'Tis the season for temptation

In my last post a couple of weeks back, I talked about starting a stash diet.

I'm still talking about it.

The problem is, Christmas is a time when people go shopping. Now I don't go shopping that much, but I do go past shops now and then, and unfortunately the current significant other lives in an area with three LYSs (local yarn stores) and... well, I think you've already worked out what the problem is!

You see, as a shop owner, I feel obliged to do the odd mystery shop, just to find out a bit more about what our competitors are stocking and how they are pricing. (I should add here, the purpose of the mystery shop is not to rip them off by selling the same stock cheaper, it is to find out what they're selling so that I can sell something different!). Melbourne LYSs usually employ friendly, knowledgeable staff - and when I'm in there, it's usually quiet, so we talk for about an hour or so about the different yarns. Then I feel guilty - I've taken up an hour of this person's time! I can't leave without buying at least a little something... My best effort at self-restraint so far saw me leaving a shop with a skein of soft brown handspun (luckily it will go perfectly with the Buxton yarn!) worth $40.00.

The stash now includes crochet cotton (sourced from four different outlets in the name of research!), yarn for two more projects, plus the handspun. About the only thing I can say for Stash Diets so far is that the stash's rate of increase has slowed from being exponential to merely being quite fast.

In a fortnight, the Boxing Day sales will start. I have already explained to my beloved that he will come to visit me here right through January - I am not leaving the shop, just in case the bargains on offer include a lovely yarn that would be absolutely perfect for that project I've been planning...