Is this something you can relate to? Do you find yourself browsing online yarn shops, adding things to your virtual cart and convincing yourself that this yarn is a must have?

I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one that has to deal with this urge and yet I have more than enough yarn already! If you have been following my blog lately you will know that I have a sizeable stash and you will have seen pictures of it in my Spring Challenge section here on this website.

So I know that I have enough yarn to knit almost anything I want to knit in the coming year or two or three. The keyword here is almost. Meaning that yes I have hundreds of skeins of yarn but most of them are just single skeins so good for socks, scrap projects or to be combined with two or more yarns in a shawl or colourful garment.

I have very few sweater quantities in my stash, maybe about 5. I like solid and semi solid yarns for garments and yet I rarely buy such yarns and so every now and again I get this overwhelming feeling of “I have to buy some sweater quantities of solid yarns” just in case, just to be sure I have EVERYTHING I could possibly need next time I have to cast on.

Lately I have also become more of a yarn connaisseuse (I prefer that  term to yarn snob). And so I really want to try “different” yarns, yarns from single breeds, yarns from conservation flocks or yarns from a small independent mill somewhere. And I always manage to find such yarns. And of course small batch, exclusive yarns are priced accordingly so not easy on the budget.

These past few days as I have been home resting my leg (I have some strange issue with my left knee) I have been doing a lot of “virtual yarn shopping”. And it has got me thinking how strange this is. I don’t need any more yarn, I have so much currently that just finding a place to store my stash is an issue. And yet the urge is so strong. And so urgent. Like I need this particular yarn asap. Telling myself I will buy this yarn in a month or when I’m ready to actually knit with it, is no good.

But my finances are not limitless, I have spent more than can be considered reasonable on yarn already. So how can I resist? How can I control this urge?

Well, what I have been doing lately is put the yarn in my cart but not checking out. I leave the page open on my phone and then come back maybe the same day, maybe a couple of days later and I review my cart. I ask myself if I ABSOLUTELY need this particular yarn and if I could possibly reduce the quantity in my cart, maybe leave out a yarn or two. And then sometimes I do check out and other times I leave my cart for a few more hours/days of reflexion.

But it is not easy. I sometimes think that in my case this urge is so strong and the need so important that it must be akin to addiction of some sort. I know stop smoking can be very hard and I imagine that stop buying yarn must be at least as hard in my case.

This is most definitely a third world problem! I know!

I would love to hear from you, do you suffer this urge to buy more yarn on a regular basis? How do you deal with the urge? Do you allocate yourself a yarn budget per month/year? Have you ever been on a “yarn buying diet” and if yes, for how long were you able to sustain that and do you know view yarn buying with a different eye than before your “yarn buying diet”?

I have tried to go on a yarn buying diet but never succeeded as the idea of NOT being able to buy yarn makes the urge TO BUY so much stronger! But I still think I really should try to get my yarn buying under control for the good of my finances as well as just to control the quantity of yarn already in my house.

I hope you will accept to share with me your yarn buying advice/techniques/plans. I’m sure sharing with each other will bring us all food for thought:)

Until next time I’m going to try to be serious and restrain from yarn shopping and just concentrate on knitting the yarn I already have!

Happy knitting to you and have a great week ahead!