(I’m cribbing most of this entry from my YOTS post on Ravelry.)

My stash has gotten…unwieldy.  I don’t believe in stash guilt (right, Mandy?) so I don’t feel bad about it.  I’m just…overwhelmed.  Wistful for the possibilities that are being buried amongst their brethren.  But I feel the same way about “yarn diets” as I do about real diets (don’t work, make things worse, result in bingeing and recrimination and everything being bigger than it was the year before).

Enter my friend Emily.  She and her compatriots came up with the Year of the Stash/UFO.  It’s a simple concept; knit twelve projects (including UFOs) out of stash yarn before the end of the year.  You can still buy as much yarn as you like, knit all the things from new yarn that you can manage, as long as you also get those 12 projects done.  Hell, you could just say “Twelve hats!” and be done with it.  I think you know me well enough to guess that I may have gone…a bit farther.

Official Declaration

I will knit 12 projects next year out of yarn that is in my stash now, and from patterns that were published prior to this date. If I fail in this endeavor, I give up my rights to this skein:

Claudia Hand Painted Yarn Silk Lace

I might switch up the order of these projects, as long as I finish them by December 31, 2013. I’m also allowing myself the loophole of substitution: A project listed may be substituted with another comparable project (meeting the stash/publication requirement). A hat for a different hat, a cardi for a pullover, a pair of socks for a shawlette, etc.

January: Hemlock Bough Earflap Hat with Valley Yarns Northampton Bulky.

February: Through The Loops Mystery Sock 2013  with Kollage Sock-a-Licious

March: Mitered Windowpane Socks with Claudia Handpainted Fingering

April: Que Sera with Fiddlesticks Organic Cotton

May: Oz Vest with Mirasol Hacho

June: Netherfield with Claudia Hand Painted Fingering

July: Emma Shrug in Cascade Venezia Worsted

August: Pioneer Braid Scarf with Twisted Tasty Striping

September: Big Thaw Pullover with Araucania Toconao

October: New Quick and Easy Ribbed Hat with Rain’s Obsessive Stitchery Craig Bulky

November: Leaf Peeper Bandit with Koigu Felting Merino

December: Arch Shaped Socks with Knit One Crochet Too Pediwick

Bonus pattern:

I’m actually doing this one first, since it’s a late Xmas present.  Either I’ll exceed the goal and get 13 things done, or I’ll drop one of the others when things inevitably get overwhelming at some point in the year.  You know, like dropping the lowest test grade.