Aw thanks my lovely 
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Wow, yesterday afternoon got surprisingly philosophical. All good points!
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What an inspiration the last posts of been to read! Last year lead to more buying of materials. Not just to stash, but for the specific project. I hope this year to focus on projects that don’t “need” just the thing that I don’t already have.
I want to point out that true perfection is literally and truly impossible. If you look close enough at anything you can find something that could be considered an imperfection. We do ourselves a disservice when we get in the mindset to find flaws - we’re setting ourselves up to live in negativity. That said, it can be difficult for me, at least, to find that balance of striving for high standards and accepting that there will always be something imperfect. I think this is one reason I am trying to reduce the mediums I work with/in so that I can focus on improving the few and let go of those I just won’t ever care enough about to get very good at.
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Yes! I feel this 100%. Depth of knowledge > breadth of knowledge for me at this point in my life (at least as far as crafting is concerned).
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That’s an excellent way to phrase it!
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Lots to ponder in this thread. Good ideas and thoughts to keep in mind as I really dive into destashing and organizing. Thank you all for sharing. I am spending a week with my daughter next week, so no heavy duty destashing until I get back.
I mahe tis kitten cave from stash except for the fuible foam which I had never used. I do like the stuff.
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Yes! I have been going back & forth mentally on this for a while. I love the Happy Mail folks & getting & sending mail … but I think I am just not a paper crafter really. I am likely to drop papercrafting this year … i don’t like having papercrafting stash along with fabric, felt, and thread stash. I don’t want to get into inks, i don’t like stacks of paper or boards, i just … i think i need to let it go. I mentally let go of knitting, a couple years ago. I love yarn & fiber but the knitting itself … nope. (And no on crochet). And i have zero regrets on that move, destashing all my yarn & needles. Very freeing!
Felt & fabric & thread feel right, feel comfy, don’t stress me out when i see their storage containers. The one small shoebox with clay? Meh. Neutral on that one. I think as long as it stays one small shoebox I’ll be OK with it. I dabbled in watercolor pens last year and I think that’s gonna be a big no also.
I love that we’re all thinking about our crafts & supplies & how they fit in our lives.
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I am going to do just a few things I have been meaning to do and then purge the jewelry making stuff with exceptions for the findings I use for assemblage-ish stuff and miniatures. I don’t need really any of the strings of beads I have!
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Using the good stuff
I’ve had this yarn in stash for at least the last year. I’m pretty sure I picked it up at KnitPicks’ black friday sales circa 2022 with no clear plans for it. The vibrant color just got me. The picture doesn’t show it, but it’s an almost neon yellow striped with highlighter green and it’s called “GoGo Boots” lol. Not a color that’s usually my style to wear, but I couldn’t resist it. It’s destined to become an Antler Toque - I need a better fitting winter hat for cold days to protect my ears, and this will be all the better to be hard to miss when we’re walking and it’s dark out. I made this before but am terrible about making the ribbing too short because I don’t love the back-and-forth, but I’m pushing myself to make the ribbing a healthy length. My previous hat is basically unwearable because it keeps sliding off my head due to the short ribbing band.
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I did that last year. I pretty much suck at jewelry making, and I just did not enjoy it. Plus, how much jewelry can a person wear just around the house? I have simplified my dressing, so I rarely change earrings or pendants, always reaching for a few favorites.
Like you, I am keeping anything that I think I could use in other crafts or to embellish prayer flags, etc. I use most of the beads to make suncatchers since they seem to fade or break in the weather. I have some more purging to do, but, it feels pretty good to know that jewelry making is off my list of crafts to try…been there, done that, over it!
@sheepblue…I love that yarn! Is it Capretta? I probably have a few skeins in my stash. Do you knit English? What do you mean back and forth? I really don’t mind ribbing at all because it feels the same to me.
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It’s the Chroma Twisted Worsted, but KP makes some variations on the color pattern.
I’m English all the way. I’ve tried experimenting with Continental but it feels very clunky in my hands and my tension is too tight. When I say back and forth, I mean constantly moving the yarn from back to front for the K1, P1 ribbing. I can get into a rhythm with it, but don’t love it.
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lol I shouldn’t have looked…Capretta is on sale…
It will be a lovely hat…you are doing it right with a longer ribbing!
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Ugh I’ve started taking stock of some of the things I’d like to sell and it seems overwhelming. The looms will require people coming to my house to try them and cart away and I’m not sure how to handle the money part of it (each one would be over $1k so I don’t know if cash is a good idea but I’d prefer to not pay PayPal fees). Plus going through my weaving library, taking pics of what I want to sell, figuring out how to ship, etc etc.
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Does Venmo or CashApp charge fees if it is a personal transaction? I use those to pay my self-care people (massage therapist, etc.). Also, UPS freight is relatively inexpensive. I shipped a recording console weighing 20 pounds for just under $15 with UPS through PayPalship! They provide $100 of insurance for no cost. My insurance company would pay the difference if it were lost.
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I don’t have a huge stash, but I’ve decided I’m not buying craft supplies for a while because I have other financial priorities. I’m sure I have enough stash not to get bored! I do allow myself to get small necessities such as sewing thread, a zipper etc.
Challenge one
Tonight, I did the last couple stitches for this one:
It was from a kit and the project stalled when I ran out of two colours. I found those in my stash and finished this in half an hour. A few months ago I picked up two solid wood frames at the thrift shop. Hope to get this and another couple of things framed so the frames are destashed too
I started an rectangular granny afghan today just to have a simple thing to work on. It’s pink - white - beige, all stash. 3 balls of pink came from a friend with big plans but who can’t actually knit or crochet, white is left over from a swap project, beige was inherited.
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My boyfriend made some shelves for me, so I reorganized my crafting supplies. Things are much better organized (for now!).
(New shelves are on the left side - they’re crooked because the peg holes aren’t level.
)
Then I put the rest back in. This is everything except my sewing machines & their supplies and a couple WIPs.
I’d like to use up enough stash to have it look more like the first picture at the end of the year. 
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Hi all,
I am a bit late to the party, but would love to join!
My yarn and fabric stash is encroaching on the guest room, so my goal is to halve the amount of stash in the guest room!
I also have a large amount of art & craft books, I aim to make a few projects out of them finally!
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I reached out to a weaving friend today who has sold a lot of equipment and she gave me so many great tips and we talked through all parts of the process so I’m feeling very prepared now!
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I did buy the card blanks, but all the other materials for these cards are from stash. I struggled a bit to find paper I liked for the jars, but I am glad I stuck it out. I’m not freaked out about the card/envelope sets, because I use those quite a bit.
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Ok I’m sitting here in front of my craft closet and everything I pull out I immediately find a reason to keep even though I haven’t touched most of it for years. Send help (or offer wise words).
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