the Inverness colourway. I couldn’t stand the thought of not having that in my stash whilst I’m on my diet! Plus, of course I need another Flax Light for this winter!!! 😉

Enough tangents; back to the -along. Also FYI, I call it that because knitting, crochet, spinning and weaving are all eligible for the -along. Perhaps I should just call it the ‘Stash Down’. Yeah, I guess that works! 😉

The aim is to knit as much out of your stash* as possible (*stash must be acquired prior to January 1st 2017). I’ll be having two grand prizes at the end of the year, one for most yardage/meterage and one as a random prize. I’ve also had some prizes offered as donations too so they’ll be given out along with some of my products through the year. All the rules are on the Ravelry board if you’d like to join. 🙂 Each person has one FO post that they post all their completed projects in totaling up the yardage/meterage. We’re also having monthly challenges too for bonus yardage. And you also get bonus yardage for using our sponsors products in your projects. We’ve already got finished objects in the thread so we’re going gangbusters!!! 😀

If this sounds like your thing, please feel free to head over to the MyMuddlings Ravelry Group, join up and Stash Down! 😀

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Video Podcast Episode 5

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Off the Needles

On the Needles

Spinning

Stash Acquisitions

  • Kathy’s Fibres Sustainable Merino 8 ply in Pearls
  • Kathy’s Fibres 70% Merino/30% Silk Gradient top in Winterfell
  • Kathy’s Fibres 100% Wensleydale in Shadows
  • Kathy’s Fibres Merino/Camel/Alpaca/Silk
  • Hannah Fettig’s Wool Trip Yarn from the Pop-Up Shop in Mussel Gray & Rosé

Knitting Goals

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As knitting has become my primary craft, I thought I would talk about it first!

  1. KNIT FROM STASH – Having thoroughly cataloged my stash via Ravelry, I have 200 active items in my stash. And by active I mean they are still hanging around my house in some form, be it leftovers or brand new skeins. I also have 1,474 patterns in my Ravelry library. In 2015, my aim is to reduce my stash by knitting from yarn I already have and to knit patterns that I already own in my library. The exception being that I can buy new yarn or new patterns so long as I have finished any other WIPs and I am ready to cast on the new project straight away, and then finish it.
  2. HAVE A MAXIMUM OF 2 PROJECTS ON THE NEEDLES AT ANY ONE TIME – I am allowing myself to have one small and one large project on the needles at a time. I am through with having WIPs scattered around my house.
  3. BE MORE MONOGAMOUS – See (2) above.
  4. FINISH ALL WIPs – Again, see (2) above.

I figure, using what I have instead of buying more will assist with two of my main goals this year, one being to save money and the other being to declutter my home. I am participating in a lot of knit alongs (KALs) this year that will use stash yarn so that’s helpful.

The first one runs from 1st January to the 28th February and is being run by the Just One More Row Podcast girls, Brittany and Dana. This KAL is called the ‘Clean Slate Challenge’ and it challenges you to knit down your stash from yarn that has been there for more than 3 months. Thankfully, virtually all my WIPs are being knit from yarn that fulfills the criteria and I am focusing on finishing them first.

Then after that, my favourite yarn store Eat.Sleep.Knit (ESK) are running the equivalent of a KAL per month to earn yardage for their Yarnathon they run every year. The catch is the only eligible yarn you can use had to have been purchased from ESK. I have been through my stash and I think all but two of the KALs are covered from what I already own. I have completed my first KAL for the Yarnathon so I’ve got a good start.

If you’d like to keep up with my progress, you can find me on Ravelry as anneofjulie.

Tell me, what are your knitting goals for 2015?