“Stash” is defined as a secret store of something. Okay so far. But check out these synonyms from the Oxford Writer’s Thesaurus: stow, acquire, amass, pack, pile up, load, save, cache, hide, conceal, tuck away, secrete, stockpile, hoard and you can see why someone who stashes yarn might be a bit of a yarnaholic.
Ravelry positively encourages stashing – it’s the second tab after projects in your personal notebook. Neat rows of yarn images let you instantly see what colours and yarn types you’ve hidden under the bed, in the cupboard, in bags behind the door. Each pretty picture tells you just how much of that particular yarn you are hoarding intending to use next. So a ball here, a couple of skeins there doesn’t sound like much until you total the metres or yards and discover the miles of potential just waiting to be transformed. I was somewhat surprised to discover that my only box of wool contains almost eight miles of knitting. If it were all yarn for socks that would be almost forty-five pairs. You prefer jumpers and cardigans? I can knit you thirteen.