Fiber and Yarn Stash has Reached Critical Mass

Nov 2nd.  I’ve sent out all the yarn/fiber from this de-stash, and judging from emails, most have been received.  If by chance you did not get your package, please send me an email or comment here, otherwise I’ll consider this a completed project.

Thank you all for helping me de-stash my yarn and fiber in a way that also alleviated the guilt by knowing it would be put to good use.  It was hard to have so much stuff I knew I couldn’t use and harder still to find people who knew how to use it.   So thank you all!  As I continue to clean house and go through things, I may come accross another stash, and if I do, I’ll post here on my blog, in twitter, and on Ravelry.  Thank you all again and I wish you well in your creations!

 

Oct 23rd: Wave 3 shipped out today, only a couple people still haven’t responded so those will wait til after Halloween.  Thank you to everyone who has been so patient and awesome.  I think the spinners made off with some good bargains, even after shipping and box costs.  Speaking of which, that was a detail I hadn’t anticipated at the start of this, but I simply did not have enough boxes to ship out over 30 packages so I bought them.  Most people seem to understand, and I thank you.  Some of you paid a little extra for time and gas, and I thank you.  I also want to thank everyone who has helped reduce my stash and my guilt at not being able to use it all.  It feels much better to think it is going to people who will use it.   Thank you, and I wish you all the best!

Oct 22nd: Wave 2 of shipping sent out, everyone should have been emailed pics by now, and I am just waiting on replies with the OK, addresses, and shipping payments.  Again, whatever is not completed by the end of Friday the 23rd will wait until after Halloween, but I would love to wrap this up and be done.

EDIT PLEASE NOTE: Oct 21st  Still working on wave 2 of shipping estimates, and waiting for wave 3 to reply with ZIP codes before I can proceed for them.

Whatever isn’t taken care of by Friday will be pushed until after Halloween.  Sorry, but I am a mom/wife and daughter/sister first, and this project has to come after I take care of everything for family and home.  Thank you for your patience and understanding.

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Oct 20th 7:30pm my time, I sent out the first wave of packages today and if I haven’t sent you an email with a pic yet, you should get yours tomorrow (since some people have passed, it kinda changes things a little down the line).  If you have not yet replied to my email asking for an address or at least a Zip for shipping estimates, please do.  I’d like to have everything shipped and done by Friday if we can.  Thanks for your patience.

Oct 18th 1:30pm my time, If you have not yet received an email from me please leave a new comment. I just want to be sure I haven’t missed anyone.   Also, we have things sorted and I will take them to the post office tomorrow morning to get packaging and weigh them and get prices for shipping.  I will then come home and email pics to you of what I plan to send plus your shipping estimate.  You can then email me back if you want me to remove something and thus reduce shipping or save you from getting something you don’t want.

In the email I will also include my paypal info and my ebay name which you can check to see that I have 100% positive feedback in case you have concerns over the arrangements.  Like ebay, I will ship the items out as I receive payment or as we make arrangement otherwise in private email.  If I were to ship it all and wait for payment, it would cost me over $250 and I can’t afford that right now, sorry.

Does this sound ok to everyone?  I’m trying to keep it as simple and fair as I can manage.   Feel free to comment or email if you have questions or concerns.

Oct 17th 6pm my time, This project is Huge! lol Sorting and taking pictures, emails will be coming, taking longer than I thought. My apologies. I’m working on it.

Oct 16th. I’ll be sorting and taking pics to email to people for their approval today and tomorrow.  Expect emails by Sat evening.   Thank you for your patience since my first job is to be mom and wife, but I do plan to get everything mailed next early next week.

EDIT OCT 14 @7:00pm Mountain Time: Please consider this offer closed to those who have already commented and DM’d me on Twitter.  I’m afraid the person who posted on Ravelry may have misrepresented what and how much I had to share, and it has now been more than spoken for.  I’ll be going through and pairing up who wants what and will be emailing pics for approval.  Thank you all for your interest and I am sorry I cannot give more.

EDIT Oct 14 @ 10:30 Mountain Time: Please consider all yarn spoken for at this point.  Please note if you need roving or can use dyed locks that you can card yourself (I just found 3 more boxes).

OK, here’s the deal.  I love fiber and roving and yarn.  I have accumulated too much to ever use in my lifetime.  Though to be fair, much of it was gifted to me or inherited from my dear grandmas who taught me to knit and crochet and sew.  Maybe I need to seek a 12-step program… nah, I’ll just share it with other people who love fiber, too!

So, as previously announced on twitter, I plan to go through it and give it away.  Here are my terms:

If you are going to use it or resell it, please pay shipping.

If you are going to use your talents to create something to give away to those in need or a charity (or if you’d like it for yourself and really can’t afford shipping), I’ll pay shipping.  EDIT: I’ll pay shipping within the US, talk to me about international and we’ll work something out. (End Edit)

Totally on the honor system here.

