The Stash

Anyone having anything to do with sewing, knitting, crocheting or crafting knows what a 'stash' is. Most of us have one of various sizes, some having transcended the name and blooming into a full-blown compulsion.

A stash can be comforting in that you always have something to do if, say, you are snowed in for a few weeks and there is nothing to do but sit in front of the fire and knit or sew. That's the thought anyway.

Personally I find that whenever I am in a position where I can't go anywhere and I try to fall back on my stash, I usually can't find a pattern to match or I have the wrong needles or I have the pattern and needles but something has gone awry with the supplies I do have like someone has used my fabric scissors in their tackle box or used my size 4 double pointed needles to build a miniature log cabin for a project.

And if all the elements come together for the actual project, being snowed in with a husband, two teenagers and six dogs means you spend the entire time wiping down counters, putting dishes in the washer, mopping the floor and cooking.

So I've never really worked at building up my stash and I know that, compared with most, it's a sad little pile indeed, built over the past 20 years out of fabrics that were timeless, at a ridiculously low price and in abundance or one-of-a-kind fibers that instantly brought its use to my mind's eye.

One of the first projects I plan to do in 2008 is to decorate our library which currently, while serving its purpose of accessibly housing our books, is otherwise a barren, uninviting tunnel that right now is merely a conduit to my office. There is my off-white recliner in there and every now and then I try to cozy it up by sticking the recliner in front of the fireplace and plopping a basket there, but that doesn't to more than take up a tiny percentage of space in a room with so much potential.

I have been making it a policy, however, to not purchase anything new if I could make what I already have work or if I already had something functional even though it may not be cosmetically aesthetic. I'll admit it was with a heavy heart that I approached my meager stash of fabric, needing a good bit for curtains, a window seat cushion, pillows and a throw. It had to have a wine color to it, since that's how the couch is upholstered and it needed to match up with the beige walls that have a blue-tone to them. Oh, and some off-white to bring in my recliner might come in handy too.

I was pretty much resigned to pigmental discord in the library. After all, my palette, at least on the first floor, leans toward the earthy green, red and brown.

Tell me the universe doesn't cooperate when you're on the right path:

All of these fabrics were bought at different times years apart. And there is enough for all the projects.

So I'm feeling right proud of my "foresight." At least, that'll be my story next time I want to add to the stash...