... I'm now sitting here staring at my yarn stash and realizing its actually a calculus problem for the SABLE I/O function. Oh dear.

Every crafter’s problem: buying supplies is much faster than using them. It’s good that you caught this early. I gave away a few boxes of yarn and fabric recently because I realized how long it would take to use them, and I would rather spend that time with my favourite materials. I still have lots of great stuff to work with, but the temptation to shop never goes away. I have to remember to shop my stash when dreaming of new projects.

OMG, I wish you had made this video maybe 5 yrs ago for me!!!  I guess I will be knitting until I am 249 yrs old!!  Thank you for the wake-up call!

As a Maths teacher and someone who has been knitting for over 40 years (and every day for nearly 20 years), I cant tell you how much joy this video gave me. I have all my stash on ravelry and have crunched numbers many times over the years but never to this detail and certainly not lately. Might be time. I’m curious. Thanks for sharing. Also nice to hear another Australian accent on the YouTubes. ❤

“What would happen if I DIDNT stop buying yarn”
Girl you’d be looking at my stash 😂😂😂

I am an accountant so you know I love this video.  I have more yarn than I can ever use.  I have been knitting for 40 + years so I have quite the collection.  I am pretty proud that I didn’t buy any in January.  My goal is to use more than I buy this year by a meaningful margin.  Strict, no-buy rules don’t work for me and sometimes you need to buy a few skeins to supplement existing stash. But I am trying to use mostly stash this year.  Good luck in your stash busting journey.

Wow, your perspective is desperately needed in our consumer society -- and I count myself in that class.  I'm cancelling my last yarn subscription after watching this.  I have way too much yarn too.

The breakdown is amazing. It really paints such a clear picture, especially the chart for how long it would take you to work through your stash. I’ve been struggling to work through mine, and doing a decent job of not buying more yarn past what I need to finish a project, and your video has really opened my eyes to how much yarn I truly have. It’s motivation for me to continue working with what I have, and reminding myself that I don’t have to worry about running out of yarn any time soon. I’m excited to see your journey of working through your stash! This was really an amazing video

Over the past year I experienced a change in circumstances which meant I was not able to purchase yarn as Willy nilly as I had been. This is a slap in the face. Your yarn usage for a year (23 skeins equivalent) was a normal preorder from a hand dyed yarn crafter for me. I started knitting again in 2020 and I had a small stash of about 10 balls.

Currently 3/4 of my stash is in storage and inaccessible, but I have 1x120L tub full, 4x80L tubs, 3x50L tubs and an ottoman that’s probably another 80L worth.

The most terrifying part of this is I adore almost every part of my stash. It’s been carefully curated to my tastes and the few hanks that don’t appeal to me personally were purchased to create gifts for loved ones.

I do not know exact figures since my ravelry isn’t up to date but my best guess would say
80% fingering weight
10% DK weight
5% suri/mohair weight
5% other

95% natural fibres - wool, cashmere, silk, cotton, linen
5% acrylic

Once I’m in a position to access the rest of my stash I’m going to have to make some hard decisions 😔

This was so fun, thanks for making it! It's also always lovely finding new Aussie knitting podcasters :D I've been doing a stashdown/no-buy for almost 18 months (I've bought 1 skein of yarn since October 2023) and it feels great, you won't regret it.

I have emotional shopping tendencies, as well as hoarding tendencies, and I gave myself a limit of two plastic bins. That's all I'm allowed to have and if I want to buy more I need to donate or sell.

as someone who can only buy yarn when I need it for a specific project, its always so interesting to watch this kind of videos

I’m on a no buy year—I can finish my stash of 17,000 grams in two years based on the last 4 years of data. My problem was that I just bought yarn whenever I felt like it after my parents died. I have been knitting for 30 years and never had more stash than one of your plastic boxes. The past four years have gotten out of hand, and while I appreciate the creativity that a stash provides, there are so many projects I want to be wearing but they aren’t going to exist unless I stop the buying. I told everyone of my family and friends that I am not accumulating yarn in any way for two years and they are supposed to question any yarn like behavior that they see. Wish me luck. By your estimation, I have 24 years to knit. I would like to enjoy it differently than I have been. I also have a counted cross stitch issue that extends out for 5 years, but that’s a story for another day. (Not buying anything there either)

I spent a good amount of time at the beginning of this year assessing my stash, and have been making great progress! I’ve been working on a lot of gift knits that I’ve been hoarding supplies for, as well as using larger scrap amounts up as mitts or hats. Any scraps that aren’t large enough to use in color work or are variegated, I add towards my scrappy stash busting blanket. It’s already turning out so cute, and being able to use up items that we’re taking up space in my stash is giving me a lot more ease with my hobby.

Brilliant video. Thanks for sharing. A good lesson for us all.
I put a serious halt on buying when I moved house and had little storage room. It was the healthiest thing I did, it was six years ago and I still have things in the old stash to work through. Saving me a fortune.

I love the curb about buying yarn at the same rate and time needed to use the yarn, i was watching the lady from YarnGeek channel who has a room floor to ceiling filled with shelves with yarn and was wondering how many years she will need to use up that yarn especially since she is like me she doesn't want to donate but use it all ... but she crochets and that takes more yarn ... Her mom has several rooms full

I love how you’ve represented the data for your stash, especially the SABLE factor! Such an eye opener that shopping for a hobby (at least for me) is not something I want to be a hobby in itself ❤

This video is so good. I’d love it if you did one for 2025!

I found your data and presentation to be excellent. Thank you! My stash stresses me out. Without analyzing my own stash, I know that the projects I most enjoy are the ones I purchase the "called for yarn" and immediately cast on--no stashing involved. Thank you again.

now this is my kind of video!!! fiber arts and crunching the numbers, im in love