I was not even aware there was an official term to describe the hot rush of adrenaline that rushes through my veins every time I go on a yarn-buying binge. At least, not until I discovered the stash knit down group of Ravelry. Stash knit down is a support group dedicated to knitters who are addicted to buying and accumulating too much yarn. I hadn’t realized that yarn shopping might be considered a nefarious activity to which a cure was desperately needed, akin to a 12-step program, but I was wrong. I discovered that “going hot llama” is the yarn-buying frenzy that seizes most of us knitters during LYS sales, online closeouts, and the Stitches conventions that empty the wallets of knitters every year. By contrast, “going cold sheep” is the virtuous abstention from all yarn buying. Just as smokers go “cold turkey” from the cigarettes that threaten their lungs, knitters are joining ranks against the dark menace of fuzzy balls of yarn.
All kidding aside, I think the stash down group is admirable in supporting its members with a variety of clever challenges, designs and activities. The purpose of these challenges is to help knitters get re-inspired to use the old stash of yarn lurking in their closets, or perhaps threatening to take over their homes! And as the many reality shows on hoarding attest, the passion for collecting things, even as lovely as silk skeins, can get out of hand.
Stash knit down encourages its members to publically pledge their commitment to going cold sheep, in the hopes that peer pressure will assist them in sticking to a yarn diet. I kind of love the image that a “yarn weight-loss plan” conjures up. Can it be that every frivolous batch of yarn I buy is going straight to my hips? If I knit through my entire stash, will I feel as if I had lost twenty pounds?
The stash down group, similar to a weight-loss support group, keeps up morale with tallies of group success. They calculate their annual “knitting mileage” based on the yards of yarn each member has knitted over an entire year. For those who have fallen from grace, there is a “confessional thread”. But I can’t help wondering, as I read these confessions—“bought 3 balls of yarn at LYS. Hang head in shame”—if this kind of self-flagellation over a small yarn purchase is not taking things too far? Don’t all of us deserve occasional treats? It’s not as if a newly purchased lot of madelainetosh yarn will endanger our health or fuel some narcotic-like dependency. Or will it? Have we developed an unwitting dependence on yarn shopping, akin to an addiction?
Even my cat, Bodhi, is accumulating his own stash. He keeps his purloined
wool in a heap near his cat bed. Sometimes the balls move mysteriously
from room to room—I have yet to catch him with a skein in his mouth, but I
know he is carrying them, because his meow is strangely muffled when he
charges down the hall.
The other day, I screwed up the courage to calculate the
amount of yarn in total I bought this year—17 lots of
yarn, versus the number of sweaters I produced this year
, which is 11 so far. Hot llama? Guilty as charged! The evidence
is clear that my reach has exceeded my grasp. This ratio
doesn’t look so terrible until I reflect on the fact that I
haven’t knitted all the yarn I bought last year either. I
have sworn to myself that I have to finish at least 3
more sweaters out of my stash before I am allowed to
buy any new yarn, but I already know this self-imposed
diet is going to be sheer torture! And from reading the
confessions of other hot llamas, I know I’m not alone.
It’s as if there is some magic principle, like the fabled
three wishes, which pushes me over the edge when I
deliberate over a yarn purchase, offering three infallible
reasons why buying more yarn today is a must.
Reason #1: But it’s on sale—I’ll save money! Besides, the yarn is being discontinued—when I need it later, it will be gone!
Reason #2: This yarn inspires me and makes me feel happy!
Reason #3: The color of the yarn flatters my complexion, and the sweater I’m going to knit with it makes me figure look great!
Let’s look at these 3 infallible reasons for buying yarn a bit more closely:
#1: The majority of the yarn in my stash was bought on sale, and discontinued to boot. I currently have in my stash:
3 jewel-toned batches of 4-ply soft, ranging from crimson to brown
2 pastel colored batches of 4-ply cotton
1000 yards of charcoal kidsilk aura
3 batches of variegated kidsilk haze/night
800 yards of pink silk
some odd balls of lavender cotton glace and
900 yards of hand-dyed salmon-tinted aran wool.
A great savings, wasn’t it?
Trust me, I’m not complaining about having so much fabulous yarn, but the seeming frugality which drove each one of these sale yarn purchases doesn’t seem to have helped my wallet. Also, this yarn is still in my stash, so where is the enormous need to use this discontinued yarn?
Reason #2: This yarn inspires me and makes me feel happy!
I don’t know a single knitter who doesn’t make emotional yarn purchases. All my friends will buy yarn from time to time to lift themselves out of a bad mood. I don’t think there is anything wrong with this occasional indulgence, as cuddling up to a few ravishing skeins of yarn appears much healthier to me than downing a bottle of tequila or getting “chip-faced” over a pint of Ben and Jerry’s icecream (Miss Congeniality). Of course, if yarn bingeing out of budget becomes a weekly or monthly habit, fueling an ever-growing stash, perhaps a bout of cold sheeping is just the thing. But I don’t think we should discount our yarn shopping from the realm of inspiration that feeds our souls. For those of us who express our creativity through knitting, balls of yarns are our paints, and the process of reveling in the vivid colors, and weighing the soft textures in our hands can tap into deep joyous places within ourselves that bring renewed inspiration, energy and hope that we carry back into our work and our families.
Reason #3: The color of the yarn flatters my complexion, and the sweater I’m going to knit with it makes me figure look great.
Let’s be honest here. When I make this kind of rationalization, how often is it out of pure vanity? This yarn/pattern is beautiful, and I want to look beautiful too. If that is the case, I am back to making emotional yarn purchases. Perhaps I need to shop my own closet/stash to remind myself of all the lovely garments I already have. Or perhaps I should try to lose a few actual pounds instead of knitting something that will supposedly make me look thinner?
On the other hand, when sweater knitting is a serious component of actual dressing for play and work, there should be a budget for that.
I have worked rather hard over the past five years to hone my sweater-construction skills in the hope of taking my knitting out of crafting into garment-making. The exciting thing about knitting actual sweaters fit to be worn out in public is the realization that I don’t have to spend exhausting hours in the mall, shopping for that perfect blazer or cardigan that completes my fall wardrobe or to tie together the colors and textures of the blouses and trousers I already have. If I can find a pattern and color of sweater that will allow me to generate twice as many outfits as I have to date, and convert my shopping time to the far more pleasurable knitting time, I’m going to give that first priority in my clothing budget. As a realtor, appearances are everything and, believe it or not, I find that the more appealing and current my wardrobe is, the more prospects I end up doing business with. Although all of us secretly feel that people should be drawn to our lovely souls, the truth is that appearances really do make a huge difference in business matters. Yarn/pattern buying that supports my work wardrobe comes out of my budget for buying clothes. I actually find this kind of knitting quite practical, as I am making sure my dollars go as far as possible by creating looks that fit me perfectly, and my wardrobe too.
You notice the cleverness of this last generalization, that spending money on yarn actually makes me money in the end? Clearly, my hot llama trend has not diminished one bit in this post. Perhaps I should put my money where my mouth is. Now that I am building up a stable of sweaters I can actually wear to work, I should track my results in 2011 to gage whether my results live up to my claims. I suppose I would have to keep a record of the number of appointments I set with new prospects while wearing my hand-knitted outfits throughout the year. If I get up the courage to do it, I’ll let you know. Meanwhile, I’m off to knit some scrumptious raspberry-colored Frog Tree alpaca yarn.