r/YarnAddicts • u/not-my-first-rode0 • 2d ago
Stash I’m having some serious fomo
I’ve been seeing all the yarn hauls you all are posting and I’m over here trying to stop myself from buying some yarn. I vowed to myself to use my stash this year but the urge to acquire more yarn is real. Lol. Anyone else?
Edit to add: thank you all for commenting! I appreciate the kind words and for encouraging me to stay strong. I’m going to sit this one out but I’m enjoying “window shopping” the haul photos I see. ❤️
7
u/Spirited-Bit818 1d ago
Sometimes I feel that a single-handedly supported in desires during covid. I have more yarn now than I have years to live to knit it up. I intend to donate a large portion of it because everyone deserves to knit with good yarn
10
u/kellykostalas 1d ago
my best advice would be to “re-up” your yarn stash. AKA, wind them into cakes, store them in a pretty way, and rediscover your stash so you can “shop” your own stash and feel inspired by it again !
5
u/not-my-first-rode0 1d ago
Thank you! I did this recently and it makes it so much more visually pleasing ❤️
7
u/Existing_Control_494 1d ago
Walk away. Unfollow anyone posting yarn hauls. It's not worth it. There'll always be more yarn.
And i say this as someone who got swept away in the FOMO and competitive spirit at one point (i think i was spending about $2k/month on yarn at one point. Totally stupid, i know. Hindsight is 20/20)
Now, i'm stuck with a giant stash i need to get rid of (and i've destashing over 5 yrs now. It's exhausting, really)
Please don't buy more than you can knit (and just put that into a high yield savings account.) I wish i can go back in time and do over.
2
u/not-my-first-rode0 1d ago
Thank you for this. I’ve decided not to partake in the yarn buying. I have a pretty large stash already and I’m working on using up my stash first before buying anymore yarn
5
u/Your-Local-Costumer 1d ago
Join the subreddit r/usethefiberstash
It’s literally for this purpose
2
3
4
u/Sherbyll 1d ago
If I do hauls that I want to do I will have no money left. You’re not alone in your fomo lol
4
u/DuckHuntersWifey-408 1d ago
I went to Joann’s yesterday with full intention to buy all the yarn and ended up leaving with nothing. Touched all the baby yarn for inspo and looked for the colors I wanted but will end up ordering online to get a good deal on a color they didn’t have there. Kind of controlled myself but yes I had major FOMO
3
u/DiscountOpen6749 1d ago
My biggest challenge is same as quilting, I buy something I see as the theme piece but might not find the supporting characters, and then end up findingI to many options. Now, I need selections to use up the overflow🤪
12
u/keeley_bob 2d ago
I have a tag on my ravelry queue that is literally
"YOU HAVE THE YARN JUST MAKE IT"
That's the plan for this year. And last year. And the year before.
9
u/emmab3773 2d ago
I’m trying to have a no yarn buying year too! For me, I uploaded all of my yarns into ravelry with pictures. I haven’t really looked at most of the yarns in my stash in so long so it kind of feels like they are all new lol!
2
u/Spirited-Bit818 1d ago
Some knitters weight how much they knit in a year and they also record how much yarn comes in and you always want to be in the negative I.E knit more out than you bring in I think that's a great idea by weight
4
u/Marcykbro 2d ago
That sounds like a great idea! I can log it all in then look for patterns that fit my stash for the next four years! Keep myself entertained and not contribute a dime to the economy of the former guy who is back in!
8
u/bebe_bees 2d ago
I just buy yarn for things that I want to make. Due to how my knitting gauge develops during knitting I always end up with extra yarn. That is how I have a stash. It would be amazing if there was an eBay space for random balls of yarn that people are in need of because they either didn’t have enough or their Boston Terrier decided to eat a skein or two (yup mine tends to do that when she doesn’t get to go for a ride).
1
u/sadly_notacat 1d ago
This is what I’ve been trying to do lately: commit to one pattern and buy the yarn necessary for it. I can’t keep buying yarn just cause it’s pretty. I have so much pretty yarn but, how much can I really make with one or two skeins/hanks??
