On Matters of Size: Flash Your Stash

I was planning and packing for the Sock Summit trip yesterday. The key consideration for any knitter when planning a trip is what knitting to take.

And for Sock Summit, that's doubly important - sure, it's gotta be socks, but it's gotta be cool socks. Cool yarn, and a cool project.I knew that I needed a plain and simple stocking stitch sock, for times when I'd be chatting. That choice was easy - the coolest yarn in my stash is a skein of Wollmeise in Birkenrinde (birch bark) that was purchased at the actual Wollmeise shop (oooh!) by a student of mine. (Thanks Andrea, if you're reading!)


But I also wanted an interesting sock project to show off my chops. I had a stitch pattern in mind, but wasn't sure about the yarn. So I went digging in the stash.

It's fun to rummage through one's own stash once in a while, to remind yourself of what goodies you have. And because I am going to Sock Summit, I figured it was a good idea to see what was what, so I knew what I didn't need to buy... and to see if there was anything I wanted to buy more of.

Now, I've already confessed in public that I keep a spreadsheet with a stash inventory, but I knew that the sock yarn section of inventory had got a little out of date. I therefore took the opportunity to pull it all out, admire it, and list it. And count.

And I 'fessed up on Twitter: not including WIPs and leftovers, I have 43 pairs' worth of socks in yarn.

This caused a little storm on Twitter among some of my very good knitting friends, necessitating the use of the hashtag "#flashusyourstash", naturally.

And so my friends, they also counted. Now, these ladies are all excellent knitters, and keen sock knitters, specifically, and each of them has a close and long-standing relationship with a LYS that has a rather terrific selection of sock yarn.

What I learnt from this exercise is that, apparently, I am a rank amateur when it comes to stashing sock yarn. No-one else had a number less than 100.

I have some serious catching up to do. Hey... I know just where I can get that problem taken care of.

Sock Summit 2011, here I come!