I Have a Friend

I have a friend who crochets and a few years ago took up knitting as well. She has the love of yarn that all of us with yarn-based hobbies have. She also has no self control. She sees yarn she likes, and she buys it. She buys for projects that she doesn't actually make, and she fills her closet with a plethora of intriguing colors and textures.

And then she cleans out the closet. That's where I come in. She brings me the yarn that she can no longer make room for, and I willing take it.

It's a blessing -- and a curse. Those of us who knit know the temptation of yarn shops. I don't even go into them. I have enough trouble keeping my curser off the "add to cart" button when I search yarn on Etsy. But this is free yarn, and I tell myself I'm doing my friend a favor by taking it off her hands even though it feels more like stealing.

That's the blessing part. The curse part is that I am obsessed with using all the yarn. I feel the need to use every scrap in some project. The compulsion to create my way through boxes and bags and totes full of yarn is sometimes overwhelming. It's like an endless tunnel, and just when I see the end, my friend cleans out her closet.

I foresee a day when I hide yarn and needles in secret locations so that I can sneak a few stitches when no one is looking. A day when I make excuses to stay at home so I can knit. I try to take a break and read, but the yarn calls to me. Perhaps I need an intervention.

Then again, what's the harm? I make a little extra money selling things at www.etsy.com/shop/whitakerknits, I give hand-knitted items as gifts, I give items to charitable organizations. There are worse compulsions, worse addictions, worse obsessions.

Excuse me. My yarn is calling.