Clara Parkes

A new, addictive-to-read collection of essays and stories celebrating yarn--specifically, the knitter's reputation for acquiring it in large quantities and storing it away in what's lovingly referred to as a "stash." The pieces in this collection span from comical to earnest, lighthearted to deeply philosophical, in a celebration of the how, why, when, and what of stashes each knitter has accumulated over the years. We'll hear from bestselling authors, designers, yarn-store owners, essayists, sheep farmers, mill owners, and the people behind the world's largest collective online stash, Ravelry.com.

Knitters on Loving, Living with, and Letting Go of Yarn

A Stash of One's Own

Emma Hak-Kovacs

I'll figure it out when I get there. I don't need to plan for it. I don't want to plan for it. I don't want to shackle tomorrow's creativity to the place I'm in today. There will be yarn that's perfect for whatever is captivating me at the moment. Or not, and I'll move on to something else. It's all good.

In my experience, storing things with potential and possibility is so much a part of creative territory. Creativity is all about being resourceful, about using things at hand and even making something from nothing. Yarn is both something and nothing. It is very much yarn —but its purpose is to become something else. In a way, yarn isn't something until it has been knitted, either into a garment or perhaps a less-wearable object with less-tangible function.

When I consider why we — why I — stash, I start by thinking of a stash at its most basic: as a collection. Collecting is an intrinsically human activity. It's both hunting and gathering. Like other human activities, it comes with hierarchies and questions of privilege.

A Stash of One's Own quotes

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