Nessa Hubbard: how to shop your yarn stash

If your knitting or crochet stash has ever felt more like a challenge than a source of inspiration, you’re not alone. Knowing what you have, what to keep and what you might actually use can be surprisingly tricky.

So, as part of our Summer Stash Reset, we asked knitting coach Nessa Hubbard to share her wisdom on shopping your stash.

Nessa has been knitting for almost 60 years, ever since her mum taught her as a child. Since then, she’s taught hundreds of knitters in all sorts of places, from village halls and festivals to film sets and the Brit Awards.

Bob’s Santa outfit, knitted by Nessa, in the film *A Street Cat Named Bob (2016).*

Today, through her Knitting Confidence® work, she helps knitters feel less intimidated and more confident in their skills. And that confidence extends to choosing and using yarn, too.

Your stash doesn’t have to be perfectly organised or carefully curated to be useful. Sometimes the key is simply knowing how to look at what you already have with fresh eyes.

Here, Nessa answers our questions about shopping your stash, choosing yarn and making the most of what’s already in your knitting basket.

Here are her thoughts, in her own words.

What does "shopping your stash" mean to you?

For me, shopping your stash simply means looking at what you already own before assuming you need something new. It's about rediscovering yarn you've forgotten, seeing it with fresh eyes, and asking: "What could this become today?"

Most knitters have bought yarn because they fell in love with the colour, the texture or simply the possibilities it represented. Months or years later that same yarn can feel exciting all over again if we give ourselves permission to look at it differently.

Of course, you never have the right colour in your stash!

What's your process for shopping your stash before deciding to buy new yarn?

I’ll first shop my stash because I have a pattern in my hand or a design in my head, and I will check the yarn I already have. Some of my stash in the Ravelry database, so I can look there to see if I have what I need. I can also look through the yarn on my shelves at home and see if I have anything there that fits the bill.

Below: projects made with yarn scraps.

I’m happy to substitute yarn, and mix yarns up to produce what I need. I always check my stash first so I know I'm buying with purpose rather than because I've forgotten what I already own.

Has shopping your stash ever led to a project turning out even better than you'd first imagined?

Absolutely. Just a couple of weeks ago, I tech edited a baby cardigan and it was so cute I just wanted to knit it up.

I was able to pull out from my stash a ball of yarn that I had purchased just to support a yarn shop I had visited. It was a multi coloured yarn and I didn’t know how it would knit up, and it turned into the cutest little cardigan. I was so pleased with it.

The designer has used it as one of the test knit samples in her promotion. I’m so proud, and it busted some stash for me!

Baby cardigan made with yarn already in Nessa’s stash.

How do you strike a balance between enjoying yarn purchases and using what you already have?

I really like to buy yarn, I treat it as a separate hobby. I like to support certain independent yarn dyers and I like to visit yarn shops when I am on holiday. Also, I definitely like to visit yarn shows and cannot leave empty handed. That’s my vice, and that’s OK.

But also, I’m conscious that I can only knit and crochet so much, and I only have a certain amount of space for storage. And if the moths get to it, it becomes useless.

So, I try to limit what I buy - two or three yarn shows a year. I also only buy yarn that tells me what it might become, I try to be sensible, and I do destash. My pleasure is in the purchase, so it's OK to destash it to someone else who will use it.

How do you organise your stash?

Most of my yarn is stored in clear boxes in my studio space. What is in those boxes is listed on the Ravelry database. Every so often, new yarn gets added - that is currently in bags in my home. I have all the yarn from my favourite Indie dyer (Skein Queen) on a shelf in my living room, to prevent duplication of purchases!

How do you know when it's time to pass yarn on to another maker?

For the past 2 years, I have run a destash market in North London with my business partner. I’ve put almost everything from my stash out, and if someone wanted it, it was meant to be! Anything that didn’t go was mine to keep (not that precious Skein Queen yarn though, that is mine forever!). It has meant that my yarn stash has gone down by about two thirds, and I almost have a respectable amount now… though there is no respectable amount, you can have as much as you like!

Nessa and her team sorting out her stash.

There are some skeins that have special memories, and I didn’t put those out. I have about two kallax boxes of those yarns.

And now I’ve listed yarn on Destasher. If someone wants to take it, then it will go, and if they don’t, it will stay with me. The universe will take care of the situation.

What role do you think sharing yarn can play in making knitting more sustainable, affordable and inspiring?

I think it's hugely important.

Yarn is one of those wonderful resources that can keep bringing joy as it moves from one maker to another. Swaps, destash events and sharing yarn make knitting more accessible, especially when budgets are tight, and they stop beautiful materials sitting unused for years.

Nessa with knitting students, her organised stash in plastic containers behind them.

Every skein that finds the right knitter has another chance to become something loved.

What's one piece of yarn-buying advice you wish every knitter knew?

Don’t think you need to use “cheap yarn” because you are not a very good knitter - use the nice yarn, because the knitting will be a joy, and you will practice more.