I want to write about something that has been weighing on me for some time now… you see, I think I have a yarn problem. Have you seen all those warning signs that you may have a drinking problem? Well a lot of them apply to how I feel about my stash.
Feeling guilty about how much yarn I have? Check. Lying to people about how much yarn I have? Check. (Hint: it’s not all logged on Ravelry…) My friends and family would probably be worried if they realized how bad it really is…. I do buy yarn to feel better and I almost always purchase more than I intend to. But, at least my stash has never caused me to black out (at least not that I recall…. lol).
The thing is, I know it’s bad, but I really don’t know what to do about it. I have gotten lots better about new yarn purchases, so I think the growth of the stash is slowing a bit. I mean, I still buy lots of yarn, but at the very least, I only buy yarn when I have a specific project in mind and I make sure I buy the proper quantities for that project. So, the yarn is less likely to sit there for years: I am likely to use it soon because I have a plan for it. In my early stashing days, I would just buy yarn totally at random and then I could never use it because I couldn’t find a suitable project or I wouldn’t have the right amount to make what I wanted. So, a large part of my stash consists of those odd-ball purchases (pun intended). I really should get rid of all of those. But doing that is so hard!! What if I need them some day??
The other particularly problematic area of my stash is the range of acrylics in different colors. As you know, I like to make amigurumi, which means I use a little bit of a lot of colors. After a while, all those partial balls add up. But I can’t throw these out because if I ever need that color again for another amigurumi, I’d have to buy a whole new skein for just a few yards, which is crazy talk.
Plus, even if I decided to cut down my stash? What would I do with it? Do I just leave it for the Salvation Army? How do I know they will find a good home for it? I can list it for sale (or for free) on Ravelry, but that is a slow process. I don’t have any friends who knit who I could give the yarn to. I’m stuck.
Well, I thought writing about this topic was going to make me feel better, but really it just left me feeling overwhelmed. I guess I can live with a yarn problem. I mean, as far as problems go, it’s fairly innocuous. Unless anyone out there has any brilliant ideas for me?? Or do you just live with it too?
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