The importance of stash

I've written about stash before, but I'd just like to say once again that it really, really is a necessity. REALLY! NO KIDDING.

This week end I've been weaving samples for my upcoming book (my colleagues at Schacht Spindle have been very forgiving of my absences). Since I'm designing all of the pieces, it's not like I have a list of yarns for what's about to be created. I try this or that. One idea, one combination leads to a better idea and another try. What if I tried a different color...a different size...a different texture.... This is where THE STASH is essential. I know I have just the color...but where oh where oh where is it?

I think I'm super clever storing my yarns in clear, stack-able plastic containers. You can just see right in there, locate what you want, etc, etc, etc. But, in which bin is the yarn I WANT RIGHT NOW? (You can't see every yarn inside by looking from the outside.) You see from the picture above what happened--not just with these bins but with about six other tubs--all dumped on the floor of my studio! Aha! All was not for naught--I DID find just the color I was looking for.

Now I've finished weaving for the day and I'm putting all those dumped bins back together. There are ever so many ways to sort the yarn: by fiber, by size, by color, by manufacturer... I can't ever seem to decide what's best (part of my find-that-yarn crises of the day). For now, I'm putting all like-yarns together, such as all of the pearl cotton in one bin, sport weight wools in another, and so on.

And let me just say never ever ever throw those bits away. I needed an very short length today--and had it, stashed away in a little baggie in my big bad bin.