Self Control?

While on the quest for a gift for a friend for her birthday, I stumbled upon a major deal at one of my favorite places to buy yarn...20% off all the yarn you could fit on one of those reusable shopping bags. Gah!!!!!

Boy, the stash building impulse was crazy strong. I ran through all of the rationalizations that normally let me buy yarn...See if any of these sound familiar:

"Gee, but if I bought the yarn to make this project for (fill in assorted
family member) for (insert holiday here) then I would be saving
us money in the long run..."

or

"But this may be the last time I ever find (fill in the name of a most luscious
yarn) in (fill in the name of a most luscious colorway) in a big enough quantity
to make (most awesome thing found on Ravelry in the last 72 hours) at such an amazingly low price".

Yep. It turns into your own personal Mad Libs of yarn justification. Just insert your favorite wooley words and you can almost talk yourself into any yarn purchase if you think even the smallest bit like I do. It's a truly amazing phenomenon.

With much gnashing of teeth and wringing of hands, I managed to leave the store with only what I came in for, a gift for my dear friend. Its a rare thing, but I still managed it. Ah, one small victory over the stash building impulse. The never ending battle.

What do you stash and why? What keeps you from stashing? How do you justify it either way?

Not so much knitting...

Due to our impending relocation, I have (gasp!) packed my stash. In order to keep my yarn related sanity, I do have a bag that contains the dreaded minimalist cardigan and the first sock of a pair that I can pick up and work on at any time, (not that much knitting is going on between the packing and sorting or things and the cavalcade of events surrounding the boy genius' 31st birthday) but its nice to know that it could happen, even if its not very likely.

How big is the stash? Well... that's another story. Not so big as to be a Herculean effort to move, but not so small that you don't notice it. Respectable in quality and quantity (if you don't count some of the crazy dollar store novelty yarn that magically appeared....it just looked so lonely in the store that I had to bring it home), my stash would fit inside a volkswagon...

ummm....they do make buses right?

Its funny how I didn't seem to want to knit anything from my stash until it was packed away...Since the last of the yarn and fiber boxes got taped up, its all I can think about..Stash! Stash! Stash! All the projects that I could be doing with all that yarn start dancing in my head. All of the things I could be cussing instead of the minimalist cardigan! (this sweater is my nemesis, the Joker to my Batman)

One week and counting till the stash makes it to its new home, and all the yarny goodness can come out of hiding! I can't wait! Till then, I'll be the one huddled in the corner trying to fight the withdrawal. Wish me luck :)