I know I am not alone here… It doesn’t matter how awesome your stash is, there comes a time when you fall completely out of love which what you have and the urge to buy more yarn is a strong, strong siren song.

Am I right?

Now granted I am certainly not one to discourage some good ole’ stash acquisition therapy. Hell, I used to sell yarn…so, yeah, I love it when knitters buy yarn. But, I also do not like to see good yarn go to waste. So, today, fiberista, I am sharing with you my top 6 tips that will help you love your stash again without spending a bunch of money on more yarn.

1. Take inventory of what you have. Okay, I am not neccessarily talking spreadsheets, although spreadsheets are not a bad idea. Break out your entire stash. Pull it out of hiding and the WIP basket. Have it all in one place where you can see it. The dining room table, the floor. Anywhere you can see it all at once and all together. Stand back and take a good long look at you entire stash. There are a couple of things that will happen here. Either you will confirm your worst fears, and decide your stash needs a revamp. Or you might see that you really love your stash (and my work here is done…). Sometimes it just takes really looking at the whole picture.

2. Getting real about what is not working. Chances are, there is yarn in your stash that you are not loving anymore. Wrong colors, wrong texture. Just wrong. Pull that yarn out and set it aside. While you are at it pull out your absolute favorites. Because, here is the thing, sometimes bad yarn can look insanely awesome next to really good yarn. Bad yarn can be knit with good yarn to stretch the yardage for a project. Sometimes bad colors are a great contrast for good colors and actually make the good colors seem more vibrant.

3. Adding yarn alternative to round out colrway sets. So, maybe after looking all the yarn combo possibilities, some of them are still just not right. Is there any old clothing, or remnant fabric, ribbons or scarves that you can tear into strips to make yarn? Do any of these fabrics or ribbons bring the colors together a bit more? I know this step is kind of a long shot, but sometimes thinking outside or what yarn is suppose to be can spark new ideas.

4. Check the fiber content of your bad stash. If it is any kind of animal fiber, plant fiber, silk or nylon, it can be overdyed. Set that aside. I will cover overdyeing yarn in my upcoming dyeing classes. Sign up to get notice when those go live here.

5. If you are a hand spinner, use bad yarn for core spinning or plying. This is one of my favorite ways to repurpose yarn I don’t love. Let it be the back bone for all those yummy fibers in your art yarn.

6. Swap it. One knitter’s trash is another knitter’s treasure. Gather your knitting buddies for a yarn swap. Or check Ravelry for swap groups. If that yarn is just not working, then do not feel like you have to hang on to it. It may work for someone else.

Here’s the thing, don’t feel you have to hang on to yarn you do not love. It is stuck energy that will alway add stops to your creative inspirations. I know that may sound a bit dramatic, but if you are not loving your yarn, you are not loving the core of your work. So either bless your stash with new ideas or even new color, or bless another knitter with something you once loved but have outgrown.