Aaaaaand..... I'm Done

I have too much yarn. It's a fact. I've had to face it several times and I think it hit me in the face again when we moved.

Too. Much. Yarn.

After Sock Summit, (where I was surprisingly subdued in my purchasing), I came home and started packing. Packing the cyclone that was our basement (my own personal hidey-hole/cave) was a bit of a wake up call. I'd been pretty diligent in putting new yarn in the designated bins (Wool, Felting Wool, Good Stuff, Sock, etc.). Over the last six months in that house, I let it get away from me and when I was packing up the basement and found 2 LARGE bins worth of free-range yarn....

I have too much yarn.

I told my friend Donna, "I'm done buying yarn."

She laughed.

"No, seriously! I have so much yarn. There's no way in hell I can knit it all and I keep acquiring more. I have over 200 pairs worth of sock yarn. If I knit a pair a month, it would take me 16 years to get through it all! I don't knit a pair a month. I think, all total, I've knit.... 2 pairs."

She looked skeptical but, kindly, didn't say anything.

Then 2 days later she tells me that there's a yarn store going out of business and all the yarn is 30% off. Damn enabler! We went to the sale and I got 2 sweaters worth of really good yarn.

OK, I said. Now I'm really done.

Then there's Ravelry. I've loved the Charrua colorway of Malabrigo with a love that shall not be named. I've always thought it was a bit busy for a whole sweater but there's this person on Rav who had 8 skeins for $60 (incl. shipping). 8 skeins! I resisted as long as I could (seriously, I stayed away from it for about 3 months) and I didn't find anyone making sweaters with that color - again, it might just be too busy! I finally found someone who'd done something really cool with it (in sweater form) and I broke down and got it. Problem is, I didn't bookmark/fave/whatever the really cool thing and it's now lost in the vortex that is Ravelry. sigh.

Then the Malabrigo Junkies group has some Stockpile October Fest and a bunch of shops were having Malabrigo sales. At Sock Summit, the friends we were staying with came to Marketplace. I told Melissa to go buy some yarn she thought was pretty and I'd make some mitts and/or a scarf for her. She picked Pagoda colored Malabrigo. I thought, "Wow! She has great taste - in yarn and colors!" I also thought, yes, that Pagoda is very pretty! But when I started working with it and really seeing the subtleties of shading and color.... then this Stocktober thing came along. I bought a bag of 10.

But, here's the thing! A bag of 10 was 30% off! With free shipping! And I've been eyeballing that stuff for months now!

I know. There's no real defense here, just excuses.

But now I'm done. For real.

Really!

No more sock clubs (unless I'm trading for them), no more lurking the Ravelry ISO/Destash group (that's dangerous crack to me), no more sales.

The only reason I can buy yarn is if I don't have what I need to complete a current project, because I have Too. Much. Yarn.

Not selling any, Ruth!