Post 100- The first step is admitting it

The magical 100th blog post seems to be a bit of a thing amongst the bloggers of the world, an opportunity to write something seriously profound. But meh, I am not an overly profound sort.

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Instead I decided I should stand up and admit my knitting/spinning/fibre obsession. And make a few teeny rules for controlling it.

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So I admit it, fibre is my obsession, I was trying to work out why it has become more so than other crafts, here's what I came up with so far:

• It doesn't cost too much, well ok, it can, but it doesn't have to.
• There always seems to be something new to learn
• If you run out of techniques to learn (not sure that is possible) there will always be new patterns
• And new yarns, oh so many many yarns in a mind boggling range of colours and fibres
• It is portable- can be taken on the bus, in the car, almost anywhere
• I can do it while I watch TV
• It can be done sat on the sofa, so I don't have to be tucked away in a separate room all alone
• It doesn't make too much mess, well the knitting part, the fibre prep more so!
• It can be picked up and worked on without ages of getting ready
• And in theory can be put back down after a minute or two ("just one more row!?")
• It makes things that can be useful, rather than just generating more clutter
• I can make things as gifts
• The Thursday night knitting group
• Ravelry

I am certain there will be more, but those were the ones that popped into my head. As obsessions go I don't think it is a bad one to have, and my OH tolerates it. But, and there is always a but, I do need to make sure I don't let it affect my uni work. To this end I have created a few rules for weekdays to kick in officially from next Monday-

• No Rav between 9-5
• No more than 30 minutes of knitting between 9-5

Of course there are a few exceptions, like days declared as holiday, knitting while I wait for my Supervision meetings and on the bus travelling in to uni.

The next element of my obsession that needs attention is this:

That box contains some of my stash, it used to close! This is all I think of as my stash, but as I think more about it there's also:

• A washed fleece drying in the dining room
• An unwashed fleece sat in the dining room waiting to be washed (fortunately it is not smelly)
• A fleece I am holding for someone until they collect it (only sort of counts)
• My WIP basket in the lounge
• The most current "I am working on this" on the coffee table
• A box and 2 bags of prepared fluff sat on my spinning wheel
• A cardboard box containing about 15 balls of Lion Brand Woolease that I intended to use for socks but ahve decided it is not suitable
• Miscellaneous supplies in the loft (so miscellaneous that I don't know what is up there!)

Some people might say I have a problem! But I console myself by looking at other stashes on Rav that way overshadow mine. I would like to close that box though, so the plan is this (last list):

• Finish drying the clean fibre and store it in one of those vacuum compression bags.
• Wash the dirty fibre, dry it and store it in a vac bag.
• Try to card a good handful of the washed fluff most days to convert it to useful roving and then to yarn.
• Have a sort through the stash box and loft store, attempt to sell/donate/giveaway anything I will never use.
• Knit
• Spin
• Stop buying yarn (exceptions are sales, but not online ones, and specific projects)

That should clear it, I am hoping to be able to close the box within the next month.

I am not going to repeat the list from a couple of weeks ago, but I also have a hearty list of WIPs and planned projects. I want to focus on getting those done and try not to add more to the list. Or at least not add faster than I clear, unlike this week when I cleared 2 but added 3.

Right, as promised, not overly profound, and only really of interest to me (so thank you if you are still reading at this point). Now to try and stick to all of the above and become a tidy, organised knitter/spinner with many FOS .