No cold sheep here

Image by Martin Tajmr from Pixabay 

It seems that there are definite seasonal patterns to my blog posts and I often feel the urge to write about the same topics at the same time of the year. January, without exception is my cue for a little rant about yarn diets or cold sheeping or whatever you want to call it.

Call it what you like because we all know it doesn’t matter a hoot, and most knitters will cave like a soggy digestive at the first yarn show or newsletter offer. If you do manage to resist, obviously hats off to you for your impressive show of restraint.

This year more than ever though it seems appropriate to support our hard-pressed yarn shops and indie dyers. Financial insecurity, the looming shadow of the ongoing Brexit disaster and many other factors mean that where we spend our hard earned money is important now as never before.

For those that don't know, the practice of Cold Sheeping refers to going on a yarn diet or a restricted yarn buying policy - akin to going 'cold turkey'. It is certainly a common feeling at this time of year to feel slightly overwhelmed by your stash, or to feel as though your house in general has way too much clutter in it to even contemplate buying anything more stuff.

However, whatever the answer is I'm almost certain that it doesn't involve going on a yarn diet. For the simple reason that diets never work. If they did the diet industry would go out of business. Anything that advocates extreme restriction or denial will inevitably involve a backlash at some point and freed from constraint you will be gleefully hoarding pretty sock yarn again before you can say 'Blue faced Leicester'.

So, I am proud to say that there will be no Cold Sheep or yarn dieting here. This is a Cold Sheep Free Zone.

My stash is a thing of joy - it brings warm and woolly solace to dark days - and it means that at the drop of a hat (or the news of an imminent baby arrival) I can rummage in the stash, grab some needles and whip out something cute and giftable in less time than it takes to traipse into town to buy a congratulations card.

So, this January I am encouraging you to give the Cold Sheep the Cold Shoulder. Embrace your stash in all its woolly glory and show some love to our fab independent business.

And if you’d like to make better use of your stash and get some inspiration and support, please do check out my new venture - The Stash Appreciation Society. We can promise you a warm woolly welcome.

PIN FOR LATER

Pre-launch of the Stash Appreciation Society

I let my newsletter subscribers in on the pre-launch a few days ago and I just wanted to pop in with a little more information about my upcoming project for 2020 - The Stash Appreciation Society.

To be perfectly clear and upfront this is a paid for, membership subscription which gets you access to an exclusive Facebook Group packed with chat, inspiration, monthly themes, KALs and free patterns all aimed at helping you to make the most of your stash during 2020. The monthly subscription will be £5 per month and doors will open for this on 1st January 2020.

If you already know that you would like to join however I am offering an early bird joining rate - a flat £40 which will give you membership for the full year until 31st December 2020. I know that this time of year can be hectic and so I’ll be keeping this early bird offer up until 31st January 2020 - so don’t worry if you’d rather wait until the New Year. You won’t miss out.

You can find all the information on the Society here and of course, if you have any questions please just reply to me here or on any of my usual social media links and I’ll do my best to respond as quickly as I can.

Introducing the Stash Appreciation Society

With advent and festive preparations in full swing it seems weird to be thinking ahead to the New Year but if I’ve learned anything from my few years in business, it’s that December vanishes in the blink of an eye. One minute you are getting out the advent decorations and planning your Christmas card list and the next minute you blink and everyone is talking about New Years Resolutions and Dry January.

So I wanted to briefly mention a new project of mine now - before the tinsel bedecked craziness of the next few weeks hits us.

Something new I’ve been dreaming about for a while now, something that I hope will become a fun new part of your knitting life - The Stash Appreciation Society.

A monthly membership club where we will most definitely not be undertaking any form of yarn diet. The Stash Appreciation Society is all about enjoying your stash, appreciating it and making the most of it.

It’s hub will be a dedicated facebook group and there will be the choice as to whether to pay a monthly subscription (for the price of a posh coffee) or go for the years membership at once.

Each month will see a new challenge or focus as we aim to end the year with a better relationship with our stash than when we started it. January will kick off with a DIY yarn club where we will aim to pair up yarn/patterns from our stashes and to make some plans to liberate all that amazing yarn we have hidden away from the world.

There will be KALs, swaps, and random acts of kindness-type events, geared at building a friendly, inclusive and warm woolly community. There will also be a few exclusive patterns from me along the way and you’ll also be the first to hear about my exciting plans for a 2020 podcast.

If this sounds like your kind of thing please do make sure you are signed up to my email list - further details and early sign-ups will be available in the next few weeks - and I’d love to see you there

Louise

xx