Getting Inspired from Your Supply Stash by MooseThreads

Every crafter has one. For some it receives no more than a curious nod or casual glance. For others it can draw an "Oh wow" or "Yikes" from those who see it.But for the rare few - such as myself - a crafter's "STASH" can result in the following.....

"OMG! Do you think Jimmy Hoffa is buried in there?"

"What did you do, knock over a JoAnns?"

Or my favorite.

"If yarn were crack you'd never make it out of rehab."

As you can see from the pictures, I'm not hurting for supplies. HOWEVER, what I am lacking is inspiration. When it comes to crochet projects I'm often like a hyperactive hamster with short term memory loss. At the store I have all these idea running through my head, thus resulting in purchasing enough yarn to provide King Tut with a new technicolor wrap job. But once I get home and the yarn gets sorted into the correct color-coded bin it often gets lost or forgotten about. I can not tell you the number of times I have bought the same skein of yarn because I forgot I had already purchased it. So after some careful thought, some prodding from my husband ...and well.... nearly losing a cat amid the chaos... I made a promise to myself that unless it was a custom order for a client, I would only make projects from my stash. And so far I can say it's better than Christmas. I'm discovering things I completely forgot I had -or even better - finding uses for yarn I purchased for no reason.

In February I was asked to donate a sweater to a local silent auction. As soon as the words left my friends mouth my eyes glazed over, I started to twitch and my friend realized she had just given the addict a reason to visit her local crack den "aka yarn store.""WAIT!" she practically screamed while pulling my back from my yarntastic fantasy."I will only let you use what you already have."Darn. I forgot I had friends actually committed to helping me stay fiber-free. After some moping and some chocolate to dull the pain of a yarn store trip foiled, I began to dig amid the bins and boxes. I discovered a bulk skein of chunky turquoise acrylic purchased on sale nearly two years ago. It was soft and cushy and slightly inspired I set it aside and began to dig further into the depths of my stash. I found a bright hot pink skein bought during a brief flirtation with reliving my 80's glam days. And then I discovered a piercing skein of purple. Paired with the turquoise they somehow managed to tone each other down. A small remnant of bright green and some sunflower buttons I found shoved in a forgotten bin and TADA! I was inspired. Not only did I manage to use up most of the turquoise skein but it's texture prompted me to attempt a new cardigan design.

My next "stash" project initially started with my idea to make a blanket for my friend's daughter.Being that she is a bright and fun little girl I started looking through my stash for anything that reminded me of the recipient.Way in the back, behind some boxes I discovered BAGS of this TLC Wiggles yarn. It's an acrylic yarn that sports these crazy loops made from tightly wound colored thread. I had multiple skeins of it in nearly every color of the rainbow and just new using the right stitch I could crochet up a fun blanket. As for why I had so much I have no idea.After some thought I decided to pair it with some white worsted acrylic I again had in a 16oz skein. The end result, which used a slanted shell stitch was not only cushy but one that I loved so much I'm ashamed to say I have yet to give to the intended person. I'm debating on making a second one for my store, but that's only if I don't get distracted by yet another project inspired by my stash.

Come see the knitting genius of MooseThreads at www.moosethreads.etsy.com