Reasons I Retired and What's Happening Now: Yarn.

Reason 63 and Reason 5

Ah, the lovely textures and colors of yarn! While I can blame my grandmother for my obsession with yarn, I can’t blame her for what I have accumulated over the years! When people find out I knit, they tend to drop off bags of what their Aunt Emily left behind on my doorstep. And who am I to refuse free yarn?

But even for me, my yarn collection was out of control. I would hunt for something I just KNEW I had purchased and couldn’t find it. Then I would go out and buy it again.

A few weeks ago, I decided it was time to declutter the situation and get my growing piles of yarn under control. First, I headed to the local Home Depot where my son and I purchased two five-shelf utility racks. Then I purged the Dollar Tree of all the shoebox-size plastic boxes I could find. Don’t bother looking; there are none left in the tri-state area.

I started by dumping out bag after bag of yarn onto my bed and then sorting into colors. I went so far as to attach labels to each box. With the help of Allen, I cleared a corner of my office, aka my daughter’s former bedroom, and got to work arranging. Like most projects, after a few hours, I was smacking myself in the head and wondering why I had ever started this.

!

But I am pleased to say that my yarn is all neatly arranged and easy to find. As a bonus, the utility shelves nicely divide my room into “office space” and “craft space.” I even used a pocket chart I brought home from school that serves to hold notes!

If you’re looking for me this winter, I’ll be here with a cup of tea, writing and knitting and reading. All at the same time.

ODE TO YARN

To yarn I write this little ode
My love of yarn will not grow old.
Give me a skein of any color.
I love yarn like no other.
It’s not so much the project that matters
For things can be knitted in starts and spatters.
What really counts, while yarn is fine,
Is that all this lovely yarn is MINE!

Do you have a hobby that might have become an obsession?