Yarn Shops

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about yarn shops lately. They are one of my favorite places to be. I just wish I could visit without the compulsion to buy. Does everyone feel that way? And why is this compulsion so different than the way I feel when I’m clothing shopping or looking at shoes, or decorations for the house? I guess it’s because the clothes bring limited value into my life. Sure I enjoy wearing them the first time I put them on, and usually the second. But then the newness wears off and they become just another item hanging in my closet. Same thing for the shoes and decorations that blend into the background and become part of the house.

When I buy yarn not only do I experience the transitory high of acquiring something new, but after the newness of the yarn wears off there is still the potential of working with the yarn. The excitement associated with the opportunity for self expression and creativity lingers around each ball of unused yarn in my stash. And this enthusiasm will last as long as the skein exists.

Furthermore the energy surrounding the skein is transferred into pleasure as I begin knitting the yarn. In some sense I am absorbing the energy of the yarn as I work with it. Until the culmination when the project is completed and a feeling of accomplishment fills me. Which is another satisfying emotion. And if the project was a success I will revisit that sense of achievement every time I behold it. In a very real way, the project will continue to revitalize and energize me, reminding me of all of the joy that was captured in that one skein of yarn and that there is potential held in each and every skein.

So unlike the department stores, the home décor and shoe shops, a yarn shop promises a gamut of emotions and energies. Knowing what is waiting for me inside each skein that fills each yarn shop, is it any wonder that I feel a compulsion to visit and buy?