It’s Saturday morning, and as is my habit when there’s nothing scheduled, I spend several hours writing. I’ve done this now for more than 10 years, with a lot of that writing captured on another blog that I started back in 2014. This fiber-focused blog is newer and has been more creative outlet than anything.

Lately I have been reflecting on the ways I have adapted to changes in the world, the economy, and my own life and how that shows up in my fiber arts activities. Being a Saturday this is highly relevant, as for many years I would find myself planning a shopping trip for later in the day. Since working in a Joann store the year before they closed for good, and learning more about the role of dopamine in our habitual behavior; I’ve been looking more intentionally at those long-standing weekend habits.

I suspect that a decent proportion of my fabric and yarn stashes came from past sessions of “therapy browsing” on Saturday afternoons or evenings at Joann’s, Michaels or in local fabric and yarn shops. While I have created many things over the years from those purchases, I have ALSO purchased a lot of fabric and yarn simply because I liked the color, or the pattern, or the texture, or just felt like I couldn’t leave it in the store.

I also have a hard time just browsing in small, local shops. I feel a sort of “obligation” to purchase something if I am in there and have spent time browsing their offerings. For this reason, I am now avoiding smaller shops unless I have a specific need.

To be fair to the collection of fabric and yarn, it can be helpful to curate and maintain a stash for those times that you want to test a new pattern, or learn a new stitch, or create a “draft” copy of something before you cut into the intended fabric or start knitting with the special yarn. In fact, the featured photo at the top of this page shows 2 examples of learning a new stitch or pattern with stash yarn.

My kitty, “Miss Lena” has decided that a 4-layer acrylic bed is the warmest place to sleep on chilly Autumn days, and has pronounced the pattern stitches to be just right for her purposes.

The top piece is made from Lionbrand’s Mandala Sparkle yarn in the colorway “Hercules” (524-303T). I believe that I was working the Suzette Stitch to see how it would look in a wrap or scarf. On this particular “project“, I learned that I liked the yarn and the colorway as well as the Suzette stitch; but maybe not all of them together. Miss Lena doesn’t seem to mind, though and I’m tickled that she has taken such a liking to it.

The bottom piece is perhaps more recognizable at a glance, as it’s Red Heart’s Super Saver yarn in the Retro Stripes colorway which is a fan favorite. I crocheted it into a wrap following the Winter Gems (free) pattern from Fiber Flux Blog.

• NOTE: Fiber Flux Blog has one of the best sites for patterns to make scarves, wraps, hats and much more! If you haven’t checked them out yet, I recommend that you do!

Hindsight tells me that a pattern titled “Winter Gems” probably would have been better in a more muted colorway, but I learned the pattern, and once again, Miss Lena gives it 2-paws up as a foundation for her sleeping space.

My favorite pattern from the Fiber Flux Blog site is their Botanical Garden Crochet Shawl, which I finished over a year ago. I used Caron Cinnamon Swirl Cakes yarn in the Chocolate Swirl colorway.

For me, the most enjoyable piece to make has been this Botanical Garden Shawl. It was one of those pieces that I was almost sad that making it came to an end (when does that happen!!?)

As it relates to NEW HABITS, as in the title of this post, I have been paying attention to those times when I feel the urge to go shopping, and instead, looking around in my craft area to find a WiP that I can finish OR some fabric or yarn in my stash that I can work with. This weekend I finally finished my Color Tipped Scarf (pattern by Purl SoHo) – just in time for chillier weather. In the making of this wrap/scarf I learned once and for all that stitch markers are CRITICAL – even if/when we think they are not!

I’ll be making another color-tipped scarf at some point, and will be happy for the lesson(s) I learned making this one.

While I have dialed back significantly from watching or listening to the latest “Breaking News“, I know that we are facing some economic headwinds as a nation, and even as a world community. What that will end up meaning for each of us remains to be seen. As a federal employee who is fortunate to still be working and being paid; there is still a LOT of uncertainty as to what will be coming next week, next month and next year. As a federal employee who is looking at retirement in the next couple years, the uncertainty is even BIGGER.

As documented on my other blog site, my spiritual journey has taught me that the only thing I can control are my actions, decisions, and the words that come out of my mouth (or keyboard). To that end, in the midst of all this uncertainty, I will continue to work on completing WiP’s before starting new ones, shopping my stash for project materials instead of heading to the store, and pausing to examine my impulses before mindlessly shopping.

These actions will help me SAVE more money, and if nothing else, will mean that I have a lot less to PACK and MOVE when I finally retire and head on to a more retirement-friendly living arrangement!

From Miss Lena and me, happy Fall (& holiday!) stitching to all!

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