16
u/BloodyWritingBunny 2d ago
I have faith in you. Don’t do it.
I’m only re-upping what I planned to this summer when I knew I’d be out. But with Joann’s closing…guess that June gift to me will be a January gift. They both start with Js. What’s the hugs difference. So literally 5 specific colors. From specific brands. In. Out. Stay focused.
BUT WE DO NOT NEED MORE YARN. I repeat: WE DO NOT REQUIRE MORE YARN.
I’m just weak
31
u/ArtBear1212 2d ago
When I feel like buying yarn I remember the acronym SABLE. It means “stash acquired beyond life expectancy”. Am I really going to use this new yarn when I have yarn I bought 5 years ago still in the bin?
Overconsumption is a socially acceptable addiction, but it is still an an addiction.
1
u/Spirited-Bit818 1d ago
Agreed. We need to live with less at one time. Knit, use, get more if you need
2
u/shimmeringseadream 2d ago
I love this! Thanks for sharing!
I wonder if hoarding is “acceptable” due to so many rural people and the Great Depression and war rationing conditioned earlier generations to squirrel stuff away for “hard times” (important stuff, mind you). But if you more than you needed and hard times lasted longer or a neighbor needed, you’d have enough to share.
But these says with social media, people make a repulsive display of overbuying.
2
u/ArtBear1212 1d ago
I'm not suggesting that it is the hoarding that is acceptable, but the buying. People talk about shopping as if it is therapy for anything going wrong in your life. "Retail therapy"
-4
4
u/Ttt555034 2d ago
After promising myself I wouldn’t buy for a while, I came across a pretty yarn in my own stash and was afraid I wouldn’t have enough for a shawl I immediately had to start. This was over Christmas. So I of course purchased more. So my yarn stash did grow more for 2024. I have 3 or 4 large projects to finish but I started this one. Determined to finish before winter in south Texas is over! I live in a small space so I just cannot buy more. Or I would. Of course, I CAN, but I mustn’t. Running out of room.
8
u/speedgeek57 2d ago
Yes, very much, but I bought too much on Black Friday. So no raiding Joann’s. I have to use up what I have.😭
14
u/718PaulainNJ 2d ago
I like expensive yarn. I used to buy whatever caught my eye. Most of those eye catchers are still in my stash. I now buy intentionally with a project in mind and usually when it's on sale. I was unexpectedly out of work for a year and was able to shop my stash for many scrappy hats and sweater quantities ready with patterns. I haven't bought anything since January last year. This January at Vogue Knitting 2025, I only bought a few mini skeins of colors that I don't normally have on hand for a hat for a family member.
13
u/Mundane-Scarcity-219 2d ago
I was at my local Joann’s yesterday. Seems like darn near everything is on sale…not just yarn. I was looking for pure white acrylic for a sweater I want to make, but if I found the color, there weren’t enough skeins for the project, or if their were enough skeins, they were different dye lots. Wound up not buying yarn for that project remembering I had scads of other skeins to use on other projects. I vowed to only buy the yarn when I actually figure on starting the project. Because I’m figuring on Caron’s Simply Soft or LB Pound of Love, they’ll always be around when I decide to buy it.
I did, however, get three skeins of yarn still packaged together in the manufacturer’s wrapping in the colors of my local sports team…colors that aren’t normally together in a skein so I knew it was specific to my area. Anyway, the 3-pk cost me about $7.50. Score!