I have a smoke-free but cat friendly house, however I do all I can to keep cats away from my yarn and fiber stash, and much has been in storage for a while.

Drop me a DM on Twitter or comment here if you are interested and please give me an idea of your color and fiber choices such as acrylic, blends, wools, what-have-you.

I will try to get pictures up of what’s up for grabs in the next week, so please check back, but I wanted to give people a little more info than Twitter allows.   It’ll be first come, first served, and totally up to  my discretion to limit amounts if need be (first person to DM can’t have dibs on all of it kind of thing).  I don’t want to make this complicated, but I do want the intent to be honored.

EDIT: If you are able to donate to Spirit Jump through one of their paypal widgets for the Charity SmackDown that would be a very cool thank you.

EDIT ^2: You can email me @  pauserefresh@hotmail.com if needed, and as I get the stash pics up and sorted in the next couple days, we can use email for private info.

EDIT/MORE INFO: I have been getting some questions so I hope to clarify.  I am still pulling out boxes and sorting, and hope to have pics posted by Thursday.  What I thought I’d do is send emails with pics, (like choice A, B, or C based on stated preferences), and then if that person passes on one or two, those are up for the next person, if that makes sense.  As for shipping payments, I can only figure those after it’s decided who gets what and I can weigh it.  I hope you all understand.

Also of note is that I do have a lot more dyed locks, not yet carded, than I thought and some unwashed but skirted wool.  There is more wool or roving than yarn.  I do have some handspun yarn, too.  Some of the stash has lost the labels or I’ve forgotten which exact breed of sheep it was from, but I’ll do my best on descriptions, and if needed, I can do a burn test to narrow it down.  ( I think I know my fibers pretty well, though.)

So, I’m thinking I’ll post a few pics so you can all get a better idea of what I have, email out pictures of options for people who have spoken up for them, then proceed down the line, then post pics here of what is left, if any.  We’ll get it worked out.  But first, I need to get through all the stash and I have to play mom, too, so please be patient with me.

This has become huge fast and I admit I didn’t think of all the details when I started, so just be patient with me and we’ll sort it out.

Sample pics of what I had:

Some of the Yarn

Mohair for lustre in the front, dyed corrie cross locks in back, some washed, undyed.

Roving and some handspun yarn.

Right side of the bed with roving and handspun.

Roll with it but Act

I spent the day trying to adapt my plans on the fly to changing circumstances.  There came a point that I just gave up on trying to get the kids to help with the yardwork jobs we had discussed and planned.   I ended up gaming a little, cleaning a little, playing outside with the kids a little, and turning my bedroom into a mini-woodshop for a bit.  Good thing I have an understanding husband.

I look at my goals in different games and they all seem to be about the same: to create a virtual representation of what I would like to have in real life (to differing degrees based on the game of course).  It’s akin to browsing etsy for more fiber to spin while I have oodles here at home just waiting to be spun and made up into something useful.  It is the easy, sometimes quick feel-good that I am working toward something when in reality I am not doing as much as I ought.

Maybe I am too laid-back and go-with-the-flow but it works for me to not get too wrapped up in expectations of how things should be.  With a husband, six kids, all the ex’s and extended family, plus life in general, things don’t always go the way I would choose.  So I roll with it.

I currently have two main goals with regards to my own projects and the house/yard: simplify and use what I have to make things of value for others.  Yeah, there is always cleaning and maintenance but beyond that, above it, is the need to simplify further and share all the excess.  Now to get on top of that notion and go with it. Tomorrow is Sunday which is a perfect day for writing Spirit Jump cards and knitting chemo caps to drop off to the local hospitals.  I have a few other ideas of things I plan to do as well, but I don’t want to seek praise here, like look at all I do or something.  Instead, like I have always said about this blog, it is here to help me sort out my own thoughts so that I may better act upon them. And so off I go to act.

Indecission

I was blessed by my mom and grandmothers to learn many of the old crafts.  I have sought out books to help me as well.  With the passing of my grandmothers I inherited a goodly supply of materials from which I could make myriad items.  I have tried to go by the idea of making one thing for my family, and then something to give away.  With so many options of what I -could- make, I sometimes get stuck in choosing.  Like tonight.

I’ve made several socks and chemo caps of late and they almost flow from the needles because I have memorized the patterns.  But one can only make so many socks and hats.  Scarves I’ve made as well, though I need to get them to their intended owners.  I enjoy especially those projects that are portable and make use of the time spent in the car or waiting at a doctor’s office.

Once upon a time when I sewed quite a lot I was able to make a modest income from selling items on ebay.  I am quite tempted to do that again.  Additionally there are a number of projects around the house, both inside and out, that merit attention.

I need to find something that speaks to me, that moves me, inspires me.  Sounds like a good time for a Zen moment.