4 Great Tips to Bust Your Stash
Is your yarn stash out of control? Even if it’s not stash busting can be very gratifying and even therapeutic. There’s just something so satisfying about using up those random skeins and clearing the way for yarn that you use more often. If you want to use up some of your old yarn, but aren’t sure where to start, don’t worry. This article will walk you through 4 great tips to bust your stash.
There’s plenty of reasons for stash-busting. For me, I have very limited space in my tiny house and I was gifted a lot of yarn that I don’t use normally. My goal is to clear out all the yarn that I “don’t want” so that I can fill my shelves with my preferred yarn.
Maybe you’re more of a minimalist and want to keep your stash as small as possible. Maybe you have more yarn than you could ever use and want to try and clear up some space. Either way, stash-busting doesn’t have to be a chore.
In fact, stash-busting has made me even more creative!
4 Great Tips to Bust Your Stash
1. Take a Deep Dive
This is an important first step and it’s honestly probably the hardest one.
What do I mean by ‘deep dive’?
In order to get your stash under control, you’ve got to know what you have. I’m NOT talking about completely reorganizing your stash (although you’re welcome to do that). I’m talking about looking through your stash and taking physical or mental notes of what you have.
First and foremost, take a deep breath. We’ve got this!
Next, what I want you to consider is, how big is your stash and is it just disorganized or do you have yarn overflowing every crevice?
Then consider how much time you have to work on sifting through your stash under control. Just a few minutes a day or maybe a few hours on the weekend?
If you have a ton of yarn and no time, try working on just one bin or drawer at a time.
As you go through this step, think about which yarns you’ll probably use vs which ones you’ll likely never use.
2. Donate, Sell, Purge
We’ve all bought or been given yarn that seemed great at the time, but for whatever reason you’ve either never used it or hate it. (I’m looking at my own bin of Lionbrand Home Spun that I haven’t touched in years).
There’s no reason to hold onto yarn that you hate or won’t use, so if you’ve got random skeins of eyelash yarn or discontinued novelty yarn, don’t feel bad about getting rid of it.
I’m not one to waste, so I recommend either donating or selling your unwanted yarn. (Although if a yarn is damaged or ruined in some way, for sure, just toss it.)
For example, all that Home Spun I have is getting donated to a local school so they can use it for crafts.
If you want to sell, check out Facebook groups that allow yarn trades or lot sales such as Yarn Hoarders Destash or Yarn Buy, Sell, or Trade U.S.
Doing this first will not only relieve some of the pressure of a bulging stash, but give you the instant gratification that’ll motivate you to keep going.
3. Get Creative
A problem I really struggled with when I started stash busting was not having the ‘right’ yarn for particular projects. The perfectionist in me always wanted an entire project to be made of the same yarn, same brand, etc…
And yes, while combining different yarns can end ‘badly’ if the weights or fibers don’t mesh well, I soon realized that if you’re careful, literally no one but you will even notice.
So I recommend taking some time to look at the different yarn weights you have. You can also do the wraps per inch test (you can find more information about this and yarn weights on the Craft Yarn Council website).
For me, I focus on colors rather than yarn similarity. For example, below is an example of how I took my Sir Duckington pattern and combined several yarns to give him the appearance of a mallard.
I used a sparkly blue green yarn (from Red Heart, I think), a random bit of white yarn, some shiny brown yarn (no idea what brand), and Yarn Bee Soft & Sleek for the tan, and Hobby Lobby I Love This Cotton! for the yellow. The variance in yarn resulted in a slightly bigger duck, but otherwise, there’s little difference in the two ducks.
4. Be Open to Different Projects
Typically, when I think of stash-buster projects, what comes to mind is multi-colored blankets or sweaters. You know the ones worked in single crochet and look like an explosion of variegated yarn?
But you can stash bust with all sorts of projects! And if you’re here, you know amigurumi is on top of my list.
The wonderful thing about amigurumi is that generally they take much less yarn than other kinds of projects. That means you can use up those mini skeins, half used cakes, and random scrap yarn with ease!
What makes an amigurumi a good stash buster?
In my opinion, most amigurumi can be great stash busters, but you probably want to stick with patterns that use under 150 yards of a single color.
For example, Nico the Narwhal (this pattern is free here on the blog) uses only 100 yards of one color and less than 30 yards for the second color.
Not to mention, amigurumi is very forgiving of color changes. In another example, I knew I would run out of the dark blue yarn for the whole turtle body, so I decided to combine it with lighter blue.
(Sammie the Turtle is also available for free here on the blog.)
The point is, you can get all sorts of creative with your colors, textures, and styles when you focus on stash busting!
Summary
Whether you’re trying to get organized, you’re on a budget, or just need to make some room, stash-busting can be incredibly fun and creatively freeing!
- Take a deep dive to see what you have and think about what you’ll use and what you won’t.
- Donate, sell, and purge any yarn you know you won’t use.
- Get creative and be open to combining various types, textures, and colors of yarn.
- Be open to different projects and try to see every project as an opportunity to stash bust.
Are you inspired to dive into your stash? If you liked this article, remember to Pin it for later and share it with your friends! Have you ever done a particularly fun stash-busting project? Share your thoughts below!
You can always connect with me at chanel@cbfiberworks.com or on social @cbfiberworks. I’d love to see your stash-busting projects!