I am a an artist, teacher, farmer, mom and entrepreneur. All of these roles have given me pause to think about the phrase I hear so much when I am at shows or helping clients. Everyone says talks about how much their stash is too big. The reasons it is too big vary – management, connection to projects, or expense, usually. But, the most important aspect of this chatter is that there is collective expression of how it makes them feel negatively.
I want to change your way of thinking on this.
Full disclosure, I’m usually in the position of retailing my own beautiful yarn. And at that moment, I’m in a terrible position to be of any help. Everything I’d like to say would have some compromised meaning because of retail. So, I have just listened. But, this blog is the perfect safe place to help change the way you I see that you feel.
The word “stash” is a terrible word choice! Yarn folks need to stop using it entirely. It implies you have to hide something from others, keep it out of your own view, some how be ashamed of it. It’s just not a good fit for what you are actually doing.
Your yarn should:
- Give you great pleasure just to view all its glorious colors, textures, compositions all by itself.
- Inspire you for potential applications and creations – functional or purely artistic.
- Represent a spectrum of color, skill, purpose,
- Represent a focus of your favorite of something – color, fiber, application or purpose.
If some of the great painters of the world – Rembrandt, Picasso, Pollock, or Van Gogh didn’t have a lot of color choice, would we have gotten the masterpiece gifts to the world we have today? No.
As a yarn or fiber enthusiast, you have a craft. You are always thinking, creating, making beauty and joy with your craft for yourself, but also for others. Often what you make is functional, many forms of art and craft are not functional. Feel good about your supplies!
In fact, I can’t think of any other form of artistic pursuit – Professional or Hobbyist – in which those in that field make themselves feel embarrassed or bad in any way for their tools and raw materials. Photographers sling thousands of dollars worth of equipment around everywhere they go for everyone to see. We don’t scorn the cost of their cameras, we’re impressed. Woodworkers are not told to hide their raw materials; think about it, its the same across all creative fields.
For years I was a public art school teacher. Not in a million years would I tell a child not to feel anything but fantastic about their collection of color pencils, fancy markers or paints. If the holder of the yarn collection were some young person with budding talent – you would not use the word stash nor would you do anything to put them down for collecting material in their field or pursuit. So you shouldn’t do it to yourself.
My final point – I think it is possible that you go into various kinds of creative blocks when you use a put-down in reference to yourself and your creative side. If you have too many unfinished projects that don’t feel good, or you can’t make a leap into the next project, or you’ve never tried creating free form, or any number of inhibitions – it may be in relation to this way of thinking. “Creativity” in ourselves needs lots of appreciation, space, nurturing, and encouragement for taking risks to express the next thing.
Advisement:
- Take your yarn out into the open, some place you view all its colors, connections, and possibilities. The furniture or mechanics of this should be your style, the important thing for your soul is that you see it.
- Your yarn and fiber is not an expense. It is an investment. There is no creative end product without some choice of raw material and tools.
- Stop using negative terminology, like “manage my stash”. Make a conscious effort to hear your self speak positively about your art and craft. Replace that phrase with something like “explore my collection” and “enjoy the color choice”.
Go forth, collect and create!