How I End up with Stashes

Today I felt the urge to go shopping for yarn. Doug and I recently started taking a free local crochet class together. We like the company, the activity is peaceful and potentially useful, and it's something we can do together.

At this point, my actual production is half of a scarf, a decorative heart, most of a rose, and the first few rounds of a hat. In other words, I haven't done a lot and most of my projects are unfinished. I have been reading every crochet book that appeals at the library, and a good number additional from Kindle unlimited, plus I have a few that I found very inexpensively at thrift stores. I'm beginning to grok how crochet works.

I'm also beginning to look at projects and say, "Ooh!"

So today I noticed that this is an action pattern for me. I love to have ideas and make plans. In our civilization, it is almost as easy to shop as to imagine.

(Plus, I have a reading superpower. So it's not unusual that I have read more than a dozen books about crochet in the two months since we first took a class.)

The part of completing a project that takes more effort and traction begins after shopping. It's easy for me to imagine a project, purchase the materials, and then bog down before completing the project. Voila! Stash!

I have stashes for reading (of course, the unread book pile, even with my superpower), origami (somewhat trimmed before our last move), and jewelry-making (including a variety of rings for chainmaille and a wide selection of beads, especially in the seed bead categories). All of this is perfectly normal for someone who likes imagining and planning and lives in a civilization like ours that provides a beautiful abundance of materials.

I have the power of walking to my bead stash and selecting from one hundred and fifty shades of Delicas to make a harmonious colorway for a kaleidocycle! Can you imagine how much more freedom that gives me than someone who has to make their own beads? Or can only trade for perhaps six different colors, twice a year when the merchant comes to town?

I do love the abundance our creative, diverse, and vast markets have given us. I also recognize that my time will limit how many projects I complete, and my enjoyment of an orderly home will limit how much I can stash for the support of future projects.

So for the moment, I'm resisting swelling up a stash of yarn.

I tell you, though, that book of crochet flowers is mighty tempting, and would also require about 8 colors of yarn in each of three different weights to complete. We'll see how I manage.