Hi, I’m Allie and I’m a self-proclaimed yarn addict. I’ve been this way for years. I go to a craft store, and the fibers call to me. Before I know it, I’m walking out with a bag (or multiple bags) full of new goodies with no plan on what to use it for.
The result of all this impulse shopping is a yarn stash—a pretty big yarn stash. Bigger than I have any reason for it to be. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem. I’m a single girl living on my own, and I’m fortunate enough to have an entire room set aside as a crafting area. I have an entire 4 X 4 Ikea Kallax set with each cube stuffed full of yarn. I like the look of it. I like knowing that I have it. I enjoy being able to shop my own stash whenever I see a project I’d like to start because I know I’m going to have something I can use to get going.
What I don’t like is the liability of having too much yarn if something destructive gets access to it. I don’t like the waste of buying a skein without any real plans and then when you finally find a suitable project you don’t have a sufficient quantity. I don’t like buying more yarn and not having a place to put it.
I think I don’t like having so much yarn.
One solution to this problem is just getting rid of it. That’s what we do in other areas of our homes when they feel too crowded, right? Decluttering videos haunt my YouTube homepage because there’s something intensely satisfying about clearing a space out, knowing you can now start from scratch. But what a waste to let so much go when—at least at one point—I found it to be so pretty!
I could also keep collecting and let the yarn spill over. Buy more storage units. Maybe start stuffing it all in vacuum-sealed bags.
Something about that doesn’t feel right, either.
Over time, I think my yarn tastes have changed. I’ve focused on certain fibers, and left behind others. But there still must be a way to utilize what I already have that isn’t wasteful and doesn’t leave me suffocating in yarn I know I’ll never use.
So today I have a new resolution—to not buy any more yarn until I use up what I have.
All of it. Down to zero. Nada. Zilch.
To illustrate how difficult this is going to be, I think I’d better just show you what I’m working with.
I’m at the stage now where, when I bring new yarn home, it stays in the plastic bag instead of finding a home in one of my existing cubes. I feel like that’s my definitive sign that things have gotten excessive. Another exciting problem is that I don’t even really know everything that I have—the cubes are deep enough that I think there may be treasures buried beneath other skeins.
I discovered one of these treasures already when I found two skeins of Hobby Lobby’s Cotton Sugarwheel yarn—both different colors—that I had gotten during their yearly yarn clearance for $1.49 a piece. Each skein was 5 oz (335 yd) of 4 weight cotton. They had gone unused for probably about 2 years because I simply couldn’t come up with an idea for what I could make out of 5 oz of cotton yarn.
That was until I first tried the French Market Bag pattern from Two of Wands. I had plans to visit a local farmer’s market and was inspired to make my own crochet bag to take along with me. I loved the pattern, but quickly realized the bag it made—either from the pattern myself or my own loose gauge—was much bigger than what I wanted.
I made some modifications to the pattern (see below) and ended up with a more petite bag that used up a little less than a full cake of the Sugarwheel Cotton. And not to toot my own horn, but I thought it ended up looking pretty cute, too!
I was definitely pleased with the result of my first official foray into crocheting my way down to a nonexistent stash. My final product was something both functional and adorable, and left me with very little scraps to deal with afterwards. What I’m not excited for is the prospect of searching for many more one-skein patterns to use up all my odd finds and leftovers from other projects. What are some of your favorite one skein projects?
French Market Bag pattern link (Free!) https://www.twoofwands.com/blog/french-market-bag
My modifications, for anyone curious: instead of chaining 143 as the beginning step, I crochet 119, resulting in a 28 grid-wide piece. I repeat the pattern to make a 28 x 28 grid square, and follow the other steps exactly, except where the size of the base changes the count of stitches along the side.