Focusing and destashing

There are so many interesting techniques in the world of fiberarts and even if I just concentrated on the realm of weaving, there is enough to keep one busy trying different structures for more than a lifetime. And I pretty well did just that for many years, bouncing from one thing to another. But about 5 years ago, I decided that I needed to focus more on a narrower range and I knew that would be weaving tapestries. I have spent a long time developing the yarn that I spin and how I dye and blend the colors for it and I'm still working on designing and trying to draw every day (not that successfully lately!) I also still enjoy weaving blankets, bags and some other small items because it is good to have projects that although they take awhile, are much quicker than a tapestry.

The last 2 years or so, I have also tried to reduce my stash to fit the needs and reality of what I am weaving. I used to just buy fleeces or yarn in a haphazard manner so I ended up with a huge hodgepodge of fibers that didn't blend together or work for what I wanted to do. With just a couple of small exceptions, I haven't bought any fibers or yarn for a couple years and have forced myself to just work from the stash. I have woven several blankets that were the best I ever did. I sorted through yarn that I knew I would never use and gave that away to friends who used it to make some wonderful things. I have knitted and woven smaller items for gifts, etc. Probably having to use up some of this fiber without buying more, forced me to be more creative and try some color schemes that I might not have used or toss in small amounts of a yarn to see what it would do and I ended up learning a lot by experimenting. Also, some of the handspun that was years old, did not seem so precious as it was in the beginning and I had no trouble mixing commercial and handspun yarns in a project. That used to seem sacrilegious to me and I would have been too much of a purist to mix them, but anything to use up the stash.

I still have a hefty stash and like it. But it is under control because what I have, I know I will happily use and I will be careful when I start buying fibers again to be sure they will not end up a burden.