How it all got started...

I have a confession to make.  I am a yarn hoarder.  Like many of my fellow crafters out there, I cannot resist the allure of a new skein, and the promise of a new project that comes with it.

Well, I was at Rhinebeck for the NYS&W festivel this past weekend (and what a beautiful weekend to spend in the Hudson River Valley).  Despite the fact that my house is brimming with yarn, most of it sock yarn, I still went telling myself I would only buy Very Special Skeins if I were to encounter them, and only things I could not find in my LYS.  Frankly, I went a little nuts last year, which is the year I "discovered" Socks that Rock from Blue Moon Fibers.  I bought 10 or so skeins, only three of which I have used up thus far. But I digress.

After the STR incident last year, and it's follow up at MD this past spring which also included a bit of an excursion with Tess' Supersock and Baby (I love that stuff!), I really debated going since I had enough yarn to keep me busy for quite some time to come. Instead, I went with the intention of putting myself on a very strict spending diet.  And I was doing well.  I had only bought four skeins (albeit four very expensive skeins of a cashmere, quiviut, and silk blend), when I met with my undoing.  I discovered something very dangerous.  This year's yarn equivalent of crack cocaine.  It's name is the Sanguine Griffin.  And they make the most beautiful sock yarn that is both exquisitely soft and dyed in vivid, beautiful colors.  Oh, and did I mention, contains 20% cashmere?!



A rainbow made from Sanguine Griffin Bugga

 This was my undoing.  Before I knew what was happening, I found myself seduced by the colors, and the softness, and the...cashmere.  And before I knew it, despite all my resolve, I found myself leaving with four skeins of sock yarn and four of lace weight.  Then the worst happened.  I returned the next day, and there were more colors, and I bought even more!  It was like I had no self control.  Then I went to The Fold, and it was all over.  All told, I left NYSW with--and I am horrified to admit this--20 new skeins of sock yarn.  And that does not include the lace weight or my impulse linen purchase.

Now you may not think that is so bad, but when you add that to what I bought last spring at MD S&W, and at Rhinebeck last year, and the little impulse purchases here and there, and my house is being overrun with yarn.  Sock yarn in particular.  I have it all.  Hand paints.  Self-striping.  Superwash for utility.  Cotton and bamboo for baby projects.  Alpaca.  Merino.  I could go on and on, but you get the idea.



Spirit Trails Fiber, Creatively Dyed Yarns, and good ole' STR

 I realize stashing is a problem common to most of us who knit, but as I looked over my spoils from the weekend, I realized this is beyond stashing.  It is beyond hoarding.  I must face the ugly truth here--I am a glutton.  A yarn glutton.  You can see the proof of my gluttony in the photos below.

I decided my case called for extreme measures.  As my pennance, and in an attemt to reduce my stash to reasonable proportions, I am challenging myself to meet a pretty ambitious goal.  So here it is:



Linen and lace, with high alpaca, silk, and cashmere content

 I am challenging myself to knit one pair of socks per week solely from my (recently expanded) stash.  Granted, some of this yarn was purchased with the intent of making baby gifts or other accessories as well, so let's actually say the goal is to consume one 100g skein of sock yarn a week for the next year.

Knowing some weeks will naturally by more busy than others, and that work has a tendency to keep me pretty occupied, I decided I needed to have some sort of reasonable landmark goals.  So the goal will be to complete four sock-yarn projects per month.  This means every quarter, I will need to work in one additional project to meet the goal of 52 skeins consumed by the end of the year.

Now no goal is worth keeping unless there is an incentive to do so, right?  So here it is:  For every month that I cannot use up at least four skeins, I will give away or sell however many skeins I have fallen short of my goal.

So there it is.  Wish me luck!