I have several things I need to work on - Motif club motifs and the Mystery blanket club for next year.
My main inspiration is colour, especially the colours of my yarn, as you probably know its all naturally dyed and the colours are softer than chemical dyes.
I believe they are kinder colours on the skin, it doesn't matter what age you are or colour your skin is, the natural colours will flatter you.
So I normally start a designing day with my stash. I don't have a huge stash at home as I have the pick of NDS's stock whenever I want it, so I keep most of my stash on-line in NDS's Shop.
The rest of it is kept in baskets around the flat, I like to be organised.
There are baskets for each weight, although having said that I only have 4 ply and Dk at the moment.
I keep the yarn on old circular knitting needles (which I also use to hold motif's, when making them).
I bend one end over and slide a small ball of yarn onto it, then bend the end around the ball so it fixes it in place and stops motifs and balls sliding off the end.
This is the blanket I am working on at the moment, its secret, so you will have to wait and see.
I collect colours on the needles, the yarns are normally a selection of types rather than a single yarn type as its the colours that I'm more interested in. When it comes to writing a pattern I normally choose the yarn that features the most in the design - I know its a bit naughty of me, but its the way I have always worked.
Someone on NDS's Facebook Group joked that she would have to hide her stash in a duvet to stop her husband from realising how much she had got. This made me think it might be a nice idea to run a competition for idea's for the best stash hiding places.
So that's what I am going to do.
The competition is "What's the sneakiest place to hide a stash?"
Just comment on this post with your hiding place idea's, the best idea will win a skein of their choice from my giant NDS Shop stash.
On November the 1st 2012 I will ask Phil to judge them.
In theory being a man he should know places he wouldn't think of looking for a hidden stash.
However in reality he is a knitter and has his own stash that he hides from me in plain site.
His stash basket looks like its full of patterns and needle cases, but every so often he drags out a skein of yarn hidden in the bottom of his basket that I had no idea he had.
In my husbands tool cupboard...safe as houses in there LOL:-)
ReplyDeleteand I avoid all those raised eyebrows and tuts!
Alison
(Ecopicot on Rav)
I have been known to keep cones of cashmere, wrapped in plastic, hidden behind the bath panel when every other storage space was full!
ReplyDeleteIn the loft. The hubby never looks up there cos it majorly needs sorting out. And if he does, i just tell him the yarn is great loft insulation and therefore is actually saving him money on heating bills.
ReplyDeleteIn the wardrobe. My ex and I had seperate wardrobes with drawers in the bottom. I could keep yarn in both the main wardrobe under the hanging clothes, where the clothes would hide it, and in the drawers.
ReplyDeleteI have been known to keep newly-bought stash (and quite a few pairs of new shoes!) in the boot of my car for a few weeks, bringing it in to the house gradually over a few weeks so as not to shock my husband! Thankfully, he has quite a stash of his own - wood and woodworking tools, so I can always count the number of chisels he's got if he starts counting balls of yarn!
ReplyDeleteLuckily for me I don't seem to need to hide my stash!! I must have the perfect husband .... but I might not admit that to him!
ReplyDeleteMy stash isn't all in one place just because of storage issues, but he really doesn't mind. If he sees me coming in with a yarn purchase he might ask what it's for (he really doesn't get the stash concept), but mostly he's just pleased that I take care of birthday and Christmas presents for his family, thus relieving him of the need to think about that sort of thing (and I would remind him of this if he should dare to question the stash!). When we moved house last year and I had to box it all up it became clear how much I had amassed (yarn and fabric - what can I say, I have a problem!), but he still didn't complain. It also helps that I do the finances, so he doesn't see how much it costs either and I plan on keeping it that way!
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ReplyDeleteI have some of my stash hidden in the bottom of the laudry basket! With 2 small kids, no one expects to ever get to the bottom of it; and if anyone did, that person would be me! What a lovely reward for getting the washing done- a few minutes smooshing gorgeous yarn!
ReplyDeleteI might have some skeins hung on hangers in the wardrobe. The hangers have coats and things like that (ski gear, outgrown baby winter suits) on them: zipper is closed up to the collar, and noone can guess that there is yarn in there!
ReplyDeleteI have some yarn in my suitcases. I have two large ones under my bed. I use the one for stash hiding only!
ReplyDeletecraftink on rav
I have my spare stash at my mother in laws garage. I can keep as much as I want and when I need more when we go over to visit she "gives" me some yarn that she thought I would like : )
ReplyDeleteThe sneakiest place? in a plastic bag inside the toilet tank.
ReplyDeleteThe best place? with the cleaning supplies. No man would EVER find it there.