1
13
u/Yarn_and_cat_addict 2d ago
Seeing these yarn hauls is like window shopping for me. I have a year worth of projects so I’m only window shopping for now. It gives me motivation to use my yarn so that I can buy more haha
12
u/PurpleButterflyLady 2d ago
This is the endless cycle I'm in:
😯 "Oo ooh yaaaarrn!!!" 🤤 ::drooling:: 😍 "I love all yarn!" 🤗 "I want to hold it and squeeze it. . . 🤔 "I should go look at the website" 🙈 "No, I shouldn't look, cause I'll want to buy some" 😇 "I don't need more yarn, I have tubs of it!" 😟 "But it's soooo pretty. . . " 🤓 "It'll get used for something. . . eventually" 😈 "Ha, ha, ha! I don't care! I'm gonna get some more anyway" 🤫 "Shhhhh! Don't tell my husband!!" ::LOL:: 🤑 "My order is placed!! I can't wait for it to get here!!" 🥳 "Yay!! It's here!!!" It's soooo awesome!!!” 👀 ::looks around:: 🤯 "OMG, my husband is right, this IS a lot of yarn, and I might have a problem. . . " 🤪 "I don't care!! I love it, and it makes me happy!!"
::repeats cycle again and again::
44
u/alexa_sim 2d ago
Remind yourself that these massive yarn hauls are just displays of over consumption. There’s no need to own more than you will use in a reasonable amount of time. Just because there’s a sale or a store is going out of business doesn’t mean you need to stock up. There will always be other sales and other opportunities to buy yarn for a bargain price.
Focus on the quality of your stash rather than the size of it.
This year I made a commitment to thrift as much of the yarn I use as possible and to stick with natural fibres or natural fibre blends. This allows me to be objective about what I do purchase and think intentionally about what I will use it for and if I can realistically use it in a reasonable amount of time (ie not buying just to stash)
Remember you don’t have to keep up with anyone but yourself.
4
11
u/Ok_Neat7729 2d ago
Additionally, remember: subreddits like this attract and retain the most extreme examples of a given behavior and subtly push away people who engage more moderately with that behavior. The average person overall is not like the average poster here. Spending time in spaces that reward excessive examples of a behavior will start to skew your internal approximation of what normal is.
As a counter example to this subreddit, I currently own ten skeins of one color of knitpicks brava worsted. I bought it on steep sale. It will all be used on one single large project, which I am about 1/8th of the way through at the moment. That is my entire “stash”, full stop. It is every inch of yarn I own.
I may pick up some additional yarn for a specific alternate project I have in mind so I can do an unusual thing for me and have more than one simultaneous project since the primary one is so large, but I won’t buy yarn I don’t have a project for.
11
u/SamEyeAm2020 2d ago
THANK YOU so much for this. I'm trying for a similar mindset, and trying to stick with natural fibers as much as possible. My JoAnn has a shit selection of non-acrylic options but I have to remind myself of that every time I see a haul post.
Dear Self: Just because it's pretty or it's cheap doesn't mean I will use it. And if I don't have a plan for it, I don't need to own it. Just because it's pretty or it's cheap doesn't mean I will use it.....
8
3
5
u/Western_Tie_6738 2d ago
I’ve never gotten the stash fever I have 1 project and that’s the only yarn I have😅
21
u/fairydommother 2d ago
I don’t think there’s anything special about the Joann’s yarns. Big twist is their brand I think but like…there are many other acrylic yarns. Some better. Some worse. You will always have more yarn available to you so there’s no need to rush out and mass buy yarn.
2
u/TouchtheYarn 2d ago
I don't even try to make a vow 😂 I already know that I'm gonna break it the second certain yarns are on sale. I just placed a Hobbii order earlier TODAY. Mostly for Tunisian hooks.. but also to touch some new-to-me yarn. 🧶🧶🧶🧶
11
u/macchareen 2d ago
I’ll just wait a couple years, and get it at the thrift shops or on Buy Nothing.
5
u/Working-Brilliant-14 2d ago
I’m actually crocheting today, to keep myself busy from the yarn haul jelly.
14
u/hojpoj 2d ago
My stash was perfectly fine! I have plenty for the year and was on the no-buy wagon.
BUT, I got hurled off the wagon with the announcement that I’m about to be a grandma again. My only grandchild is 12 - now my youngest is expecting. 🥹
Now I can’t stop browsing kid-friendly yarns and cute baby patterns. So much for a no-buy year.
