Bust That Yarn Stash With the 2020 Stash Down
/It’s time to get serious and my word for 2020 is INTENTIONAL! I want everything I do this year to be with intent and that includes projects I make and yarns I use. So I am doubly excited that we are joining the fun to Bust That Yarn Stash With the 2020 Stash Down hosted by Amanda Scott. Use this handy project outline to set yourself up for stash busting success as you knit and crochet your way through the year.
Anyone who knows me or follows me on social media knows that I started to unload my excess yarn stash last year because my small studio was getting way out of hand. It is hard when your passion is your business and I get yarn for work and buy beautiful yarn at events and well, I just LOVE yarn! But there was this moment suddenly last year I realized… wait, I only have two hands. It was time to get serious.
It was a little overwhelming at first so the first thing I did was DeStash and list much of it I knew others would enjoy and I had already completed the project i had intended it to be used for. This was also a great way to recoup some of the investment and get these beauties into the loving hands of other makers. That took care of a fair amount of my stash, and now I was looking for a plan to handle the rest.
Just as I was pondering things to do with my stash, while balancing the holiday busy season bustle and setting goals for 2020, I was on social media and saw a brilliant post come across my feed. Amanda Scott (aka @browngyrlknits) was doing a Stash Down for 2020. As I read some of the over 200 comments of her post I realized this is a thing, it’s not just me and many of us have felt overwhelmed by our stash but not sure how to approach it. With Amanda’s Stash Down, together we can conquer our stashes!
I asked Amanda how she came up with this stroke of genius and she told me, “It started out as an idea that I discussed with my small group of knitting friends. We’d been to so many festivals and hadn’t even touched the yarn we purchased. When I mentioned it again at a slightly larger group a couple more people said they’d be interested and asked me to send them the plan. That’s when I posted it to IG and it took on a life of its own.” YES IT DID!
THIS IS THE MONTHLY PLANNING OUTLINE I CREATED FOR
THE STITCH & HUSTLE STASH DOWN AS WE JOIN AMANDA SCOTT
I took Amanda’s outline and created myself a detailed monthly goal list to Stash Down! Goals are great but plans make them happen and this is a plan for success! I gave myself an outline of the types of projects to make each month using my stash and still have lots of creative freedom within that outline too. WINNING!
Amanda says she never ever thought it would spread the way it did. “To be honest, I didn’t even know if I was fully committed to the plan but once people started showing interest I realized it might really be a great thing to stick with.
I looked at the stats this morning and over 900 people have liked the post. Almost 300 shares and saves.... I never would have thought it would go this far but I’m so grateful that a little idea has brought people together from across the globe. There are people posting about it in other languages and I’m amazed.”
I am not amazed because a brilliant idea often catches on quickly and so many of us needed this push of community support to conquer our stashes. We will check in with you as the year goes on and see how it goes. To get things started, This week I am sorting through my remaining stash inventory and assigning each project it’s yarn and then start on my January project: Something from my Pattern Stash (you know, that stack of patterns in my Ravelry Library I keep meaning to make).
We will also be following along with the community on Social Media with hashtag #Stashdown2020 and have started a StashDown Discussion in our Ravelry & Facebook Groups.
Thank you Amanda for your idea and sharing it! HERE WE GO!