Shhh! The decorative pillow shams on the guest bed are stuffed with yarn not pillows! I have my eye on the sofa pillows next ;)
ReplyDeletenot that i do this, but leftover boxes for sanitary pads would be a great place to hide stash. i doubt that very many men would venture there.
ReplyDeleteI just realized that my ex never said anything when I'd buy more books, yarn, etc. so I never had to hide things. But if I did I might use a different coloured pen to the real boxes and add extra boxes labelled holiday decorations, spare curtains, etc.
ReplyDeleteHmm how about inside other finished objects (inside sweaters to fluff up the sweater pile, rolled up in the middle of a scarf, tucked into mittens, hats, and socks), so it looks simultaneously like you've made more things and that you've used/accrued less stash!
ReplyDeleteI am lucky, I do not have to hide my stash (single and live alone), however I have stored other peoples new purchases until they could take it home and not have their significant other question them or give them grief over it.
ReplyDeleteWe are going to be building cabinets for our kitchen soon. Husband commented on all the extra space I would have, and said "I better not find yarn in there!" like he would! There is yarn in the kitchen now. And i moved the movies from under the tv cabinet, guess why! Yep yarn there too. And one whole wall in my craft room.
ReplyDeleteHe says he is going to use it as insulation soon. That would hide it good, In the walls.
I, too, only have to hide my stash from my cats, but I have been known to quarantine newly acquired stash in the freezer or in the trunk of the car to eliminate any possibilities for problems.
ReplyDeleteBEHIND the bed. Everyone expects it to be UNDER the bed. They'll never see it coming. Especially if you cover it with discarded throw pillows. :)
ReplyDeleteAlison
Zorgtron on Ravelry
Inside that one large roasting pan that never gets used but you've never managed to actually get rid of...
ReplyDeleteMy husband isn't too keen on tidying or cleaning... The upside of this is that I can hide anything anywhere and he'll never find it. He laughs at my stash and gets excited every time I give some away to friends and family. Even so, he can be the one to encourage me the next day to get some lovely yarn. Which doesn't make it needed to hide my stash away from him. Although. I do, some times. When I get embarrassed about the AMOUNT of yarn I buy in one go. So. I hid it in a drawer under the sofa. Where it was safe.
ReplyDeleteUntil.
One day I couldn't find one of my knitting needles. As mentioned, my husband is rubbish at tidying and cleaning. But when I'm missing something, he turns the whole house around till he has found it for me. Which led to him finding my secret stash :)
Oh. And one time when I was knitting him a hat and didn't want him to know about it. I hid my wip in our Kenwood cooking chef :)
Ha! In my barn bag, at the barn. You know the one with brushes and other supplies. Fits perfect and my horse never complains.
ReplyDeleteOn my knitting needles. My husband doesn't pick on me for having oodles of balls and bags of yarn. He is please when I make gifts for his family or for charity. If I 'had' to hide it, I would tape it to the top of the blades of all our ceiling fans so no body could see it.
ReplyDeleteThankfully, I do not have to hide mine. But my favorite hiding places in my house are in the cabinet above the fridge, and behind the books on the bookshelf.
ReplyDeleteMy stash is scattered all over my apartment, but when i buy a new yarn or 2 or 3 :-) i Keep it in the back of my car in a Styrofoam cooler and wait until no one is around and then i bring it in the apartment and add it with what i already have in my bedroom or closet, no one knows the difference in the size of my stash. :-)
ReplyDeleteI forgot to add that I do knitting and crocheting for the Homeless shelter in my area, so when i get yarn gifted to me for my charity i just kind of add it to a box or bag when i bring it in the apartment
ReplyDeleteI'm single, so I don't have to hide mine, but one of the best ideas I've seen is in garment bags in the closet. They make the yarn look like finished clothing, and they help keep dust and bugs out too.
ReplyDeleteI keep my stash in pretty bags and baskets around the house. I don't need to hide it as no one else in the house is interested in it, but I like it to look pretty!
ReplyDeleteIn the pantry behind the boxes of dry pasta - no one but me EVER looks there!
ReplyDeleteIn a garment bag hanging in the closet. Thanks
ReplyDeleteI'm planning on hiding mine inside the cats giant play and scratch column, which is a 60 cm cardboard tube covered in sisal,with a wooden base and soft top, no one will ever look in there lol
ReplyDeleteI flew to a crocheting/ knitting conference with my husband, and he somehow missed that I packed two suitcases, one inside the other. He watched me like a hawk, bringing things back to the hotel room, thinking I would be limited to what I could carry back on the plane... Then I realized I could have yarn shipped directly home from the conference! I had whole boxes of yarn shipped to our home, scheduled to arrive while he was at work-lol He never found out.
