It’s obvious from the comments that, for the most part, we all do pretty much the same things. I do have a couple of friends who start one project, work on it til it’s done, then they think about what they’re going to do next. You can see from my knitting reports and the patterns I buy that there’s no way ever that I will make all the patterns I buy. Thank goodness with Ravelry, Dropbox, Google Docs, etc., there aren’t boxes of patterns sitting around here and that will be one less thing for Vince or Chad to have to go through when I’m gone. Let’s just pray they don’t figure out how to get into my files and see all the patterns. I guess the good news is . . when that happens, I’ll be gone and it won’t matter to me! 🙂
Basically, we have three months til the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018. I still make New Year’s Resolutions, which I never manage to keep, but more than making resolutions that will undoubtedly be broken, I also try to look back and think forward and see what I’m doing that needs improvement, what I’m doing that I feel is right.
One thing I’ve been doing is getting too caught up in the game playing. For years I did Camp Loopy but then it got to be too much with it being in the summer with the gardening and having to knit 800 yards in a month was too much on my hands so I let that go. I’ve finished three years of Loopy Academy but have dropped out. There were more things that I had no interest in doing than there were projects that thrilled me.
Eat, Sleep, Knit has the Yarnathon and that works so much better for me because (1) we can use ESK yarn we’ve already purchased and (2) the rules/categories are very broad and I can always find something that I want to do plus, you don’t have to do EVERYTHING in order to get points but even with that, I found myself buying yarn just to get a star for the team. I’ve probably spent about 100 times the value of any prize we get. I’m much too competitive to halfway play these games so . . next year, I may submit a few things at ESK if I have the desire but I’m not out to win next year.
I want to do the things I want to do. I want to use Miss Babs’ yarn, I want to order Craftsy yarn when it’s on sale if that’s what I want to make. I feel like, if I buy yarn (and we all know I will), I want to buy from more indie dyers, from more Etsy sellers . . not so much the manufactured type commercial yarns, even though some of those have an actual human dyer doing the work. I want to use my stash. I do love the yarn I have but it’s been so much easier to buy new than find stash yarn, and the new colors are so pretty!
For those who knew me when I was an avid quilter, I did the same thing with fabric . . bought, bought, bought! And then . . I stopped! No desire for fabric, no desire to shop for fabric. I continued to quilt. I think all the quilts in my last two books came from stash fabric. I feel the same thing coming with yarn . . not a whole lot of desire to shop.
Hopefully, with retirement getting closer, I won’t have another buying obsession . . time will tell.
I think most of us are the same way. Our hobby is quilting, but our hobby is also shopping for and buying fabric. Our hobby is knitting but our hobby is also searching for the perfect pattern and yarn and buying those patterns and yarns. Nothing wrong with any of that but it’s time for me to take a bit of a different direction with my knitting hobby – hopefully more stash knitting and less yarn buying.
Dotti says
Companies have marketing department that know how to touch our buttons. SALE, or my how that pushes my button. I am learning that I really can go in to a quilt store(or any store) and come out without buying anything. But then I want my local quilt shop to stay in business. So yes I buy locally. Luckily I am not an online shopper for that could be dangerous. Then on the other hand, what other”vice” do you have. You raise your food, you cook with little eating out, you take care of chickens and pretty good care of Vince. You deserve to have something you can splurge on just for you.
dezertsuz says
Yes, the buying was part of all the fun. I’d probably still be doing it, but retirement comes at a price. =) When I started back to school, I told myself it didn’t matter if I got As or not because this is just for fun. But I can already feel the satisfaction each time I get one, and the push to make more. LOL I’m thinking some leopard spots never change. LOL
Alison says
Was at a quilt show on Friday and noticed that most of the people were at the merchants and hardly gave more than passing glance at the quilts. I am wondering what it is about shopping that thrills so much. But I have noticed with myself that as I zoom towards retirement the desire to buy is fading away. The shop owners are sneaky – only selling kits for some special things – never just the pattern so we can use up the stash.
Carmel says
Such a great post that applies to many aspects of my life. I’m a quilter but have long stopped buying. Like I used to. I’m also a teacher and went through quite a long period of buying resources, teaching reference books and then moved to buying resources online which acquiring laminators and boxes of laminating pouches and on it went. My current work is outside of a classroom so I don’t need any of those.. I have to say my bank account and my husband are so much happier. Thanks for writing this.
Carolyn says
I’m the opposite…I always have a hard time convincing myself to spend the money on fabric or yarn, unless I absolutely fall in love with something! My purchases are either to finish a project, start an important project that has a deadline, or because my husband makes me! Once a year for my birthday I get a coupon for a quilt shop that is about an hour from me. That’s the only time I buy new fabric…and I still haven’t used the fabric I bought the last few years. Every year I tell him I don’t need more fabric and he insists we go anyway and find something. He’s a good man! 🙂
Dar in Mo says
I too have stopped buying fabrics at quilt shops, but I still am piecing and quilting a lot from my stash. My DH was one who never knew what to get me for birthdays, Christmas and special days, so a gift certificate to one or more LQS was what he got me. He has since stopped doing that because to tell the truth, I still have 3 unused GC cards with balances on them. I will have to buy some other quilting items soon before I lose the cards! They are from 3 or 4 years ago!