7. Going on a ban. The yarn ban is by no means the first one I’ve been on. When I was in university, I worked in the lingerie department at Sears, and I bought so many unmentionables that I went on an underwear ban for six months (as in no purchasing, not no wearing). I’ve also gone on clothing bans for months at a time, and the occasional restaurant ban, whereby we don’t eat out at all for a month, except with family (when Dad generously pays). So while this isn’t the first ban I’ve done, it’s certainly the longest. It’s not a bad idea to do once in awhile, when you know you’ve had enough of something. I’ve also heard people call them “fasts”, like you’re fasting from watching movies, or whatever else. It helps you practice self-control, and plan for what you really want.
When I got the idea of a yarn ban into my head, we were driving back from a holiday in Southern Ontario, and I was thinking of something my favourite knit blogger has said on a few occasions: that she has more yarn than she could knit in a lifetime. And not only is she a super fast knitter, she’s also a generous one, giving away stash to knitting friends and family. Having established that I’m not particularly fast, and that much of my stash is dedicated to particular projects, I began to draw up a list of what I wanted to knit with the yarn I had. The list ran to twenty-plus items, and realistically, that could carry me through several years without yarn buying. Since I do want to have some flexibility to try out other projects, and ones for baby girls especially, I decided to start with one year of no new yarn. I worked through the list pretty much in the order I wrote it, prioritizing projects that had languished for two years or so. A fair bit of it got finished, and I hope to post all the finished products soon. I also kept track of projects I really wanted to knit, and which would require the purchase of yarn. This coming year will be a mishmash of finishing other things on that list (seeing as I only got through the first 6 or 7 items), and starting new ones with new yarn.
Important note: knitting, like most artsy hobbies, is NOT a money-saver. It’s actually often cheaper to buy a sweater than it is to knit one, for instance. And it’s always cheaper to buy socks, especially once you factor in the time it takes. I don’t knit to save money. I knit because I enjoy clothing my loved ones with things I’ve made specifically for them.
6. Deciding how much you’re prepared to spend. Since we’re on the topic of planning, I thought this one was appropriate. I already talked about Hubby’s birthday present planning, so here’s a more recent example. On vacation awhile ago, I needed a new one-piece bathing suit, and I was prepared to pay up to 50$ including tax. I looked around various department stores where they had beautiful long leg maillot styles, but they were all between 130$ and 160$. Maybe when I’m independently wealthy, but not on a single salary! Hubby was a little frustrated that I wouldn’t even try them on, and told me it was unlikely I would find what I was looking for, let alone for the price I wanted to pay.
Then I went to Target (please, please come to Canada!), and behold, all ladies’ swimwear was 40% off. I tried on several suits, and the very last one I tried on, of course, was the one I loved the most, and it looked decent on me. I didn’t glance at the price until I was heading to pay, and when I saw it was 45$ before the sale, I picked up a matching pair of board shorts. Altogether, it was 50$.
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