Knitting Rules! (7 page)
Authors: Stephanie Pearl–McPhee
Nobody gives you socks at the end of a musical, even if you buy the good seats.
I suffer under the delusion that I have my yarn “stored.” Nothing could be further from the truth. In reality, all I have is my yarn â at the best of times â”contained.” Once you admit your full and decent love affair with yarn
and knitting, there'll come a time when the stash outgrows whatever box, bin, or basket you've been keeping it in. For me, this time came and went a long time ago ⦠so I now have a really eclectic system.
People often ask me my yarn-storage secrets. How I get so much yarn in such a small house without having to use it as carpet? Here's how. I break it up, I think outside the box (literally), I consider what to do with one skein at a time, and I never say die.
I store yarn in “the yarn closets” and in plastic bins stacked in my office. I have several bookshelves full, and boxes, bins, and baskets throughout the house. My storage needs long ago surpassed my storage possibilities, and since then I've been a big fan of the “nook-and-cranny” system. I put yarn above and behind books on bookshelves, in cupboards in and around the other things that are there, and in any other wee space I can fit a skein.
The concept of a yarn diet, as difficult as it may be to approach, is a fair one. One simply refrains from new yarn purchases, using only stash yarns, until the required number of yards or pounds has been “lost.” I admit you have to be pretty far gone before you need this sort of drastic action ⦠but you could be there. Let's get an assessment:
Question 1
If asked to move so that you were at least 10 feet away from yarn, you would be:
on the other side of the room.
on the other side of the house.
in the bathroom.
outside on the sidewalk.
Question 2
How many people have mentioned your yarn “weight” to you in the last year?
Nobody; how could anyone tell I have yarn?
Only my husband, but he can be insensitive like that.
Three, but they all live in this house, want closet space, and can't be trusted.
Only my neighbor across the road, but that's because he can see in our windows. I got curtains.
Question 3
Has anyone ever told you that you have too much wool?
Nope.
Just my husband, but he can be insensitive like that.
The lady who owns the yarn shop said something, but I think she's jealous.
Not a single person. Then again, I haven't had much company since I gave up the couch for yarn space.