Yarnholic Seeking to Start a Support Group

[Keridiana]

Amazing, Annkari! 

[donutgirl]

I've gone from 17 pieces in my stash to 14.  So today I am awarding myself w/ a ball winder.  Because I needed an excuse to get one anyway really

[GoldfishGirl]

Hi everybody. I've been following this thread since, oh... Page 11 or so. For about three weeks, I was doing really good not buying yarn and makeing little stashbusing projects. But then I found my weakness:
The yarn bucket at Goodwill. And its below bargain basement prices on slightly used yarn. I was resisting and resisting new, expensive yarn, but I couldn't say no to some gently loved mohair yarn at 25 cents a skein.
Here is my stash.

The balls with x's are no longer with us/currently being used.
But, after my Goodwill escapade, I now have this to add.

My name is Emily. And I have a yarn habit.

[littleone1098]

Emily, you have some amazing yarn. I think that's my problem, I have all this CRAP yarn, cheap acrylic CRAP that no one would ever use, so it's hard for me to get creative with it, muche less want to make anything out of it. I'm too cheap to throw it away and..i dunno...GRRR!

[amey]

Emily, you have some amazing yarn. I think that's my problem, I have all this CRAP yarn, cheap acrylic CRAP that no one would ever use, so it's hard for me to get creative with it, muche less want to make anything out of it. I'm too cheap to throw it away and..i dunno...GRRR!

Ahhh - knit for charity.  Would that help you?  Warm up America wil take 7x9 rectangles in any stitch to make quilts (and they prefer acrylic!).  See if there is a group near you that does mitten trees or hats. 

Or, pull a FlyLady and give it away - let it bless someone else - Goodwill, a nursing home, something.  Then you could advance directly to cashmere and buy just the yarn you need for a project. 

~amey

[GoldfishGirl]

Most of my yarn is really cheap dead old lady yarn. By that I mean that it was inherited from all my grandma's friends when they died.
Since I started this habit early (like, 14) and my grandma is an enabler with all her elderly crafter friends, I think I started hating acrylic much earlier than most beginners.
Currenty, my acyrilic to non-acrylic ratio is down to around 3 to 1.
In ridding myself of it, I've found that stocking caps are always nice to give to people. I use a pattern from Hip To Knit, but do it in the round instead of flat. Most people don't even notice that the yarn is something undesirable. They're just happy that you knit them something.
My current stash busting projects are Very Tall Socks from Knitty and lots of dishcloths using the pattern from http://straw.com/cpy/patterns/cotton_chenille_wcloth.html.
I don't know if this idea has been presented yet, but DIY Learn to Knit kits are well accepted gift ideas. Make a pair of dowel knitting needles and put in a couple balls of acrylic, print out some stitch instructions and you're ready to go. I have given a few of these and the recipients seem to love the idea.

[amey]

Just checking in.  How are the addicts doing?

Last week I received 13 skeins of handpainted yarn that I ordered before joining YA.    I have plans for at least 1/2 of it - I just need to decide which skein to use first. 

I'm also working thru the PF Everyday Cardigan - I'm near the end of my first skein.  I was an idiot and chose sportweight yarn for my first sweater. 

~amey

[Keridiana]

I recently demoted myself because I ordered 2,000 yds of yarn on Ebay. But I'm going to make a size L man's vest as a xmas gift! So I had no idea how much I'd need!

(Excuses excuses)

Before that though, I had been purchase-free for 1 month and slowly whittling! 

[Horse Power]

Me, too. Ebay. Laceweight. For Creatures of the Reef shawl.

I did finally get around to making an inventory:
http://squirrelisknitting.blogspot.com/2005/07/yarn-inventory.html
(You can at least skip the part under it about the new order, they were out of what I wanted and never answered my second email.)

And guess what? My local Joanne's is moving their store and all the yarn is 30% off. I will NOT go nuts but I think this is an opportunity to get a few select basics.

I will just go change my button to acrylic right now. 

[Keridiana]

Now now, Horse Power - just b/c you slipped down to Acrylic doesn't mean you can't go any lower!  It's funny but once we break once, we feel it's not any worse to continue breaking our diets. Seriously, 30% isn't even that cheap. You can get yarn up to 50% off online ANY TIME.   As Vy once pointed out, we must remember that Yarn Will Always Be On Sale. Somewhere.