Knit Stars | October 25, 2026
🧶Falling back in love
BY SHELLEY BRANDER
Two weeks ago, Brad (our primary Knit Stars cinematographer) made a top-secret trip to my home in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida.
It was his first time here so naturally, I took him and his wife, Cindy, to all my favorite places. A great deal of grouper (our famous local fish) and chocolate creme brulée were had.
But we also had much bigger fish to fry…
We filmed a new masterclass together, this time with me in front of the camera (instead of behind it 🙈), teaching on a topic I know better than perhaps any other:
How to fall back in love with your collection (aka your stash). 💕
The backstory is, earlier this year we did a deep-dive survey with our community. Like, really deep. We asked a lot of soul-searching questions…and WOW did we get answers. Over 1,000 responses! With loooooong write-in answers.
And one big thing rose right to the top: The #1 challenge for our Yarnie friends around the world isn’t lack of knowledge, or skills, or even lack of time.
It’s their stash.
Their yarn, their tools, their bags, their unfinished projects, and even the finished objects they never seem to wear.
So, what makes me a “master” qualified to teach this topic (besides having had a 6,000-square-foot stash at one time )?
It’s this: As a yarn shop owner for 20 years, I had to help thousands of customers overcome their guilt long enough to purchase new yarn. And as a Yarnie, I’ve had to refine my own collection process – especially in the last four years, when I moved cross-country and started over in a whole new climate.
If you carry some stash guilt, let me assure you that it’s not your fault. It starts from the very first project – that little bit of leftover yarn. What will you do with it? You can’t throw it away, so you stash it.
And it grows. And it grows.
