The Beauty of a Stash

First, let me say a huge thank you to those of you who have offered to dye floss for me or even share your own stash of floss with me. That really is kind and I so much appreciate it.

I have to admit that I do feel just a bit bad about the cost of moving a yarn and fabric stash from Texas to Missouri. That cost kinda negates any savings I may be thinking I’ve made by having paid a lower cost for fabric and yarn through the years but realizing how hard it is to get the hand dyed floss, as well as some of the cross stitching fabric makes me appreciate the yarn and fabric stash even more. If I had been cross stitching through the years, I would have a great stash and would not be affected by all the out of stock floss and fabrics. But, I have plenty to keep me busy til I can get what I need.

As far as the fabric stash, there isn’t a quilt I might want to make that I couldn’t make from my stash, without having to buy fabric, thread, batting or backing fabric. It’s the same with yarn.

Yesterday I started another test knit. Without the spreadsheets being accurate, it took a little digging but I found the absolute perfect yarn. I’m making a shawl and DK weight yarn was suggested, though for a shawl it doesn’t matter so much if I get something that’s not exactly what was suggested.

I had an idea of the type of color I might want – something a bit variegated or shaded but nothing wild and too multi colored. I went through several tubs of yarn and just wasn’t finding the perfect DK in about the amount I needed. I needed 1050 yards and I hated to use anything that had 1800 or more because there wouldn’t be a whole lot I could do with the leftover yarn – make a hat or mittens or something similar but it would, in my opinion, be a waste to break up a large amount of yarn like that.

I looked at several DK weight yarns but none of them were what I really wanted. I came across Malabrigo Rios, which is a worsted weight yarn, though I can get close to DK gauge with it. Madelinetosh DK yarn is 225 yards/100 grams. Rios is 210 yards/100 grams so . . I think Tosh DK could be classed as a light worsted and I think Rios could be classed as a heavy DK so I went with the Rios in Winter Lake.

I had 7 skeins so that’s 1,470 yards. Since the pattern calls for 1,050 DK weight, I may well use 1,200 yards of worsted weight.

I had a hard time getting an accurate color representation with the light and the phone camera but it has a grayish greenish sometimes blueish color along with a deep purple that sometimes looks dark gray or even black. Though not this specific yarn because I wasn’t sure what I would be able to find, this is exactly the look I wanted for this project.

It’s going to be a big, snuggly shawl and this color and this yarn is perfect!

I am very thankful for my stash and very thankful that Vince appreciates how much I love the yarn and the fabric and even though he’s grumbled a bit about the cost of moving it all, he did it without ever questioning whether it was the right thing to do or not.