Ever feel overwhelmed by what you have planned for your stash? Do your palms sweat when you start to think of inventorying your stash? Do the partially knit projects give you the heebejeebies? Then you need a stash magazine!

A stash magazine is a binder or folder (it could be digital) that contains pictures of the patterns and projects that you have planned, are knitting, or have bought projects for. The best part is that when you are done, you can put it into a completed projects folder!

Materials:

Your patterns, sketches and swatches (or a 4″ sample of your yarn) if there are any.
A pen – but I like sharpies.
Plastic sheet protectors
A Three Ring Binder
Post-its (I’d probably use the lined ones for this)
Tape

Begin by picking out the patterns that belong in the magazine. This may be the hardest part. You have to resist the temptation to add new projects to the mix and draw a line that determines what really belongs to be knit.

Take your patterns to a copy store and make a COLOR copy of the picture of the pattern or pattern that you are planning to knit. (While you’re there you might make a copy to stick in with your yarn, but that’s your business.)

Write on a post-it the name of the pattern, yarn and needle facts for the pattern. The yarn facts should list what you bought for the pattern. Attach a piece of the yarn to the post-it with tape, or if you have a swatch attach that to the picture. If you have a swatch, put the swatch facts onto the post-it!

Attach the post-it to the picture.

Slip the pictures into the sheet protectors and sort by priority. (For me this is the hardest part.)

Stick in your three ring binder. Put in your bathroom. Frog any projects you didn’t include in the binder.

Ideas:

• Shrink the pictures to filofax size and put into your filofax so you’ll see them when you go to remove your credit card from your filofax at the yarn store.
• Make a digital project magazine. Possibly easier if you’ve already photographed half your stash for your blog. Plus you can attach it to your blog. Lots have people have done this.

I admit this is way too organized. Given that flipping through magazine even ones I’ve had for a long time gets me to want to knit new projects, it would seem to make sense that flipping through my stash magazine might want me to knit from my stash more.

Good luck.