Tuesday, July 25, 2006

An Embarassment of Riches

So I never realized how bad it had gotten until yesterday.

Jack and I have had the pleasure of visitors for the past few days -- his son's in-laws from Colorado. Wonderful, down to earth people who live in a cabin they built together north of Fort Collins. And Janet's a knitter!

The first night, they stayed with us at the cottage. Last night, we were back at the homestead, and Janet asked to see my stash. I then realized that I was out of control. Cabinets. Drawers. Plastic bins. Wicker baskets full! Stash everywhere.

As her eyes got wider and wider (granted, she and her husband live in a very small cabin -- 12 x 16 with a loft), I realized my stash would fill their entire living space. Gulp.

And we didn't even open the bins.

So what's the solution? A yarn diet? I hate diets. Makes me want what I can't have even more. And besides, diets don't apply when you're on vacation or out of town, and I'll be going to NYC next week and North Carolina in mid-August.

A fast? Cold turkey? Stay away from yarn stores? But what about the internet? (I am now breaking out in a cold sweat). For Christmas, my daughter bought me Yarn Harlot's second book, inscribing it: "Mom -- Learn from her and don't let this happen to you." So far, I haven't resorted to YH's hints of stashing yarn in the freezer, or in the sleeves of coats in the back of the closet. But I'm close, darn close.

And of course, last week when I was visiting my octagenarian aunt (see, visiting), my sister and I went to a yarn store. And I found just the right color for a new pair of soxs for my friend's birthday.

Diet, schm-iet. Hey! I could keep some here at the office! Filing cabinets! Back of the desk drawers! We even have an attic!!!!

OMG. If anyone knows of a 12 Step Program for us yarn-a-holics ...

ps At this most recent visit to the out of town store, I saw the most amazing thing -- knitting needles that light up. They have tiny batteries -- like watch battery size -- and clear tips. Since I don't like long straight needles, I passed them by, but damn I wish I'd thought of the idea and patented it! Hmmm, maybe waterproof for in the tub are next! Or an attachment to the steering wheel so you can drive and knit ...

1 comment:

Suzanne said...

My favorite stash reduction activity is knitting. I wouldn't recommend anything else. ;o)