More spending.... is it getting out of hand?

t is official. I am spending far too much money on my new hobby/addiction. I'm sure when I started ceramics I didn't spend this much on tool and materials. I certainly didn't buy magazines and books galore.

My mum came to visit this week and I used the opportunity to get a lift to my local yarn store. I haven't been because it would require a taxi journey or a lift and my partner wouldn't enjoy watching me browse for an hour, and I didn't want to splash out on a taxi if it was a rubbish shop. So I waited until my mum's visit. And it was certainly worth a visit. The store is called Mary Clare and it was shrine to all things crafty. This is dangerous as I could pop in for a knitting needle and end up buying some cross stitch threads, beads and ten tonnes of wool.

My mum and I wandered around the shop is a daze for over an hour. I succumbed and bought some wool and a book. The book was Purseanalities by Eva Weichmann and is full of some great bag patterns, especially felted ones. I thought it would inspire and inform the felted knitting bag I am making. The yarn I bought was brilliant as well. The colour of the wool I bought, for my knitting bag, ties in all the colours in the other yarns I have already bought. Thank goodness, because some of the colours were a little too far apart, but now I have a link to complete all the contrasts.



I must now stop buying yarn for this particular bag. However I know that the combination of my new book and the felting section of my new favourite store are a dangerous mix, especially when you consider my obsession with all things bag shaped.

On top of the these purchases, I also bought a couple of balls of yarn to add to those I had bought earlier in the week for my first fairisle project. I have had to get four colours that go together for this pattern. I am a little scared about this project because I started the swatch on Tuesday and I have only got this far...



I would like to add that in terms of scale the pattern is only 40 stitches across. Its not looking good for how long the whole tank top is going to take. I know the tutor said it was meant to last the whole term, but I think it is more likely to take the whole year! However I am very pleased with the colours I am going to use. The two used in the swatch and these as well .....




What do you think? I hope the teal, which is slightly darker in reality, will help lift the tank, and also help it to go over a gorgeous teal polo neck I bought this year. I didn't think of the polo neck until just now, but I think it was in my subconsciousness when I bought the yarn.

On top of my shopping spree yesterday, I also took the opportunity of my Mum being around to get dropped off at Borders on her way back to the motorway. It was nice and sunny and I didn't want to waste the day at home when I was feeling pretty well. I bought a couple of novels and then I bought another couple of knitting magazines, oh and then I happened to pass the knitting section and another book just jumped into my basket. I didn't mean to let it happen. It was against my will honest! It was "The Knitter's Bible". It is so clear and full of great diagrams I felt that it would be essential for my progression through my new hobby.

Hmmm, though I am really pleased with all my new purchases I think I will slow down a bit now. Perhaps I will wait until Christmas to buy new books. My mum has also offered to get me a knitting magazine subscription for my present this year, thank goodness, the cost certainly racks up. I think I will be asking for wool vouchers this year from everyone else. Do they do Wool Vouchers??? They should if they don't.

The trouble with this resolution is that my knitting group meets at Borders, and there is also a weekly knitting group at Mary Clare that I will probably be going to aswell. I think I will have to leave my Switch card at home and only take enough cash for the taxi home, it'is the only way!