Surmount The Stash 2012 Year End Summary

In December of last year I signed up for a challenge issued by Revelations of a Delusional Knitter: Surmount the Stash 2012. I decided to approach my stash-busting goals in several ways:

 • inventory my stash and knit from it
 • limit stash enhancement and limit my spending to $50 per month
 • avoid buying any more needles or patterns; use the ones I have
 • finish projects on time to meet shipping deadlines

Dishcloth Cotton: I started 2012 with 1350 grams or so and ended with 456 grams. The dishcloth cotton stash is about a 1/3rd of what I had this time last year. Not bad when you consider I bought an additional 300 grams more through last year for specific colours.

Assorted DK Cotton: I have 504 grams in three different colours on hand mostly purchased for a summer top which I frogged. Now that I have a loom, I don't expect this will last very long :)

Baby Yarn: If I did a count last year, I can't find it. Suffice it to say I have 370 grams left; less than a third of what I started with. I'll have put my thinking cap on to use this up - it's a mixture of acrylic and superwash wool, with several colours weighing in at less than 20 grams each. Maybe a couple of hats and a striped toy or two?

Sock Yarn: By my count I started last year with 14 new 100 gram skeins and 1200 grams in sock yarn scraps (2600 grams total). This morning I find myself with 7 new 100 gram skeins, 7 new 50 gram skeins and 1130 grams in sock yarn scraps (2180 grams total). That's 20% less than last year. It doesn't sound like much progress, but last year I was given 10 skeins of sock yarn and I bought at least a half dozen more so I'm not disappointed. At least things are going in the right direction. Looks like I need to make some striped socks in the New Year to work through more of those scraps! AND STOP BUYING MORE!

There are assorted other types of yarn in my stash. I have enough worsted weight wool on hand to make a sweater. I have a shoebox full of assorted worsted weight acrylic scraps. I have two skeins of Handmaiden Sea Silk which are earmarked for a shawl for a coworker. And I have some DK acrylic yarn that I plan to make up into Christmas bags and stockings. I'll work through these as the spirit moves me ... but my primary focus is on the four yarn types above. Someday I'd like to just have sock yarn. Someday.

Did I limit my spending to $50/month? Nope, not even close. Just being mindful of what I was spending was a step in the right direction though. I'll try to improve on this next year.

Did I use the patterns and needles I already had? Mostly. I did buy one set of needles for some bulky cowls and neck warmers. As for the patterns, about 85% of what I knit was from patterns I already had and thanks to a Second Year of Projects, I've knit through almost three books :)

Did I finish projects on time for shipping deadlines? Well, there's still some secret Christmas knitting on my needles, so enough said.

That's a wrap! Let's see how I can do to Surmount the Stash in 2013!