Stash Less Challenge #3 - Create a Making List

One of the most useful things I did as part of Stash Less last year was that I Made a Making List. I am in the process of doing it again so thought that I would set it as this month's challenge.

There is this tricky thing that happens in my head, and probably also in yours, whereby you sit with this overwhelming desire to make the things. Things you have thought of, and things you haven't yet thought of. You get excited as an idea flashes through your mind about some fabric you have in your stash or the shape of a garment you saw the other day that you know you could make. And yet.... there isn't enough time in anyone's world to make all the things. Everyone, even those people that do it for a living, have very limited time to make. And while we can sometimes achieve a lot in that time, we will never be able to make all the things!

So last year I sat down and wrote a list of all the things I had to make (for birthdays and family rituals and to fulfill plans I had) and then I added in a few things that I wanted to make (like the odd dress for me). I based the list by month and I thought carefully about how much time things typically take me (your ravelry posts can help with this) so that I had a relatively realistic assessment of what I could achieve. I then went through and checked to see if I had the materials I needed for that list. What a helpful process.

Now I didn't stick to it like glue - that would be no fun, wouldn't allow for spontaneous making and isn't practical. The queue changed somewhat; things got dropped and things got added. BUT for the most part many of the things on that list were achieved.

What it did tell me was that for the most part I had everything I needed. Therefore any spending I did would be for things that I didn't necessarily have time or space or energy for and would sit on the shelf berating me for my excessiveness (while looking pretty of course).

Stash Less Challenge #3 - Create a Making List

Creating a Making List pulled me out of desire and into reality; I found that creating this list was incredibly helpful with curbing my spending. It also really helped me to get conscious about;

1. How much time really existed in my world with respect to crafting.
2. What it was that I had in my stash - which we have already detailed in a previous challenge!
3. What it was that I needed to make the things on the list.
4. Being conscious about whether what I wanted to purchase was needed or not.

It's pretty simple to create (and update) - just a pen, some paper and a little thought.

Step 1:
Write down everything you need to make this year - for yourself, for your family and for your friends.

Step 2:
Write down things you would like to make this year.

Step 3:
Figure out how realistic your list is with respect to the amount of time you have.

Step 4:
Figure out if you have the materials you need within your stash to fulfill the items on your list - even if that means getting creative.

And just in case you are interested I thought I would give you a breakdown of where I am at with my list for 2016. It has been overtaken by the wedding dress making so I'm trying to keep it pretty low key after getting the current WIP's out of the way.

My Making List for 2016

April/May/June
Finish cardigan for my middle kid - Used stashed old-school superwash.
Cardigan for my niece - Use scraps.
Penguin for my oldest for his BD - Use scraps.
Jumper for my oldest for his BD - Green Jo Sharp Alpaca Silk Georgette from stash.
Continue on my Brioche jumper - Unravel my Uniform cardigan.
Continue on my quilt - Used stash
Start on the wedding dress - Using recently purchased lace.

July/August
Slade for my brother - Use the recently purchased Shelter.
Wedding dress cont.

September/October
Four flower person frocks - Unknown
Shorts and a shirt for the small boy for the wedding - Unknown
Birthday dress for the smallest kid - from stash.

November/December
Three small person Xmas Pjs - from stash.
Birthday dress for the middle kid - from stash.

Please leave links to your blog posts in the comments if you are following along. I'd love to check them out.

Felicia x

Stash Less Challenge #2 - Make a Plan

In 2016 we invite you to join us in your own personal Stash Less project. Stash Less is a project whereby we work towards having a mindful stash. Each month we will be posting a challenge for you to use in your own journey of discovery and change. Please feel free to join in at any time. We can't wait to hear what you find out! Previous Stash Less posts can be found here.

Previous Stash Less Challenge - Challenge #1 Taking Stock

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So it's really important to make sure we don't get ahead of ourselves. Let's take our time and think it through. Stash Less (and changing our behaviour) is a process, not a single event. It takes time to create a mindful stash we can rejoice in, be inspired by and proud of. And time is something we have in abundance. We have the whole year!

A quick word of caution before we look at this month's challenge which is all about setting our baseline. We need to make sure that Stash Less doesn't feel like dieting, because we all know that diets aren't good for the soul, and nor do they achieve their aims. I've said it before - this challenge isn't about deprivation. It is about getting more conscious and thoughtful! 

To achieve what we are trying to achieve - a mindful stash - we need to make sure that whatever personal guidelines we come up with are sustainable. We are trying to achieve good, healthy, achievable, joyful, change. 

