It started yesterday when I spent a couple hours untangling and re-winding some yarn my cat had gotten into. I had a good look at (a portion of) my yarn stash. I have a small 3-drawer storage bin for just my sock yarn, and it's so full I can barely close the drawers. In another bin, I have my cotton yarn for dishcloths. In yet another huge bin, I have an unfinished afghan project, a mitten kit and even more yarn. One of my favorite dyers is having an end-of-the-year 40 percent off sale, but I think it's time for another yarn diet.
This post about why we hoard craft supplies caught my interest and made me think about my crafting habits.
Basically the post says we stash for four reasons: time poverty, fear of missing out, owning the pretty and perfection. I can definitely relate to all of these.
Time poverty: I definitely don't have enough time to knit. Over the past several months, I've gotten into a new routine on the weekends. Rather than do fun stuff AFTER I finish all of the household chores, I give myself a day to be lazy and recuperate from the work week (Thursday) and do all of the chores (mainly laundry) on Friday. This gives me a good amount of time for knitting, in addition to the time I take either during the day before work or in the wee hours of the morning after work. In 2015, I want to make better use of my time away from work, whether it's using it for crafting or going to the gym. I've taken too much time to loaf around and do absolutely nothing useful.
Fear of missing out: I definitely fall into this trap. I'm afraid a colorway or yarn will be discontinued. I'm afraid a pattern will go out of print that I might want to knit someday. I forget that there will never be a shortage of beautiful yarn and patterns. If I EVER run out of yarn (I might--- I haven't reached SABLE (Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy) yet) all I have to do is reach out and find more beautiful yarn and patterns. Don't panic. There will always be yarn.
Owning the pretty: Not so much. Sometimes with other things. I seem to have risen above the need to buy everything pretty. But I do come down with pretty severe cases of shopaholism sometimes. When I am particularly tired, I do what my boyfriend and I call "slopping" or "sleepy shopping." This can result in impulsive purchases. I never regret them, nor do I return things, but it's a problem.
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| My cousin's dress. I picked this purple after being torn between four different colors and asking my Facebook friends for advice. |
Perfection: Since I am part Borg, this is huge for me... Kidding. I do feel the need to match up patterns with the perfect yarn. I'm a sucker for finding the perfect color. For my cousin's dress, I actually was torn between four colors and put up a poll on Facebook and Instagram, soliciting my friends' opinions. The thing is, I have enough yarn for dozens of pairs of socks and a couple shawls. But I'd have to buy yarn to make larger projects such as sweaters or afghans. I can't just reach into the stash and pluck out a whole sweater's worth of yarn.
For next year, I have plans for projects galore, but I'll try to whittle down my stash to manageable proportions. So long as I have time to pursue creative endeavors, and with a boyfriend telling me I don't need anymore yarn (just like he doesn't need any more sports team jerseys), I'll be fine.
