The stash diet and the stocktake...

Let me start this post by saying that I reckon New Year is over-rated. Gyms and weight loss clinics rub their hands in glee as January approaches, because they know that for the next six to eight weeks, they will be busier than the proverbial one-legged man in a bum-kicking competition. After about eight weeks though, even the most diehard resolution makers have given up. Hopefully by this stage, the gyms and weight loss centres have made enough from the joining fees and the optimists who paid for an annual membership up front to cover their costs until next year!

Let me continue this post by saying there's an element of jealousy here. The chances of me sticking to a New Year's resolution for eight weeks are very slight: on a par with the chance of me being abducted by aliens or maybe even slightly lower. The fabled stash diet, subject of two posts and many heartfelt promises, has yet to manifest.

Part of the problem involves big plastic storage bins. In 2008, we stored our stock in cardboard boxes. Very economical, but it made it rather tricky to find things in a hurry - particularly when the store room was a mess from the last time we'd tried to find something in a hurry!! Also, the boxes tended to tear after they'd been yanked out of a stack a few times. In December, I decided enough was enough, and I bought some big plastic storage bins from a local discount store.

Armed with the plastic storage bins, we did a stocktake and re-organised the store. The store now looks lovely and our inventory is up to date for the first time since we opened our doors back in August. Where's the problem, you ask? Well, we had a bin left over, so I borrowed it as a temporary stash storage method. After all, by leaving my stash piled up on a shelf, I was risking a valuable asset! I could lose the lot to moths at any time! Although I suspect my stash might have defeated even the most famine-striken of moths, I was not prepared to take the risk, so I appropriated the bin and carted it up to my flat.

By sitting on the filled plastic bin, I managed to close the lid. There were still a couple of bits of stash lying around, but the majority of my valuable asset was safely stowed away. Unfortunately, a full plastic bin looks a lot less scary than shelves crammed with wool, brimming shopping bags and baskets, paper bags hanging from bedroom doors and balanced precariously on top of wardrobes... a plastic bin induces the delusion that the stash is under control. This was dangerous when I'd just received a discount voucher from another LYS in my former home town on the nice side of the Yarra. Add to that, the LYS stocked some yarns that I hadn't been able to obtain from my supplier - ROWAN yarns!! They also had some discontinued Rowan stock. I need say no more. Next weekend when I go to pick up my shopping, I'll stop by the discount store and buy a couple more plastic bins...