The Deluge

In general, it sucks when your husband lives 1200 miles away.  Until yesterday it would have been hard for me to think of a real advantage to living away from B. 

I'm genuinely glad he was not here to see this unloaded from the UPS truck.

It's yarn, all yarn.  I told him it was coming, but nothing I said would have prepared him for the shock and awe that occurs when 70 pounds of fiber is delivered to your house.  B, sorry if I didn't accurately describe the yarn supply, but say hello our new tenants, stacked several layers deep in the photo boxes below.

Over the holidays, my parents helped my grandmother clear out some of her fiber stash.  I agreed to be its lucky recipient.  Despite numerous conversations with several family members about the quantities of yarn to be sent, nothing could have prepared me for the magnitude of what was to come. 

I'm really excited about the possibilities that lie in these boxes.  At the same time, I'm also a little overwhelmed by all the possibilities that lie in these boxes. 

It is clear that I need a new strategy for my latest stash addition.  Following the first mini delivery on Thursday, I stuck a few cones in my bag before heading to the food co-op.  I used the digital scales there to weigh my yarn, alternating with other customers weighing their bulk purchases of quinoa and carob chips. Somehow I don't see schlepping all of this to the grocery store as a viable way to weigh this much yarn. 

My new approach sets a goal of cataloging one box per week in my Ravelry stash.  At that rate, I should be done by the end of February, although early March might be a more realistic goal. I'll also be checking with the Weavers Guild to see if I can borrow  a digital scale. 

Does anyone have any suggestions or resources to help me in this endeavor?  The yarn is in various states of labeling; some of it is a complete mystery to me.  I've got the Knitters Book of Yarn, which is a start, but other ideas are welcome.  Once I get organized I can actually start using it!

Comments

[Eliza]

what about a postal scale? I got one for Christmas last year and it's been very useful, though I haven't yet weighed yarn. They're not terribly expensive and they're fairly accurate. Another option would be a kitchen scale. Taking all that to the Coop just seems like a lot of work.

[Michelle]

Wow. Wow wow wow.

That's all I can say, really. Sorry I can't offer any advice--I'm completely blown away by all that yarn.

[Erin]

Woah. The first thing that went through my mind was, "all of that would look so cool hanging on the wall in a craft room." And, then the next through was, "she could easily take up weaving!" At no point did I ever think, "that's too much yarn!" :) Very impressive!! Enjoy it!

[Brandy]

I once had 11 pounds of yarn shipped (thanks ebay) and I thought I was overwhelmed. I can't even imagine what I would do with that much. Although... apparently I never figured out what to do with mine either as it's still untouched.

[heather]

yowza. that's completely awesome. notwithstanding that the cones would be poke-y and not all that squooshy, any pile of yarn that large still makes me want to roll around in it.
i have a non-digital food scale i'd be happy to send your way if you want something easily at hand to approximate weights with, but it comes with the caveat that it's rather inexact, so you probably don't want to use it if you're looking for specifics...

[Juno]

I bought a digital kitchen scale on Amazon for under 50 - just be careful to get one that measures in at least grams, not 5 gram lots.

Um - flame test for content? Electric ball winder?

Sit on the floor and build a little yarn fort?