One of the things I love about the fiber arts is that it is ever changing. I am always amazed at the new and creative ways to use fiber or the revival of old traditions. The sheer variety is a constant source of inspiration. You can literally use your arms to create something or needles that resemble toothpicks. This is another reason I personally don’t maintain a yarn stash. I never know what will be a source of inspiration to me. It might be another knitter’s project, a photo in a magazine, a pattern I stumble across, or a sample in a local yarn shop. I even find inspiration from TV shows (Gilmore Girls has the best knit-spiration).
Not only am I inspired by projects requiring different weights of yarn, designers often follow trends from the runway. Sometimes chunky knits are in and other times ethereal and drapey knits are the trend. Since styles are constantly evolving and with it the weight of yarn used for projects, so too is my need for different weights of yarn. It seems silly to me to have a stash full of beautiful soft fingering weight yarn when I really need is worsted or bulky weight yarn.
For me it is hard to justify buying yarn to feed my stash when I don’t know what weight I will need to use when I find my new source of inspiration. I have created a lot of angst for myself in the past when trying to match a ball of stash yarn to a project that calls for a different weight. I have to either keep searching for another pattern that matches my vision for the skein and also the weight of the yarn or put the skein back into my stash for an indefinite amount of time while I head out to buy what I need. Isn’t it easier to buy just what you need when you know what you want to knit? Even if you have to hunt for that perfect skein at a couple different local shops it will be there waiting for you. Buying yarn is never the problem, matching it to the perfect project is always the true challenge.
Do you keep a stash full of different weight yarns or do you have a lot of the same weight?
Dove Call Knits 