Stash: It's a Good Thing

I just need to remember to check mine more than once or twice a year.

I've been desperate, DESPERATE I tell you, to find two sock yarns that I can mix together to make the Simple Yet Effective Shawl, a pattern that older daughter (the one with the smooth forehead) recommended. I've forgotten where she got it, but it's easy and it's colorful with the right yarns. I've been going through the sock yarns I have in a wicker basket and haven't been able to put two different skeins together that would work.

So I looked in my stash and found this:

It's perfect! It's two different colorways of Koigu - and I do love Koigu -and a skein of Colinette that will work well with the Koigu.

And yes, I could have just gone to the LYS and gotten something for the pattern but

a. it's gray and rainy
b. it's cold
c. I feel crummy. I think I may have gotten Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever from a wood tick I provided a couple of days of room and board to while I was in Costa Rica. Bleah......
(Does anyone know the symptoms of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever? I'm guessing they include an actual fever, which I don't have, so who knows what this is.)

Going through my stash seemed like a better idea than going out in the cold and rain, and not only did I find the yarn for the shawl, I found this:

Debby Bliss cashmerino aran

and this:

Blue Sky Worsted hand dyed. Ooooooh.....

I don't have much stash. In fact, except for sock yarn, this is pretty much all of my stash. Most knitters would scoff at my stash. But I have a problem with having things around that I don't use. My family complains about my habit of taking everything I can find to Goodwill or throwing things out, and tells me that there are drugs for my behavior, but I'm perfectly happy to be the way I am (well, until I run out of stash).

And---does anyone know how to get the date off of my photos? I somehow got it there, and I don't know how I got it there, so I don't know how to get rid of it. %^&*() camera elves.

And---really, I will post about Costa Rica, as soon as this tick-illness leaves me. It is a gorgeous country!

Note: The Simple Yet Effective Shawl pattern is a download from Ravelry for $3.50.