At last! A No Guilt Stash!

Recently, Bells and Amy from Rhode Island were discussing the amount of guilt and shame that is commonly associated with yarn stashes, and hit upon the fabulous idea of the 'No Guilt Stash'...


And they've even come up with a cool manifesto to go with Amy's button...

No Guilt Stash Manifesto

I will neither defend nor apologize for my stash. My yarn brings me joy, and therefore brings others in my life joy.

Through my hands I do good in the world. I knit with love for friends, family, and strangers. Yarn is my medium.

I promise not to let my stash acquisition interfere with personal relationships or financial health; yet neither will I give in to pressure from significant others to reduce my stash.

I will not judge others' stash. I can admire it, be inspired by it, even covet certain skeins, but it is not my place to pass judgment on quantity or quality.

I recognize that stash management is personal. I fully intend to knit my beautiful yarns, but I refuse to be guilted into doing so on anyone's schedule other than my own.

I understand that it may take many years for a yarn to reveal its destiny, and that yarns that have been in my stash for a seemingly long time just haven't met their correct pattern. I won't feel guilty about this.

I also recognize that yarn can have many destinies. It can be a reminder of a special trip, a friend, a time in one's life. It can be comfort or inspiration. It doesn't always need to be knitted to fulfill its destiny. I accept that some yarns in my possession may never be knit by me.

I believe in the karmic properties of stash. I willingly share with other knitters, and I realize the stash, like love, will grow when it is shared.


So... If you're tired of being made to feel like you should be apologizing for your stash instead of just revelling in its possibilities, don't subscribe to the ubiquitous theme that your only goal should be to knit down your stash in the shortest time possible, and you like the concept of a 'No Guilt Stash', check out Bells' and Amy's entries here and here for details on how you too can become a party to the 'No Stash Guilt Manifesto'.

FWIW...

At least I'm apparently way less dorky and awkward than I thought I was... ;)

Teaser

After Michael sent me all of those photos, I sent him a wish list in reply. And a day or so later, I received another e-mail with a zipped file attached, which the text of the e-mail assured me contained a photo of everything he had bought for me.

When I unzipped the file, this is what I found...


Michael is adamant that everything is indeed there in the photo, including a lovely brown paper bag which I can use to store my knitting.

As apparently my original wish list wasn't quite long enough (I had no idea what the prices might be like there, so I kept my original list quite short), Michael asked if there was anything else I might like that I'd perhaps left off that first list.

So I sent him a message suggesting that I might like some of the silk yarn I'd spotted in one of the photos.

And the next day I received another e-mail with another zipped file attached, which turned out to contain this photo...


That's right... All of the additional purchases are shown in this photo, along with a lovely white plastic bag which can be used to store some more of my knitting.

I'm sure I've been terribly spoilt, but I'll have to wait until the morning -- Michael should be in the air right now -- to know exactly what is hiding inside those bags. The wish lists I sent him were total guess work of course, as it was difficult to know what any of the yarns might be like in real life, or even how accurate the colours might be. And for anyone who is interested, I've uploaded a few more photos that Michael took before he was shooed out of the yarn store -- they can be found on the end of the 'Tokyo yarn store' set. I'm just amazed that Michael was brave enough to venture into the foreign territory that is The Yarn Store, and incredibly grateful that he did it for me. :)