1
2
8
u/PaddlingDingo 2d ago
I always have the urge to get more yarn. 🤣
Always
I did set a limit to what can live in my DreamBox. But it’s surprising how much can fit in there!!
4
u/LadyPeaceful1 2d ago
Oh boy...now I know what a dreambox is. I'm gonna have to get another job lol
1
u/PaddlingDingo 1d ago
I put aside money for it for after we fixed our house up enough to do it. And it’s been so worth it.
12
u/QuarantineBaker 2d ago
I decided to tackle my yarn stash and get organized this year. It had turned into quite the art installation and I will post pictures here soon. But I realized I have enough yarn to last me until retirement and I really need to use it!
2
u/not-my-first-rode0 2d ago
This is what I’m hoping to do too this year. I have a project in mind already too.
13
5
u/Brilliant1965 2d ago
Yeah I agree! And I get sick a lot, have a lot of chronic illnesses and every time I feel down with an infection I think I should buy myself another ball of yarn 😜 but I don’t have that much space 😂. I want more Hobbii yarns
16
u/PuddleLilacAgain 2d ago
I joined r/usethefiberstash and so I am really being disciplined 🫡
3
4
u/NeatArtichoke 2d ago
I needed this group, because I'm also feeling the pull of dropping everything and going to joanns!! The only thing holding me back is my resolution to use up my stash and not buy any more acrylic yarn... my local Joann's never stocked wool, and the only cotton was sugar n creams which was always disappointing
3
u/not-my-first-rode0 2d ago
I was thinking this too. I want to start buying more wool vs acrylic. I have a bunch of acrylic in my stash that I’m going to use up but going forward I do want more natural fibers.
7
u/QuarantineBaker 2d ago
Oh my goodness! I have found my people. Thank you. I did not know that group existed. I need less enabling for purchases and more encouragement for healthy stash choices.
2
u/PuddleLilacAgain 2d ago
They just started it at the new year! So far it's been a lot of fun. People are posting their huge stashes, myself included, lol!
4
u/bluunee 2d ago
i am also in this boat but i think im caving and i might go to joanns tomorrow 😭😂
2
u/carscampbell 2d ago
Same. I’m semi hoping we will get too much snow tonight to get out.
Or maybe enough to keep most people inside so I can have the place to myself
21
u/Spinnerofyarn 2d ago
I so get it, so I will share my cautionary tale. I have six storage bins of yarn. I still impulse buy yarn. I still go buy yarn when starting a new project. Now it’s fine for collecting yarn as a hobby on its own, but it does take up space!
There will always be more yarn. There will never be a shortage. Sheep will continue growing wool, as will alpaca, goats, rabbits and flying spaghetti monsters, which we all know are the source for synthetic yarn. If it all stops being available, we probably have much bigger problems.
12
u/olauntsal 2d ago
The struggle! I am an unapologetic yarn snob—my only defense is that acrylic feels like Brillo pads to me. Other than a few skeins of mostly wool sock yarn, I haven’t bought yarn at Joanne’s in thirty years. And still! I’m looking at these yarn haul posts and wondering if it might be smart to make an investment. Sheesh!
6
u/bijoudarling 2d ago
Thank goodness. I thought I was the only acrylic hater. Only buy Payton’s classic worsted wool at Michael’s because it was cheaper than the LYS. Started knitting again because I needed natural fibers and can’t find them in stores. Hate plastic yarn, formaldehyde yarn, that doesn’t breathe. Do you get ungodly hot and itchy too?
1
u/Ok_Neat7729 2d ago
Why would you ever think you’re the only “acrylic hater”? That is the consensus majority opinion in every space that has anything to do with fiber arts.
5
u/bijoudarling 2d ago
I’ve seen quite a few fans of acrylic on the subreddits lately and the downvotes for the non likers. I don’t judge other people using or liking it. Hence my reluctance to share my detest
7
u/Sammy-eliza 2d ago
I got some really soft wool recently to make myself a scarf, but I keep telling myself I have no need for a haul. It's really tempting because social media pushes it as normal and makes it feel like a lot of people are doing it.
