Stashing My Way Past the Nonsense

No yarn left behind for this ageless knitting rebel

Oh dear, that old chestnut is doing the rounds again:

SABLE – "Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy!"

(Bonus Points if you can tell me in the comments who coined it, at least in print. I will tell you if you are right next time)

As knitters and crocheters, I’m sure we’ve all seen and heard this phrase getting thrown around. It’s often said in jest when looking at someone else’s ample yarn collection or occasionally at our own. However, when you think about it, there are some rather ageist assumptions wrapped up in that common bit of knitting banter.

What exactly does it mean for your stash to exceed your life expectancy? Well, it implies that you have so much unused yarn that, based on average life spans, you couldn’t possibly live long enough to knit it all up. Say the average knitting life expectancy where you live is 80 years. If you're 60 years old, the idea is that you couldn't knit through all your squishy skeins if you tried during whatever years you have left. Rather morbid sounding when it's put that way, don’t you think?

The trouble is, it promotes rather rigid and questionable ideas around how much yarn it’s “reasonable” to own in your later years. Imagine replacing “stash” with any other hobby. Would people joke about your stamp collection exceeding your life expectancy? Your intricate porcelain doll collection that you’ve curated over decades? Art materials? Probably not. Yet with yarn and fibre crafts, it’s considered socially acceptable to essentially suggest it’s frivolous or wasteful for older people to keep abundant craft supplies.

I mean, can you even accurately calculate how many years you have left to get through your beloved stash? Who's to say at 75 you only have 5 years left to enjoy knitting up every last bit of that scrumptious yarn you've so carefully chosen?

My Nana, born in 1900, knitted beautifully well into her 90s!

What an ageists mindset to presume that you should cut back what sparks joy for you just because you are of a certain age and stage. It subtly promotes the idea that older people should settle for less and curtail plans that stretch too far into the unknown future. The worst thing is we fall for it. Our own internalised ageism comes out to play and before we know it we are imposing limits on ourselves. Oh, and don’t get me started on Swedish Death Cleansing!😂

Enough!

We are allowed to keep our nice things and not obsess about imagined futures!

Besides, who ever said having stash beyond what you could reasonably use is a bad thing? For many of us, accumulating a stash is a glorious process that stretches on for decades. It allows us to take advantage of gorgeous fibres when they pop up, even if we don’t have an immediate project in mind. We enjoy having options to flick through when inspiration for a new jumper or pair of socks strikes. And let’s not forget the pure tactile joy of surrounding ourselves with beautiful skeins in every shade of the rainbow! Why should we place strict limits around how much nicely-curated yarn older knitters “should” retain in their homes?

More importantly, making us feel guilty about our stash size can actually prevent us from keeping our collection freshly curated. It encourages stash shame and hiding. It stops us from letting go of yarn we've fallen out of love with to make room for new additions that better suit our current style and skills.

If we constantly fret that we'll never live long enough to knit up every last bit of our hoard, we fail to actually tune in with what fibres spark joy for us right now. So bags of acrylics we cringed over as newbie knitters stay stuffed in the back of the cupboard instead of being passed on. We stop hunting for special skeins, or worse let something lovely pass us by, just because we hit some arbitrary stash ceiling.

I’m not advocating mindless acquisition. Just an awareness and appreciation of what we already have that can inform our choices.

A Stash is a  River Not a Lake

Why waste precious crafting time stressing over how much is too much rather than simply enjoying the process of curation?

It's far better to keep a stash evolving with new delights that align with our tastes today instead of holding onto every last gift or bargain just because we feel we've failed some stash-to-life ratio. See your stash as an ebb and flow, not a static thing.

I say stash beyond life expectancy...so what? That just means you’ll have the most marvellous collection of knitting inspiration at your fingertips for however long you’re able to keep clicking those needles. No need to sell off that precious yarn just because of some arbitrary date. Bring it out and revel in those luscious fibres whenever the mood strikes. After all, we should be able to enjoy hobbies that make our hearts sing at every age and stage of life without judgment about what's prudent, sensible or practical. I say live vibrantly with your colours and textures all around you, my darling knitters! Knit on without limits, and may your stash keep bringing you joy for many years beyond that silly life expectancy estimate.

On My Needles

Meanwhile on my needles this week is some buttery, yellow alpaca 4ply (fingering). It’s soft and unrelentingly cheerful this slightly gloomy February. It’s going to make a really vibrant Painted Cave colour work sweater that should cheer me up and keep me cosy next winter. Meanwhile it makes me smile every time I pick up my needles. I’ve already done the sleeves, in what I’m now thinking was a master stroke. I did one as a gauge swatch and though I’d avoid ‘sleeve island’ by getting the other one done too. 🏝 The result is that once the body is done it’s all glorious colour work and decreases to the end.

In My Stash

Going through my stash looking for something else I uncovered a sweater quantity of the blue Wendy British Pure Wool Aran  that I used for my Dreyma sweater. I’m delighted this has emerged. It’s destined to be another colour work yoked sweater or maybe I’ll do a cardigan with it, as I have a ball of the silver grey New Lanark from my Dreyma left too.  Anyway I was delighted to find it! Thank you previous me who stashed it! I did wonder why I only had one  200 gram  ball of it 😂

What’s the best surprise you ever found in your stash?