...Wow. For those who haven't read it, it's here. That's a hard one... what to do with your stash when you're gone.

I won't copy the entire story and there are so many questions in it I wonder where to start. I guess the beginning is a good place, and if this ends up covering multiple blog entries, so be it.

What would your stash tell others about you?

Well, first they'd have to get through it all. I have a lot - maybe not as much as some others that I've known, but I do have a lot. And it's reasonably organized, but not as well documented as it used to be. I'm going to have to get into that closet and clean things up and update my lists of things.

That aside, once someone got through it all they're going to find someone of varied interests. They would find silks and cottons, charts and crochet hooks, a couple of pairs of knitting needles and some yarn. And above all, they'd find reference books. That's right, books. Books about stitches.

Janice Love, Eileen Bennett, Darleen O'Steen's 'The Perfect Stitch' - you'd find them all on my shelves. And other books like 'The Embroiderer's Bible' too. I've got a decent amount of books all about stitch techniques. When I want to learn something new, I tend to pick up a book about it. Or a couple of books about it, usually from the library, but I didn't want to do that with something like this. So I bought books. I've got over a dozen of them all about stitching and not necessarily with patterns. That's a different story and most of those are the Teresa Wentzler collections.

Ah, that leads me to content. I mentioned that I have charts, but you still don't know what kind. I have dragons, I have mermaids, I have what DH likes to call "Eight Foot Tall Victorian Curtain Ladies" - those are the Mirabilia ladies, and I have some samplers. I have very few things that anyone would call a "small" except for the 8 years worth of Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament issues that I have, none of which I have stitched from. Yet. Ok, now that I think about it I might have a couple of small things here and there that I've picked up over the years and stashed away for one reason or another. Or something that I've picked up because it was a "show special" at CATS.

Like I said, you would find a woman with varied interests in my closet. Lots of beads - Mill Hill, Delica, and lampwork that I picked up on eBay. Oh yes, the beads. Forgot about that. I've got some various pieces of glass beads and silver findings and a handful of Swarovski crystals that I picked up in the interest of making marking pins and scissor fobs. I never did turn that into full production of them to sell, although that was the original intent. Now I just make them and occasionally send them out randomly to people when the mood strikes. You'd find some finished ones in my stash area if you dug carefully through the bag where all the bead stuff is.

You'd find a lot of yarn, but not very many books with patterns. There's the 63 square afghan book. Suz gave me that one. And I've got 'Stitch and Bitch Nation' (also from Suz as a secret stitcher gift) and 'Knitting for Dummies'. And 'Crochet for Dummies' (I love me some For Dummies books). That's it. I've got yarn for the Gryffindor scarf I want to make - that's why I have a pair of circular needles. The rest I've picked up either to make a blanket I saw in 'Stitch and Bitch' or to make the big long scarf in 'Crochet for Dummies' that uses all the stitches. I love that pattern, it works up quickly, I practically have it memorized, and so a-crocheting I will go.

You'd find a collector in my cross stitch stash. I have almost everything by one designer (Wentzler) including an original print that I need to frame, and almost full sets of various threads, like Six Strand Sweets (the original set of threads) or Vikki Clayton (before she started making all the monochromatic colors). I have enough Dinky Dyes Cottons to state that I have just about all of them too. You'd find enough 30 ct Murano in white, antique, and platinum to make a stitcher happy for the rest of their life if you didn't find the two drawers of hand dyed fabrics first. And it's organized by *color* type, so if there was one that you didn't like, try again and you might find something. This is how I have successful floss tosses, aside from DH being able to pick something out very quickly without going through hours of moving threads and beads in different light.

And if I hadn't let my organizing slip about a year ago you would have found a little black book on the edge of the bookshelf that had everything listed. Complete lists of all the threads and designers that I have, all organized perfectly and up to date. It's how I was able to go to the shops and shows and not buy duplicates of things. I daresay I probably have a couple of duplicates now, but once I figure out what they are I'll probably throw them on the Wagon for sale.

So there you have it... what my stash would say about me. And that was only the first question from the SBQ this week. Ok, it actually covered more than one question (it covered two), but it didn't get through some of the others.

Perhaps I'll answer those tomorrow...