When You Have to Put Your Stash in Storage
Posted by Jen Lopez on Sep 2nd 2020
Whether you are a quilter, a knitter or some other kind of crafter, you probably have a pretty impressive “stash”. My stash is my go-to place not only for supplies, but for inspiration and even comfort. When I’m feeling stressed, I often paw through my stash thinking of cool things I’m going to make later when I have more time. It always makes me feel better.
But what if you have to put your stash away? In my case, we are in the process of moving and the new place needs renovations. I have no place for my stash during this transition period. So, off to storage it went. It’s been hard packing up and then living without my stash, but I have learned a few things in the process:
- Location, location, location – This most important thing to remember if you have to store your stash for a time is to keep the important stuff near the front. In my zeal to “protect” the important stuff, I packed it up first and it ended up in the back of the storage unit where it was quickly buried. Now I can’t get to it. I kept one large crochet project out to keep me busy at night during the move and now I can’t access the yarn I need to finish it. Rookie mistake.
- Take inventory – Since you are going to have to literally touch everything you own while packing, use this opportunity to take an inventory of what you have. What do you have too much off? What have you had stuffed in a box since the ‘80’s? What can you let go of? Now is a good time to cull the herd, and although you probably don’t have time to wrangle Facebook Marketplace right now, set the stuff you can live without aside and plan to re-home it after you unpack.
- Pack efficiently – There are two schools of thought about packing: cram everything into a box as fast as possible vs. try to be organized. For what will hopefully be my last move ever, I finally chose the latter. I took the extra time to put things into boxes by type: fancy yarns in one box, basic solids in another, all Christmas fabric in one place, novelty prints in another, all garment fabric together… you get the idea. I’m hoping this will save me in the future from that dreaded situation where you know you have something, but you just don’t know where it is.
My stash is still in storage so I will have to let you know later how it all works out. For now I am comforted knowing that the macramé stuff isn’t touching the cashmere, and I was able to make one emergency raid of the storage unit to re-claim a bag of yarn. Not the one I needed (couldn’t reach it), but I at least have enough yarn of some kind or another to hold me over until the move is done.
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