Without further ado this month's challenge is to write down the following;

1. Your aims. We need a goal. What do you want to get out of the challenge? What size stash do you want? What do you want it to contain? What do you want it not to contain? Set a level for your stash, and a feeling you want it to give you.

2. Your purchasing ground rules. Write down the ground rules for purchasing you want to give yourself for the next year. What purchases will you need to make? And what purchases will you allow just for joy? 

3. Set a budget. This step allows you to better track your habits. This step makes it real.

I'm really hoping you have read some of the earlier posts in this series. However just in case you haven't, I want to make a few points about why these steps are important and what they might look like. 

Notes about Step 1: Your Aims
Some goals might include getting rid of (to friends, charity or strangers) parts of your stash that you will never get around to using. I did a lot of this and it is a total joy. Other goals might be to use things that you had in stash that you don't love but don't hate. Or to use some of your "special" fabrics. You might like to set a stash size? 

Notes about Step 2: Purchasing Ground Rules
You must factor in some purchasing! Most people will do better if they know that some purchasing is allowed and sanctioned. I had two categories - needs-based purchasing and joy-based purchasing. For me my needs-based purchasing was things like wadding, zips, cotton thread, needles. And my joy-based purchasing was the yarn for a whole sweater for myself. You need to make sure that you set these and remember that this project is not about deprivation. It is about getting conscious. The feeling of deprivation often leads to rebellion - which we don't want. So make room for some joyful purchasing in there, and then be conscious about it.

Note about Step 3: Setting a Budget
I talk about why I found setting a budget critical in this post* but very briefly I want to say that you must do this. It really will make a difference to how you think about purchasing because you then have a hard limit on spending. It means that you can't just justify, rationalise and justify some more. 

I set my budget to $50 per month, which in retrospect wasn't enough as my needs-based purchasing was more than $600 for the year. I make a lot of things! However, in the end getting it wrong didn't matter, as it was a total guess. It was still very helpful as a limit to rationalise my purchasing against. I thought within my $600 per year I would have about $150 for my joy based purchasing which meant that I really had to weigh up my options. Did I want to save $60 from that $150 to spend on some Nani Iro or did I want to spend it all on yarn. I got better at evaluating what was a real "need" and then between those which were most important to me in the longer term. It also meant that I spent more time considering a purchase, weighing it up, so impulse purchasing was less of an issue.

Good luck and feel free to ask any questions! I'm around today. 

Felicia x

*I also talk in that post about why I felt incredibly resistant to setting a budget.

Stash Less 2016 - Challenge #1 roundup.

In 2016 we invite you to join us in your own personal Stash Less project. Stash Less is a project whereby we work towards having a mindful stash. Each month we will be posting a challenge for you to use in your own journey of discovery and change. Please feel free to join in at any time. We can't wait to hear what you find out! Previous Stash Less posts can be found here.

And Stash Less Challenge #1 can be found here.

A quick roundup.

I've been loving watching things pop up on instagram and on the blog over the last three weeks. Your insights into your making thrill me. They are so personal, and so related to where you were/at at the time of purchasing.

I really believe that being kind to yourself is a really important part of this process. Because changing behaviour is just that - a process. Over time, I'm choosing to make better choices that will add up to a mindful stash. It doesn't mean that I won't make mistakes, and make bad choices here and there. But overall, I'm making better decisions because I have taken the time to understand myself and my purchasing better. And then on top of that I'm practicing what I've learnt. I'm also not allowing myself to be a perfectionist about it, which would allow me the easy out once I'd failed. It's OK to do this imperfectly. And I do.

Better decisions over time, through self knowledge and practice = a mindful stash. Simple as that.

Although the themes that run underneath everyone's purchasing are similar - fomo, the pretty, time poverty etc - how that has translated into what you own, are uniquely personal. And then after examination, what you want to do with that knowledge is too. I love that everyone's journey around consumption is so similar and yet unique.

Photo by @lunarknits of a sweater made from stash.

The next challenge will be posted this Friday but in the meantime I thought I would do a little roundup highlighting some people I've found (in a two minute google search :)) that have posted about the results of the first challenge of our 2016 Stash Less Project, and what they have learned. I always find these such interesting reading as they often give me a different way of looking at my own stash.

- Quietfantastic posted a gorgeous image of some of her grandmother's stash.

- Create Share Love has written about her plan.

- The Knitographer has done a thorough inventory which clearly showed her the benefits and problems with her stash.

- Christine's stash is truly impressive - and tidy.

- Dottie Doodle has gone through her fabric.

- The Dawn Threader talks about why she overspent last year.

- Some more instagram photos of people's stashes - a great way to stay accountable methinks.

