There's a mix. Some I'd keep to have an emergency replacement spoke. Some find uses in the garden. The thing is, I am a bit organizationally challenged, and I find myself identifying some of my behaviors that have permitted me to cope - which is a bit puzzling to myself even, because where some people see trees, and I find myself asking, "what about the forest?", yet on some other instances, the reverse is true. What I have just done is a step towards getting a handle on my current state.

Back to the spokes - there are a couple wheels' worth that have either never been laced, and also some which were laced as new onto wheels which were never used, and then later dis-assembled - a couple of which were on tubular wheels which had tires glued-on. You're also seeing a considerable amount of grime from handling them with shop hands. Bottom line is, I won't build up a wheel with any intent to be ridden using spokes that show indications of a defect or unfitness.