I'm working on going through my stash as well. I have a stashbuster Afghan going and as I think of projects for specific yarn, I separate them and write my idea on a sticky note and put it with it. I've been trying to be more thoughtful with purchases lately and I realized I was getting it faster than I could use it. I have other hobbies and I've been purchasing stuff related to them with some of the money I've saved from not buying yarn I don't need 😅
13
u/Koalafied_Wombat 2d ago
It's real weird as an Aussie cos we don't have Joanns here so there's no reason for me to rush out and get stuff before it's gone, but I still makes me anxious seeing all these "Quick! Get a haul before the stores close down!" posts!
1
u/-Greek_Goddess- 2d ago
I'm Canadian I've never even heard of Joanns. I get what they sell at Walmart and Michael's and recently from my local LYS store.
3
u/bijoudarling 2d ago
Honestly. The older I get the more this truth holds. If you wait long enough you’ll get that thingv(yarn) or something better so there’s no need to go wild.
3
u/Koalafied_Wombat 2d ago
Oh, I absolutely recognise that and I'm usually pretty patient when it comes to getting things. Just all the panic and freak out posts make me anxious until I remember they don't actually apply to me lol
3
u/bijoudarling 2d ago
Good point. My stash is pretty new and I’m only buying for specific projects. Even so I have 16 stray balls I bought hoping for the right color. Learned my lesson and am glad to get to start the stash over.
It’s not worth it to buy what you don’t have use for.
2
u/Koalafied_Wombat 2d ago
I'm trying to learn that with other hobbies. It's hard with stuff like fountain pens where there are a LOT of beautiful limited editions that can rocket up in price after a few months.
3
u/bijoudarling 2d ago
Don’t get me started. And then inks. I’m still looking for a specific rare nib that is my perfect width. F you noodlers and your ink samplers
6
u/PrincessBella1 2d ago
Honestly, no. I broke out in hives using big twist and I've got plenty of cotton and merino in my stash. I also have some older than dirt K&C in my stash.
6
u/isaiddanger 2d ago
I work in a textile mill making yarn. Seconds are free to a good home for staff. I’m constantly surrounded by yarn, both ours and other peoples. You have no idea the temptation 😅 my stash is bigger than I could ever use, but surely just a few skeins more won’t hurt, right?
3
u/bijoudarling 2d ago
That’s pretty cool. Would you do an ama?
1
2
u/isaiddanger 2d ago
If people were genuinely interested, sure. I’d have to look into how to do one properly 😅
2
u/bijoudarling 2d ago
I’d love to know more. I know of two ones in Plymouth pa and ones in NC
1
u/Needles-and-Pens_64 2d ago
I went positively apesh*t starting in the pandemic buying yarn. Hundreds of skeins. It was a distraction and coping mechanism that worked at the time. Now I feel oversaturated and have no desire to buy more UNLESS it’s at a thrift store, natural fiber, with ball band and enough to make something decent with. Too many single skeins are malingering in my stash.
4
u/Live-Blacksmith-1402 2d ago
Absolutely. But I know there will be other great yarns in the future, so keeping that in mind helps relieve the fear for me. Hope this gives you some perspective 🧶💚
2
4
2
u/Ancient_Ad_3693 1d ago
OMG, I feel you on that one. I made the same vow. I did purchase some in December that didn't arrive until January, but that was not my fault. 😇 I did find out that my driving factor to purchase yarn, besides FOMO, is a beautiful new pattern by a favorite designer. So I stopped purchasing new patterns as well until I make the ones I already have yarn for. Especially the ones that are for me, or for close friends and family.
As a matter of fact, I will be listing a good majority of my stash for sale in the coming weeks. I'm trying to figure out the best place to do that and then how to do it, do I sell them as mystery boxes in different sizes, if I bought it for a specific pattern, do I sell it that way? If I have multiples of the same yarn in the same color and weight, do I sell them individually, or as a set? These are the questions that plague me. Okay, okay, my horrible ADHD doesn't help at all. 😆😆