ReplyDeleteI love the fact that you can buy the bean bag covers. My kids tell me we need one or two or three for them to sit on to play video games. Guess how much yarn fits in one of those? Tons! Plus if the bag develops a small hole no "beans". Yarn access anytime, "hidden" in plain sight and it is necessary for the kids ;)
ReplyDeleteSince our fireplace is gas, not wood, we have a deep space above it covered with a picture frame. It's our storage for movies but since the birth of our child we've been too tired to watch any of them, so my husband would never think to look there!
ReplyDeleteI have one of those cars thats advertised as having 52 inbuilt storage compartments. I still haven't found all of them. They're everywhere. Under the seats, under the floor, in the roof lining and they're all full of fluff. In fact I discovered you can get two jumpers worth in the hidey hole under the drivers seat, the same with the one under the passenger seat. The inbuilt sunglasses compartments (of which there are five) each take a skein. He never cleans it out so theres no way he'll ever come across any of it.
ReplyDeletein every nook & cranny absolutely everywhere....under the bed...cupboards...wardrobes....my husband recently leant forward squinting and remarked....'is that YARN in the t.v cabinet??!'....
ReplyDeleteNot very original but I hide mine under the bed! It's fairly low to the ground, and my rather tall husband doesn't look under their very often. It's also too low for the dog to get into too, so it's safe and weather proof!
ReplyDeleteEmpty tampon boxes. My ex never looked there no matter how many I had.
ReplyDeleteIn the dresser drawers in the spare bedroom, at least until I had to clean out a few for visiting in-laws (who then didn't need to use them!). There's also some in vacuum bags in the closet in the spare bedroom too. If we didn't ever need to use them, I'd stuff some inside the suitcases (also in that room).
ReplyDeleteOH, I have a bunch of raw fleece in the attic! He never goes up there, and I should use it for more yarn storage. I may need to, as I have to pick up a big box at the post office today...
My stash is in full view. I took all the CD's out of the storage unit and it now holds all my beautiful hand dyed yarn. I also have a box hiding under the other halfs model railway but that's another story!
ReplyDeleteO what a great contest!!! A lot of my stash is in the living room, in the bookcase, another part in a very old vintage wooden box, another part in the hallway closet, another part in a special closet in our bed room, and ssttttt..... lately I have been hiding some skeins in the rooms of my 2 sons :) (because my husband did not want to help me find some more space :) ) My oldest son knows about it, I have made a collusion with him, we searched for great spots together... but I did not tell my 4-year old, because he would tell his daddy for sure.
ReplyDeleteI have seen someone suggest a box marked "sanitary towels" as being relatively man-proof storage. There's only so many sanitary towels one woman could convincingly have, though...
ReplyDeleteHowever, I think I've seen a better opportunity for yarn storage- we have a fitted bath with a removable plastic front panel. There is a lot of space beneath and around the bath, and if the yarn was well guarded from moisture (I reckon those vacuum bags would work well, and they'd let you get more yarn in) then it would be a perfect secret hiding place for stash.
I'm hiding my stash neatly tugged in bags in my giant freezer. It's also a perfect way to keep the moths away.
ReplyDeleteKatrin (amandafeelslike at ravelry)
You remember those pyjama cases shaped like dogs (poplular a good few decades ago)? Well I've got two of them -you'd be surprised how much a dog like that can guard.
ReplyDeleteHide it?? You must be joking! It deserves to be displayed, caressed and lovingly handled ...oh and knitted up!
ReplyDeleteIn the leather Moroccan pouf!
ReplyDeleteIn my lingerie drawer, those balled skeins of yarn is perfect as shape-keeper for bras. Granted, this place doesn't really accommodate yarn still in skeins, but it's perfect otherwise.
ReplyDeleteI have my stash stashed in my book cases, under my bed, at the bottom of my cupboards, on my computer disk, on top of shelves - how do I get away with it! I tell my OH it is the knitting club's and I am 'storing it' for them!
ReplyDeleteI have plastic storage boxes under my bed that I use for out-of-season clothes... and at least part of my yarn stash.
ReplyDeleteThe sneakiest place i store stash is in my bathroom cabinet. Of course i have yarn all over the house, in as many & varied places as mentioned above, but as this is my bathroom, he never goes into this cupboard......so he doesn't know about this particular 'little' stash!! hehehe
ReplyDeleteThe sneakiest place i store stash is in my bathroom cabinet. Of course i have yarn all over the house, in as many & varied places as mentioned above, but as this is my bathroom, he never goes into this cupboard......so he doesn't know about this particular 'little' stash!! hehehe
ReplyDeleteI hide mine in the trunk of my car no one ever goes in there but me One day I had a flat tire on my way to work and had to call AAA should of seen us out on the highway taking bags of yarn out of the car to get to the spare tire.
ReplyDelete