Late Start

I was going to start this all on January first but my life got in the way. How hard it is to prioritize things! Here's a quick look at my January observations:

E-Mail Enabling: I must be subscribed to 10 million yarn sites. It's damn hard to view those newsletters and updates that come through my mailbox every hour! For the first we I'd actually go to the sites and put yarn in the cart and eventually come to my senses. The idea of a great deal was a big factor into how far into the site or email I went. So I am now starting to unsubscribe to many of vendor emails and newsletters.

Work: Alcoholics working at a bar... a yarn addiction working at a yarn store. GUILTY! I've had a couple jobs now in the industry and tend to keep finding them. I no longer work daily in a store but I get to see lots of lovely yarn on a regular basis and I get in on some super deals. Originally I would work for a low hourly wage in exchange for a deep employee discount on yarn. This was a win win for everyone but just isn't necessary right now for me. We have bigger bills to pay with our move to the east coast and I need cash in hand. So for my new job I declined yarn for payment. I have another, older job that still gives me a discount but I am going to sit down with them and renegotiate soon.

Sales: I slipped. It was of course a sale. In my defense it's for a pattern that I had been working on for two years. I orginally knitting it up in 2012 but didn't like the yarn I used and I've been toying with ripping it out and getting a better yarn for sometime. That time came at the store over the weekend when I got 40% off on the yarn I needed. Yea, nice try to explain it away but that's what happened. I can't be anywhere near a sale people... ever!

Moving: Because of my recent move all my yarn if fairly inaccessible to me at the moment. This leads to moments of thinking 'fuck it, if I can't find it I'll just buy some' moments. Luckily today I am finally making it a priority to unpack it and put it up nicely.

The Rules

I have vowed to take 2014 and knit only with the yarn I currently possess. For some readers this might seem strange but for knitters, crocheters and other fiber fanatics this will hit home. When one begins to dabble in yarn it takes on a life of its own. The textures, colors, diverse fibers... All hit your senses and you want to soak it all up like a sponge. It is a beautiful addiction... But for some it is an addiction. I was told in twelve step programs that something becomes an addiction when it disrupts your daily life. A couple of plastic bins of yarn is nothing... Try a room of yarn... Yeah. Then, let's talk about the costs... On average I spend $15 a skein. I can't bring myself to do the math past that.
So, after a speedy fall of yarn crawls and purchases I looked at my yarn stash and said... This is a problem. I want to keep it all but I need to focus on moving it out. I want to be more productive in my knitting and more conscience in my yarn purchasing. Many stitchers talk about 'yarn diets' but this is deeper. So come explore with me the behaviors, belief systems and struggles to balance life in the fiber world...

The Rules
Of course there must be rules! Clear boundries are the key to changing behavior and seeing the pitfalls of this compulsion.

1. Refrain from buy yarn. That means no monetary transaction on my part to purchase yarn is to take place.
2. Honesty. I'm sure I'll slip, I'm human but I need to use that opportunity to fully disclose and discuss my thought process to help stop it in the future.
3. Weekly blog posts. This is tough with life being so busy but if I quit talking about it then I will fall back in again.

That's it for now. Let the Yarn Hunger Games Begin!