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Thoughts on how my 2020 Yarn Buying Ban is going

So at the start of the year I said “I am not buying any yarn in 2020”.

Then in February I added a caveat to the yarn buying ban, that buying yarn for weaving didn’t count.

So how am I doing this year, as it is now 6 months since I introduced the caveat?

Here’s how I started the year:

47,606.20meters
52,062.77yards
29.58miles

And here is where I am now:

72,196.90meters
78,955.49yards
44.86miles

Erm…..oops! On the plus side just think how much I could have had by now if I hadn’t been trying not to buy any!!

So here’s my excuses…

This variance of 15.28 miles of yarn represents 18.12 miles incoming and 2.84 miles outgoing.

Knitting/Crochet1.16
Weaving16.13
Homespun0.51
Incoming Breakdown

0.51 miles of incoming homespun yarn is obviously not an issue and really an achievement, because it would be good to have more than a mile spun during the year. In the whole of 2019 I only spun 0.61 miles, so I think I could manage to spin a mile of yarn this year. (That is finished length, not all the miles of singles spun and then plied).

1.16 miles of knitting yarn is fine because that is made up of a gifted skein from Alissa at Head Knits blog; items frogged in February; 3 skeins because I had bought the wrong shade of yellow and blue for my Minions and then there is the New Lanark Yarn I bought in their sale, as I would like a 2nd Such a Winter’s Day one day and the yarn is only going to go up in price.

So overall the knitting/crochet and handspun is fine.

16.13 miles of incoming weaving yarn!!!! Hmm. Well, its a good job I have bought a 32″ loom, because working through all that on my 10″ loom would probably take many many years. So this week I will be warping some of the 8/4 cotton I have to make some tea towels/dish towels for us and for gifts. This should burn through my stash quite well, and when I then go on to weave my 8/2 cotton (half the thickness, but you double it on the warp, single on the weft) then I will really start burning through some miles.

I think I’ve made a pretty good case for myself there and as far as spending money is concerned I have spent a quarter of what I spent by this time last year, so that’s also a positive and has covered the cost of my loom, stand and accessories.

Once I get to the point of buying yarn to make the Havana Afghan then I will have a major increase in yarn, but I am determined to make some room first before that happens. So I need to get a move on and keep my productivity going.

So I’ll get back to Mundane Monday housework and then get cracking on warping my loom for the next project.

16 comments

  1. well, kudos for honesty! How do those 18 miles convert to weight? Just curious.

    And I will come clean: I haven’t even tried to be on a diet this year, as last year I failed miserably (and getting a loom fattened my stash even more), so I’ll be the last to judge – indeed, trying to figure out if I can justify pressing the “buy now” button again this week 😜

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  3. I just love how you justified it all. I moved house in May and the horror of my stash overwhelmed me- I ‘m just concentrating on what I have- well this week anyway, next week who knows?

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  4. I think it’s fair that you have a different goal for weaving yarn. My understanding is that warp yarn is a specific kind of yarn. After making my YOP knitting list, I was rather ashamed of myself. I saw a meme once that said yarn buying was its own hobby separate from knitting, and I think I fall into that category now. I am determined not to buy any more yarn this year! Except for whatever yarn I get from my yarn club. So that shouldn’t be too much. I will probably try to not buy any yarn next year, too. I have so many projects!

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    • Yes I’ve seen that meme too. I can use some of my wool 4ply/ fingering weight yarn as warp and weft and some Dk and Aran. So long as the yarn is fairly strong and not too sticky then it should be fine, but a lot is assigned to things in my queue as well.

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  5. You lost me with the math, although I am very impressed that you were able to work it all out. I am not buying anymore wool for felting until my stash is used up, and I have a fair amount of wool to still get through. I see the sales and I resist as there will always be another sale. I have been using the money I saved on buying wool and spending some on books and online courses, but to be fair, I would have spent more on fiber. Not only are we in lockdown, I am also in a fiber lockdown which is helping me think out of the box. I need to really teach myself to spin since I purchased a wheel!

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    • Some good challenges there, I’m sure once you dedicate some time to spinning it’ll click and you’ll love it. Even 15 mins a day really helped me at the start. I definitely don’t need any more fibre…for the next few years. It is logged in Ravelry but I gave up tracking usage. But I have A LOT and it’s just waiting for my felting mojo to return

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