I don't even know where to start. I'd planned an entry about my 2007 projects and that's coming, When I get around to it. I'd planned to write about Stash Knit Down 2008 and Cash for Stash. And then my best friend ambushed me with a huge bag of yarn the other day...

As excited as I am about it all, I can't seem to settle down enough to put things into words.

Last year, I tried to knit from my stash. I was successful for the first couple of months, then didn't do too bad for the next couple of months after that, then bought a whole bunch of yarn at the end of the year when the sales got good. I'm fairly sure I bought less yarn than I bought the year before, and I suppose it was good for me, but the whole time I felt like I was punishing myself. By the time it was over, I'd missed out on some yarns I really wanted for no good reason.

This year, the goal is to knit up a bunch of the yarn in my stash and maybe be a little more discriminating in my purchases. I'll try to shop my stash when I can, but if I find a fantastic sale, or a new yarn I'm dying to try, or I want to knit a project that I don't have the right yarn for, I'm going to buy yarn.

To keep myself sort of motivated, I joined Stash Knit Down 2008 on Ravelry, and also Cash for Stash. The idea behind Cash for Stash is assigning a set value to the knitting you actually finish (I'm allowing myself $3 for toddler sweaters, $5 for big kid sweaters, and $20 for mommy sweaters, etc.) and for working out/losing weight/whatever, then using what you've "earned" as a yarn budget. In theory, that could keep me knitting more yarn than I buy.

Mission Possible 2008 is a great idea, but too scary for me. I'm all for choosing twelve projects to finish this year, but no way can I commit to giving up the ones I don't get done.