Deep Stash, and the Joys of Rejects

I did a little stash reorganization last month. My entire stash is photographed and recorded in a database by numbered box, but it’s gotten pretty haphazard over the years. The boxes were mostly filled by vintage rather than type of yarn or project, and that had really started to bother me. So I dragged it all out and reorganized the whole mess. I found some real gems that I’d forgotten. I also culled out a small box full of stuff that I wanted to send off to Goodwill or somewhere else besides this house.

Predictably, I’ve already dragged two lots of yarn out of that reject box and started new projects. Here’s the first one.

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The yarn is Sirdar Balmoral, it’s a lovely wool/alpaca/silk blend. I bought enough of it for a sweater. The first problem is that I don’t really need sweaters with alpaca in them, it’s too warm. The second problem is that color. I’m not sure what I was thinking. Actually I do, the color name is Corgi. There you go. Lewey says it doesn’t look anything like him.

But it’s nice yarn, despite the color. And it’s been discontinued. And it wasn’t all that cheap. So I pulled it off the top of the reject pile and started a shawl. I figure I can overdye it when it’s knit up. It’s way more than a shawl’s worth, but I’ll either put the leftovers back in the reject box, or make mittens or something out of it. This is Cheryl Oberle’s Wool Peddler shawl.

The second “reject” is for John. He saw this and thought it was ridiculous to get rid of perfectly good “guy” sock yarn. This is Lang Jawoll superwash sock yarn, the color looks like a black tartan plaid.

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That one is really deep stash, I don’t have a purchase date, but I probably got that not too long after I learned to knit (1999). I guess it’s probably time I used it. And John has been hinting around for a pair of socks for him. I’m not sure why it went into the discard box, it’s actually quite nice to knit with. It’s a nice, basic sock yarn, and has a bonus spool of reinforcing thread in the middle of the skein for the heels and toes.

I’ll let you know if any of the other reject yarn turns into projects in the future. It’s pretty tough to actually toss out useable yarn, even if I have enough to last well into my next lifetime.

I’ll leave you with a cat photo. Will and Zoe are getting along pretty well.

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Author: Lorette

My name is Lorette. I learned to knit in 1999, and took up spinning in 2009. I'm a physician specializing in internal medicine, and live in the Pacific Northwest. Enjoy my blog!

8 thoughts on “Deep Stash, and the Joys of Rejects”

  1. Nice to go through! maybe an assisted living or such would love the yarn? I’m so glad the cats are getting along….I just know my number needs to be two as well-just nervous ‘Hood Cat’ might not be accepting

  2. I put my entire stash onto Ravalry about a year ago. Unfortunately, I haven’t knitted since then because of hand issues. im sorting and organizing my fabric stash now and identified two boxes of fabrics I won’t ever use. Some will go to the senior center; some, I’ll try to sell to the recrafting store.

  3. We have a women’s shelter here that has a knitting group, and they get my “reject” yarn, and the woman who organizes the group tells me that she is just so amazingly grateful. It makes me feel good to think that it brings some happiness to people who may not have much to be happy about otherwise.

    My stash is organized but not actually cataloged. I should really do that the next time I go through it.

  4. It’s so hard to get rid of yarn, and while I did organize most of mine at one point, I have bought more since then and so there is a certain amount of chaos. I joke that this is my retirement planning, for the day when I can’t afford to buy more yarn–but according to my checkbook, I should try that now!

  5. Reject yarn that you re-purpose is like free yarn, since you were going to throw it out. And who doesn’t love free yarn? Just think of how green you are being today…
    Julie in San Diego

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