Ninety Gallons of Yarn

Yes, it's true! I finished an inventory of all the yarn in my closet. (Well, nearly all. There were a few random things that didn't make it into the count for various reasons, but I'm calling it good for now.) This is really no small accomplishment, since it involved taking photos of each yarn, uploading the photos, and entering the appropriate information in my Ravelry notebook. I won't complain too much, because the amazing Ravelry database really does take a lot of the tedious work out of the process. Still, when you've collected as much yarn as I have, a complete inventory takes time.

Just how much yarn are we talking here? Well, let's put it this way. I'm storing it in 28-quart Sterilite bins in my closet, and I came up with . . . drumroll . . . over 90 gallons of yarn. (J says that "Ninety Gallons of Yarn" would make a great name for a blog. What do you think?) I realize that some people will drop their jaws at this amount, while others will scoff at how little I have. The size of a knitter's yarn stash is extremely personal, and I personally have decided that I can no longer drift by with the excuse that I am also a yarn collector. My stash is currently too large for me, and I want to do something about it.

Now the question I have is what my goal will be. I don't really feel the need to get down to "Yarn Zero". In fact, I definitely want to have at least some yarn on hand for last-minute gift knitting. I'm going to tentatively set my goal at two bins of yarn remaining in my closet by the end of 2011. With no yarn coming in and lots going out in the form of beautiful handmade items, I feel good about this goal. However, I will allow myself to periodically reevaluate and revise this number if necessary.

In related news, I have made significant headway on my book, magazine, and pattern inventory. This is important, because once all of those are cataloged, I will be able to use the amazing tools on Ravelry to pair up actual yarns in my stash with actual patterns I already own. (Imagine that!) I will be able to do this kind of searching from my computer instead of leafing through shelves of books and digging through bins of yarn. I will be able to see and know almost at a glance what I have and what I can make with it. Brilliant!