Hello, my name is Ken, and I'm a yarn-aholic. (Hi, Ken.) It has been four weeks and three days since I've bought yarn.
Not that I mean to mock people in recovery, but I have been trying to get a handle on my penchant for buying yarn that I don't need, don't have time to knit, and don't have anyone to whom to give it. Let's face it: a big ol' bear does not need a cashmere scarf. No, really, he doesn't. So of course, I've done what every person trying to avoid his addiction does: I've mired myself in it. I have started working in a yarn store, Sundays only, and just through the holiday season. My first day was last Sunday, and it was just wonderful being surrounded by all that amazing yarn. The Malabrigo! The baby alpaca! The Cascade Eco-wool! The lace-weight alpaca! The Cascade Epiphany! The Noro Silk Garden! OK, maybe not the Noro Silk Garden. But still, I wanted to take it all home with me, especially the Malabrigo Rios superwash.
The other thing that keeps me from buying yarn right now is that I'm not working, and I don't have the cash reserves to spend on yarn. So if I feel the need to go shopping, I just go look in my stash boxes (I promise, pictures of the stash are going to happen, after the semester ends), and I usually discover something in there that I'd forgotten I had. Last time I looked I found some cobalt blue lace weight alpaca. When did I buy that? Or the six skeins of purple/lavender heathered wool/alpaca blend in DK weight. I don't recall buying that, either. But it's pretty. Really pretty. But six skeins of it? What was I thinking? Was I planning on making a shawl for someone? For whom? I have no idea.
My problem is that if I see a yarn that I like in a colour that I like (usually in some shade of blue or grey, though that isn't necessarily a given), then I'll want a couple of skeins. Just to see how it knits up. Maybe a scarf, or a hat or something small, just to get a feel for the yarn. I made a scarf out of some Rowan yarn (and damned if I can't remember what it was) that was so soft and silky and warm. I just wanted to see how it would look outside a skein. Looks terrific in a basket weave.
I get my first pay-cheque from the yarn store. I must not spend it all on yarn. This is going to become my new mantra. I must not spend it all on yarn. Because you know I'll want to.
oh my god. . .I so feel your pain. In about a year my yarn stash has grown to over four 13 gallon storage bins. The biggest feeder of my addiction is Tuesday Morning. . .especially when they have so many nice yarns at discount prices. When I find a yarn I like I end up buying every skein they have available. Last week I had over 12 skeins in my cart and finally at the last minute decided that I didn't need it. (Though today I've sent my mom back to Tuesday Morning to get the red pima cotton skeins. . .mainly because she said she needed a red scarf). And then Sunday I bought four small balls of Peaches & Cream on sale at Michael's. . .really didn't need it. . .but it was a nice denim color and well I will be using it for my step-brother's wedding present.
ReplyDelete@ghostlight: I have nine huge bins filled to the brim each with yarn. I don't need anymore. But I buy it when I'm feeling blue, which is about every day these days. I can't wait til school is over and done and I have my life back. I'll have time to knit again, too.
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