Show us your stash

Do you have a sizeable stash that needs investigating? This month we take a closer look at Anniken Allis’s ever-expanding yarn haul. Could you be next?

Meet Anniken Allis, sock yarn stasher!

How long have you been knitting? Probably for over 40 years. I don’t remember learning. Have you been stashing yarn

since the beginning? No, when I still lived at home with my parents in Norway, I’d buy yarn for a project, knit it, then buy more yarn. When I rediscovered knitting about 15-ish years ago, I discovered online yarn shops – my stash grew rather quickly. These days I mainly stash hand-dyed sock/4ply yarns and standard sock yarns. They’re like sweets – so tempting – and you can often use just one skein or combine two skeins for a project

a big dent in my sock yarn stash last year (although I did buy some new sock yarn too) by knitting 21 pairs of socks. Do you have regular clear outs?

A year ago I had a complete clear out of my o ce and yarn stash. I de-stashed a lot of yarn I’d had for years and knew I’d never knit with or no longer liked. I’ve also tried to knit with more of stash yarn during this last year. Displaying it in the Kallax units, rather than

plastic boxes, means I can easily see what I’ve got. What stash busting project

are you most proud of? A big crocheted blanket I started years ago. It’s a giant granny square which I turned into a rectangle. I had a lot of Manos del Uruguay Silk Bend leftover from various designs so I started it several years ago. After not touching it for at least three years, I finally finished it last year and I love it. Favourite stash yarn?

At the moment my favourite is Lovestruck colourway from Spectrum Fibre which I purchased recently. I’m desperate to knit with it, but don’t know what to knit yet! Do you have any plans for buying more stash?

I’ll definitely buy more yarn. I’m always tempted by beautiful hand-dyed yarns. My most recent purchase was a beautiful, rich purple skein of Lottie Knits Little Bird Sock in Sweet Wrapper.

See Anniken’s designs on Instagram @YarnAddictAnni or on Ravelry at www.ravelry.com/ stores/anniken-allis