Yarn Hoarding. When Does A Stash Become A Hoard?

I do have hoarding tendencies. I admit it. I come from a family of hoarders. We don't hoard trash. All of my family have been specific hoarders. My Father couldn't bear to throw away nuts, bolts  screws and pieces of wood in case they came in handy ( as they frequently did) My Mum didn't seem to have the hoarding gene as she frequently threw away my toys when I was young just because I hadn't played with them for a week or so. When she died though we did find lots of things squirrelled away in drawers. My Brother has every book and record that he has ever bought. As he is now 74 and a book worm he now has lots of bookcases in his house and garage.

When I was younger my Gran used to say that I was  just like my Auntie Edna. She had wool shops in Wales but every house that she lived in had a room or two that was stacked high with knitting machines and wool. There was barely room to put your feet. As she didn't give a hoot about how she looked, never wore makeup or styled her hair, I was quite upset when told by my Gran that I was exactly like her. I thought that I would always be well dressed in heels, makeup and nice clothes and would never have a room like that in my house. How times change.

Roll on another 30 yrs and I have a dining room full of knitting machines and cones of yarn and a bedroom (albeit the smallest bedroom in the house) stacked high with wool. I now have overspill in there so am going to have to find another hidey hole. I guess that I am like my Auntie Edna after all. I can't use the larger spare bedroom as my Son and Daughter in Law use  it when they come to stay overnight or for a few days.

I just have to buy any yarn bargains that I see and I swear that I will have to live until I am about 100 to crochet my stash up  even if I stop buying now.. I seem to have got slowly worse the older I get and the fact that I now have the house to myself and no-one to complain apart from my dog. My son does moan when he stays and my friends just shake their heads at me. I survive in clutter. Not dirt as that would drive me crazy. I just create better in a cluttered envirnment. I like everything spread around me when I am crocheting. I just haven't got the gene to be tidy.

This is today's delivery of cotton yarn. The yellow has a silky thread running through it. The white is just plain cotton. This was such a bargain on EBay that it would have been rude to let it go without a bid on it.. I was the only bidder and so got it quite cheaply. The beige and multi colours were from the same seller. Not sure what they are made of but they will get used  up. I already have thoughts in my mind for what to make with them. The Big Wool Rowan booklet was a second hand bargain despite coming from the US. I am thinking about quadrupling wool up to knit on large  needles.

This is a photo of some aran cotton that I bought a couple of weeks ago. I took this photo so that a customer could choose a colour for a top that she has ordered from me. She chose white in the end.

This is my Ice Yarns order that arrived yesterday. I have 2 packs of the blue and 2 packs of the silver grey. It is a silky ribbon yarn and looks really nice. The single pack of grey is a lovely corded effect yarn which is so nice to crochet with and I just love the multi colours of the Baby Yarns of Ice. I also bought 9 balls of the red Emu Perle from EBay. It is a discontinued yarn but washes wonderfully well so I always try to pick up balls when I see them. Usually they only come in a couple of balls so I was really excited to manage to buy 9 balls in one shade. I still have a couple of sweaters that I crocheted in the Perle from when I had the shop. I keep looking at them and wondering whether I will ever fit back into them or whether I should unravel them and make something else with the yam.

When I was new to EBay and unsure of bidding etc I bought a huge box of machine cones. When they arrived they were really fine like a 1ply and too thin even for my machine so they have stuck on the shelf ever since. My friend Sue called on Monday and she had wound a couple of her cones together to make a lovely shade from which she crocheted a  shawl. I looked at my cones. I  had done this myself to make 2 really thick sweaters. one is shades of reds and another in purples for the winter if you remember. They came out so thick that I haven't actually worn them but come a really harsh snow and they are ready to be dragged out of the cupboard to keep me cosy.  This time I chose 4 cones in ice cream colours and then wound them together to make the ball in the centre of the page. I have now crocheted it together to make a top. I have had to watch as I kept leaving a strand behind and it formed a loop so I had to back track and redo a row or two. It's not finished yet but whoever buys this top can be assured of a one off design although I do have a bit left over on each cone that might make a child's sweater in the same shade.

I have been progressing a bit on the slow side with my crochet this week. I should try to speed up as  I do have a few orders in the pipeline. When I started my Etsy shop I didn't want to be that busy so that I am under pressure to finish orders off. I actually prefer to sell the things that inspire me to crochet. I did get asked to make a full sized  blanket but I turned that order down as I really do not have the patience for that.  So far I am coping very well but a couple more orders would be nice. Never satisfied am I? I still have hopes of one day exhibiting at a craft co-operative shop.

 I can't afford even a tiny shop but renting a very small space in a craft shop could be ideal for me to showcase my work and hopefully get some sales. If I was younger and in great health I would have liked to start up one of these co-operatives but I will leave it to the younger ones these days. We have an Arts and crafts place in Manchester in the Northern quarter but it comprises of people who rent small workshops space  individually in a communal space and so is well out of my price range. Another of my pipe dreams. My main idealistic dream is to be able to rent a small shop in Skiathos and spend the Summer attracting the tourists with my crochet. That idea is only feasible in my wildest dreams.

Happy crocheting. Hopefully I will have the top finished by my next blog.