Are you a yarn hoarder?

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I’m always clearing out. My husband calls me “the anti-hoarder”. I know I drive him and my boys nuts as I’m always trying to get them to get rid of stuff. I feel if you haven’t used it in a long time and have no real future use for it and/or it is taking up space, then get rid of it. I also have this policy where whenever I bring something new into the home, I get rid of its equal, or more. For example, if I buy the kids new shoes I get rid of an old pair or maybe donate some old towels to the animal shelter. This works real well for me to keep the STUFF under control but I wasn’t always this way. I used to buy things I thought were good deals and thought the boys would need in the future. Although I’ve always easily donated items I knew I wouldn’t want anymore, I had a hard time getting rid of many items that were too damaged for the thrift store as I thought they could be used for something (the crafter’s curse) or items that I MAY need at some point in the future. I ended up with a lot of stuff in my attic and my closets.

But this all changed for me when I had to clear out my uncle’s house. He had started compulsive hoarding after my grandma died-about 5 years for him. Although he wasn’t nearly as bad off as some of those poor people you see on TV, who knows what his house would have looked like had he lived another 10 years.

My uncle passed about 4 years ago and his passing has had a huge effect on how I look at STUFF. That STUFF also includes my yarn stash. I have a lot of yarn – 11 paper boxes full. For some, that may seem like a ton, for others, it may not seem like a lot, but for me, it is too much. Like many, I bought random yarn on clearance figuring I’ll use it someday. I bought yarn for projects I never made, you know the deal.

I’ve been working on reducing this stash for a couple of years now. I’m only buying for new designs when I don’t have a current yarn in my stash that will work (I try to only use current yarn in my designs). Most of my non-current yarn stash works great for chemo hats and I make a ton for Halos of Hope.  I’m slowly reducing the quantity as I’m always pulling something out of my stash to make a hat for them. Two years ago I donated some of the non-ideal chemo hat acrylics to the local library when they were doing a local version of Warm Up America.

My goal for today was to go thru my yarn and pull out any that cannot be used for chemo hats or future designs. I was able to clear out about a box full of yarn. I had hoped to clear out more but most of it will make great hats for Halos of Hope. So, for now, I’ll keep what I have and continue to Stash Bust for Hope. Some of the cleared out skeins I was able to return to the store-$30 credit!!! Some will be donated to the thrift store in town. I cleared out a box of sheets I had bought with the idea of making a crocheted rag rug. I’ve had those sheets at least 5 years. It’s not happening anytime soon so I’ll donate them back to the thrift store from which I purchased them. I also found a cute project bag to donate-it was a gift and is really nice but I can’t use it as it doesn’t have a zipper closure. I have found I must be smarter than my cat and that means all projects must be zipped closed. After the clear out, my stash is down to 10 boxes that are not over-stuffed; progress, not what I had hoped, but still, some progress.