How Much Yarn Can One Girl Have? Answer: A Lot.

It’s 7:52pm on September 27th, 2022. I’m moving to a new apartment in 2 and a half days. And instead of packing, as I should be, I’m writing a blog post about yarn. Par for the course, really.

I… have a lot of yarn, y’all. Nothing throws that into sharp focus like packing boxes upon boxes.

Upon boxes. We’re up to five medium-sized boxes, and I believe I have more yarn in a basket somewhere.

Some people may argue that I have a problem. I argue that I have a collection.

(On a more serious note, I argue that it’s not a problem unless you are spending money you can’t spare, amassing a collection that outgrows the space you have available, or find yourself stressed out by your collection.)

There’s the old joke that stitching and buying yarn are two different hobbies, and I’m here to tell you that they really, really are. I can do one much faster than I can do the other and uh… the lack of FOs should tell you which one that is.

But I love it. When I look at my yarn collection, I see potential. I see what could be. I see dreams and plans and aspirations. 

I see sensory bliss. I see all of my favorite colors: creams and mustards and pinks and mints. I see fluff and floof. I see things I can squish and rub against my face and sniff (what? Don’t act like you don’t do it, too. That wool smell is amazing!)

I see gifts, to myself and, eventually, to others. I see creation in a raw form.

As I put each skein, ball and cake into a box, I found myself reminiscing about them. Where I got them and when, what I had planned for them, what I was thinking when I bought them, who gifted them to me. If it’s a partial skein, what did I make from it? A pattern I wrote? Is it something I love? Something I gave away? Something in time-out, probably never to be seen again?

Sometimes, I find cakes with ends that have been chewed on by my cat, Riley. I’ll have to find a way to stop her. But hey, I’m glad someone enjoys the yarn as much as I do.

In a few days, I’ll be in a new apartment where I’ll have a dedicated crafting space for the first time. I get to aesthetic-ify it and make it pretty, make it a wonderful place to sit and knit and crochet and create. I’ll sit down and open up my many boxes of yarn and begin the long, arduous process of unpacking and reorganizing it all. And it’ll make me so, so happy.