I’ve decided to do Cold Sheep for 2016 (from the LSG Group on Ravelry). The idea is to not buy new yarn for some set period of time in 2016 (with some allowed exceptions), and to knit from your existing stash. I’m going to attempt this for the whole year.
My stash (see above) isn’t huge, but I do have a habit of buying things without really thinking through what to do with them. (Reference – the great Tess’ Designer yarns binge of last April, where I had a $40 GC, and managed to spend three times that). That’s what I’d like to control.
I also have a basket of special yarn (see the middle of the above), that I’ve basically just been looking at. So I’ve resolved I need to knit some of that. Fortuitously, one of the options for the January challenge is selfish knitting. I’ve picked out a hat pattern, and I’m going to use some of the gorgeous alpaca that L bought me to make that.
My planned exceptions for buying yarn this year are:
- The yarn order I’ll be putting in today. I took some time while hanging out at the in-laws for Christmas to really clean out my queue and make sure it was patterns I really wanted to make. (Including some new techniques to try.) I’ve also had a few requests. So I’ve picked out some things to round out what I need for those patterns, and will be ordering that today.
- The Buffalo wool GC my BIL got me for Christmas. Their lace weight is on back order, and seems the most versatile of their yarn, so I’m on the mailing list for when that’s available again, and will be able to buy a skein of that.
- If we manage to go on a trip outside New England. I do find yarn makes good souvenirs, and a couple of the places we’ve been pondering traveling to have native wool traditions. I am totally allowed to partake in those, if I can.
- If I can clear at least five items out of my current queue, and need more yarn to complete any others (or get any requests), I can buy more yarn to complete those projects.
I also took the time to calculate out the yardage of the yarn in my stash. It comes to 13466 yards. (Not including some hand spun yarn I’ve been given that only came with weight, and not yardage. I’ve got 648 grams of that.)