A KonMari Kind of Thing

First off, Thank you for the comments on my Shalom sweater.  Yes, it is a faux cardigan, and it is wonderful and  much less fussy than a cardigan for wearing all day.  I love the gold orange crimson combination of the yarn!  Oranges and golds are not colours I can wear easily unless I use them like this and it is such great yarn.

A family member has a friend who is going stir crazy, in small town Alberta, who doesn't drive and who would really love to knit a few things to keep busy.  She is using your basic yarn that she can get at Walmart, but not driving, it is really difficult to get to local yarn stores for decent yarn.  My daughter in law, asked if I might have something she could have or buy.

Yes, of course, but... My gut reaction is always anguish when I think about selling yarn.  I am rather emotionally tied to it, in the same way that I am tied emotionally to knitting and I can never quite decide if that is a good thing or not.  I do know that when someone I know needs it for a project, I am delighted to contribute. It is such a pleasure seeing how it gets used and if I have learned anything in the last few years, I have learned that it is all just stuff. Even knowing this, my inner voice says, 'but I have plans for it.  I can use it.  I need it.' 

The town garage sale is coming up in May and I have been going through all kinds of things.  Why not the yarn?   Sure all of it was purchased with a project and an intention in mind, but there are lots of yarns that are on the back burner, and will remain on the back burner for a good long time to come.  I did go through a lot of it just after I moved, but it didn't result in much of a pile.  One small box.  But going through the yarn and letting go of what I love a bit less might have a different purpose in my life. Having yarn on a table during the town garage sale might be a really great way to out the knitters in my small town.  So far as I can tell, we are not a force at all in this neck of the woods.

So, all day yesterday, I went through yarns.  I KonMari'ed my way through many boxes asking did I really love this yarn?  Did it bring me joy? The answer is always yes, but I also asked myself if I would use it if I was looking for a yarn to make generic mittens or generic hats or to experiment with something or other.  If the original project is no longer clear in my head and I wouldn't use it for play,  is loving yarn because it is yarn, enough? 

Putting yarns on the pile got easier and easier through the day as I became more confident in my choices.  Morning light is the real clear tell.  I looked at what I had sorted this morning and there isn't anything on that pile that I would take back.  

I have more boxes to go through today and I am kind of looking forward to it.  It isn't a huge pile by my whole stash standards, but it is far larger than I ever thought it would be.  I'm kind of looking forward to see what today's adventures bring.