Crocheting has brought out my obsessive tendencies

Last July I started crocheting but didn't really get into the craft until my sis-in-law and I went on a yarn crawl. I started small, only making dish cloths. Patterns initially intimidated me and it took a few weeks before I took the plunge into making things other than dish cloths. When I finished my first pattern (a cowl with an attached scarf), my confidence grew, and before long, I was making purses, scarves, hats, mittens, coasters, gift bags, baby afghans, flower embellishments, yarn animals and ornaments.

Once I found Ravelry, FaveCrafts and the websites of yarn companies, I began amassing patterns and even made copies of patterns from library books.  So much creativity and so many colors. 'Wow, look at that beautiful scarf. I wonder if I can make that' and 'that baby hat is adorable!' and 'I LOVE the design of that afghan'. Click, click, click. Saved in Ravelry.  The change purse fat with dimes shrinking in size with each copy made.

And the yarn. My goodness the yarn. When I first began crocheting, I swore to myself that I would only buy what was needed and initially it wasn't difficult to stick to that promise. I was still getting acquainted with the various weights and types of yarn, and still in the process of learning which brands I liked, and which to avoid purchasing. But when the after-Christmas clearance sales hit, my self control melted like ice cream under a hot sun. My weaknesses were Lion Brand, Caron and Michael's own brand, Loops and Threads. 3 skeins of Lion Brand for $5? Sweet! Loops and Threads $2 each? Wow!  Pretty soon I had a large bin, before adding a huge bag, then another bag. Recently I added 2 baskets to the containers holding yarn. 

I've finally decided get organized. Rather than have my yarn spread out in boxes and bags,  I'm going to buy shelves and store that growing stash of yarn in the spare bedroom closet.  The patterns I've printed and copied are already in binders (yes, binders), and unless I'm going to make a particular object, I'm going to refrain from printing the multitude of patterns in my Ravelry library.

And here we thought my obsessive tendencies was only concentrated on the birds.