Happy New Year, rest in pieces 2021 with your ugly sister 2020. Light the bonfire and lets go!

Now that I got that out of the way, let’s move on and make 2022 the year we finally get out and get back to the business of living our lives. A fresh start begins at home so let’s spend the weekend getting ready for our best yarn lives in 2022 by taking a good swing through and finally dealing with all those random one offs and left overs. It’s like cleaning out the refrigerator but warm with yarn instead of random containers in that frosty box over in the corner.

At some point you get down to those random skeins that just had to come home with you and now, like any other impulse purchase they are cluttering up your life. What do you do with all of them?

Personally I don’t buy just one random skein, it’s just easier and less stressful to buy what I need when I need it or to buy what I think I will need in the quantity I will need it. How? It takes a bit of organization but it’s well worth it to me. It’s a three part process, take it one step at a time and you too will see, it’s easy to keep a smaller stash.

First I keep a list of all my random skeins together in one place, my mobile phone, complete with photos. Since photos don’t always capture the precise colors in a skein, or the texture, I also tend to take little snippets of them with me when I go to a new yarn shop or to a fiber festival. Keeping little pieces in a clear sandwich bag for cross referencing with my phone does help keep all of them straight in my mind when I am in a full on fiber phase.

Second, I maintain a list of projects I want to do and the yarn requirements for them when I go hunting for a new yarn. If it’s easier, keep your list on paper, as a contact in your phone, or a note in your phone, what ever place makes sense to you. What matters most is that your list is up to date and you can find it when you need it. When I find the yarn to pair with a project, I put the pattern with the yarn before I stuff it off in my stash bag. Yep, I do have a duffle bag with projects to be done in the future, it’s not very big, about a quarter worth of projects in it at any time just in case I need them.

Third, I keep a project with me when ever I can and co-locate them around the house. A hat stuffed in the map pocket of my car door, a sock in my purse, a mitt in my brief case, co-location is key to successful project management. If you are so inclined as to still have a house phone, on the wall or on a table, I know some of you do, keep a project next to that as well. Anywhere you spend time waiting around the house is a good spot for a yarn bowl and work in process, even next to the coffee maker or tea kettle works. You’d be surprised how much knitting you can get done while you wait for a kettle to boil. The obvious locations like next to your favorite chair in which to watch television and by your bed are more traditional locations for a project of course, but you don’t spend every day all day in bed or watching television I hope.

So, onward fellow fiber enthusiasts, get a plan together, co-locate projects where you spend time. Spend less time scrolling mindlessly through your social media feeds and spend some quality time with your projects instead.

Happy New Yarn!