- Sonia Knits talks about her stash and clarifies that when I, Felicia, talk about Stash Less I mean "to Stash Less" rather than "to go Stash Less"! Totally true! I love a stash. I just want mine to be mindful and intentional.

Please leave me a link in the comments if you have posted on instagram, facebook or on your blog. I would love to take a look at what you are up to.

Felicia x

PS. As I mentioned, the next challenge will be posted Friday, and in the meantime I hope to slip in another more general post.

Stash Less Challenge #1 - Taking Stock

In 2016 we invite you to join us in your own personal Stash Less project. Stash Less is a project whereby we work towards having a mindful stash. Each month we will be posting a challenge for you to use in your own journey of discovery and change. Please feel free to join in at any time. We can't wait to hear what you find out! Previous Stash Less posts can be found here.

Challenge #1 - Taking stock

So we want to start at the very beginning. A very good place to start. And that means taking stock; of what we have and how we came to have it.

All it involves is a couple of hours work, a pen, some paper and a bit of emotional recall.

Why do we start here? Because in order to change our behaviour around our consumption we need to understand why we consume. Understanding the why is the key to change. It gives us something to look for and tells us what our purchasing/stashing triggers are.

Some of you have been watching my journey and have been thinking about the Stash Less project for some time. Some of you have already created your own versions (which I love) and have already considered your stash. I would ask though, that if you have never gone through your whole stash before, that you do now. It is such a worthwhile exersize and one that cannot be overrated in terms of what it can tell you. On the simplest level it creates a baseline. On a deeper level it really allows you to be totally mindful of just how much you have. Taking the time to really sit down with all you own and go through it means that you don't allow yourself to have blindspots - bits of your stash you can't quite see as stashing.

I know when I sit with my stash and really do a proper inventory, my mind starts whirring at incredibly speed due to all the crazy, wonderful, exciting, magical possibilty that lies within it. And due to it's size. There is always more than I think there is when I take into consideration what is hidden in that cupboard, .... oh yeah and that basket over there. And then all those books, and my goodness all those patterns and then there is that special yarn that I keep in a different place...... And so on it goes.

Taking the time to take stock in a considered way will really change your perspective.

How to take stock

You need to write it down. All of it. If only so you can see it all on the pages at the end.

For those of you that want to be thorough I would suggest that you create a table. Write down the product, the amount you purchased, where you purchased it (online, a fair, a shop) and the why/s. There will generally be multiple whys. If it is something that has stayed in your stash for a long time you should also include information on why you haven't yet used it.

I have created the simplest of templates here if you want something to work from. I've left it as a .doc file so you can fiddle with it to your heart's content to make it something that would work for you.

The Craft Sessions Inventory Template

A quick word of warning. Depending on who you are, and how you stash, this might not be an enjoyable exercise for you. It might be difficult to sit with your stuff and your emotions around it. You might avoid it or you might want to walk out halfway through. Or you might need a friend to help you do it. It's all good - just pay attention to how you are feeling and remember that it is the feelings that we are really looking at. So all feelings, avoidance, boredom, annoyance..., are useful. Those feelings will tell you things about your relationship with your stash. And that is what we are trying to figure out.

A few words on "why"

The why could be multiple reasons and you should try to include as much detail as you remember. The why is actually up to three things;
1. The emotion that was "around" the purchase. Excitement, fomo, tiredness, desire, boredom, stress...
2. What you were purchasing it for? A particular project or as a base?
3. Why haven't used it yet.

After you get a little way into your inventory you will see patterns appear and this will get easier.

I have written a few posts about the "whys" I found, and what I learned, when I initial did an inventory of my stash, however I would encourage you to read it only after you have had a go at doing it by yourself, with your own head and heart. I'm worried that by reading them before you take stock, you will have my ideas in your head about why you might stash, and you might overlook a reason you have for purchasing that I haven't even thought of. When, and if, you read those posts then please read the comments. Other people have added the "extra" reasons they have found. So helpful!

A final word

If possible please set aside time to go through your whole stash in one go. This will really give you a good understanding of what you have. The brain is a crazy powerful thing and without doing this step properly, I believe there is the possibility that you (and I) can trick ourselves into believing what we want to believe about what we own.

For me it took me leaving my stash for six months to give me some clarity of perspective. Hopefully you can get yours in an afternoon.

If you are sharing your journey in any way on social media then please leave a link to your instagram, blog or facebook in the comments to this post. I'd also just love your comments on what you found, what you discovered about your whys or what surprised you about what you have. As always the instagram hastag is #stash_less.

I can't wait to hear what you learn!

Felicia x