Yarn Resolutions

Okay, this is getting to be ridiculous.  My stash is taking on a life of its own – and it’s all my fault!  I cannot believe how much yarn I’ve bought in the last year. I think I have a problem.  And so I’m taking drastic measures: a yarn resolution of no more yarn….until DFW Fiber Fest in April.  

Drastic measures are required.

Knit Faster!

One solution to this growing stash problem is to use my stash – and faster!  And I do! I rarely buy yarn for any specific project unless it’s a gift that requires something I don’t have.  But a lot of my gifts are knit from my own stash. 

But I honestly cannot knit any faster than I already am.  I’m not the fastest knitter and I have a full-time job and half a life outside of yarn.  So there’s only so much time in a day to knit. I always try to get at least an hour of knitting a night done, but sometimes that doesn’t even happen.  Especially during the holidays!

Impulse Buys

This is what kills me.  I will buy a skein of sock yarn, just to support an indie dyer or try out their yarn.  And so I have tons of lone skeins that have to be socks or part of a fade/color combo. And what I’m slowly learning is that I’m not all that great with colors.  Pairing them, fading them….this is not a skill that I have. Maybe I should take a class!

So impulse buying definitely has to stop.

Emotional Shopping

Yes, when I have a bad day or get down about work, I will buy some yarn, telling myself that I deserve it.  Well, I don’t. Not really. I have tons of yarn and what I need most cannot be bought: more time to knit!

So, while some people emotionally eat, I emotionally shop.  Apparently.

Resolutions

I almost always make a resolution or two at New Years.  And yes, this year, one of those will be to stop buying yarn until the DFW Fiber Fest.  And even then, I may set more restrictions upon myself, such as only buying yarn from new-to-me dyers.  

One of the reasons I’ve participated in two FibreShares is that I was hoping to gift some skeins of my stash to my partners.  But they have both had very different color preferences than my own, making this virtually impossible.  

And so I’ve added more of my stash to the “will sell” section of Ravelry.  And I may post some of these skeins on Instagram next year. A lot of this yarn is stuff that I bought as a  newbie knitter – that I have no interest in knitting anymore.

How’s your stash doing?  Is it manageable or growing, like mine?