12 Step Program / My Yarn Overfloweth

Oh my God, do I have yarn...

I probably now have MORE yarn than I could possibly use in two lifetimes...

And bags.

On my way to knitting tonight, I stopped at Deals, a $1 plus store in Bayonne, to pick up crazy glue, to secure the screws on the handles of my plastic bag bag. And sure enough, they had some yarn. I had spotted some in there last December '07, when I went in to buy Christmas gift bags. Being that it was a dollar (plus) store, I was taken completely by surprise to see they had YARN. And being that it was still 2007, I had to gasp and really control myself, since I had resolved not to buy yarn that year. It's one thing to go to AC Moore, knowing that there is yarn and mentally preparing oneself before entering. But to come upon it unexpectedly, at the price of only $1.00, was extremely difficult to deal with, so close to the end of the year's resolution.

Flash back to the present. This time they had Lionbrand Ribbon yarn, and Lionbrand Boucle. The boucle was bright orange and bright green, but the ribbon had two different multi-colors. I bought three skeins of one mixture for myself, and four skeins of another color that included orange, for my colleague Carin, at work. (See, I only got three for myself, and four for her.) So I get to Thursday night knitting, and I'm showing off my new purchases, when Linda B. told me she had bought in bags of yarn that her daughter was throwing out, and did I want any? Of course I did. I picked out a few skeins, trying really hard to control myself. Twenty minutes later she tells me that the rest will be thrown out, which killed me, so of course I took the remaining lot, which filled half a garbage bag! For Carin, of course! Not just for myself.


My yarn overfloweth...

And the bags! Not to get Linda in trouble, but she brought in 32 bags of a certain color, from a certain company, that are both grey and PINK! Add that to the sample one she brought me last week, and boy will I have a really cool plastic bag bag!!! She saved 32 for herself, and next Wednesday I hope to work with her and get us both started on new plastic bag bags. And someone else brought me in a SLEW of Stop and Shop bags.

And two Sundays ago, I stopped at my friend Beth's house in the Heights, to pick up the bags she had been saving. I accidentally called the landline on my way home from church, and when I asked her husband Michael if I could stop by for the bags, he cautiously said, "I don't know. You'll have to check with Beth. She's very particular about her bags." Way to go, Beth! So I called her mobile and she said, "Yes, please pick them up." And they filled my trunk.

Then this past Sunday, Andrea at church gave me a whole garbage bag full of bags that were sitting between her refrigerator and her cabinet. She was overjoyed to find a useful way to get rid of them. I was overjoyed to take them. But let me tell you, this garbage bag was chock full of bags. Solid. Unlike Beth's two bags, this one didn't move it was so FULL of bags.

I need to take a day or two off from work just to sort the colors and get it all straightened out.

Thankfully, my son is just 17, and knows not how deeply overboard his mother is into the knitting and crocheting ... or does he?

Which brings me to Carin's advice from 2006 that I need a six step program, based on AA's twelve step program, defined below:

Wikipedia defines the twelve-step program as follows:

A twelve-step program is a set of guiding principles for recovery from addictive, compulsive, or other behavioral problems, originally developed by the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) for recovery from alcoholism.^[1] The Twelve Steps were initially published in the first edition of Alcoholics Anonymous ("The Big Book") in 1939; since then more than 25 million copies have been printed in many languages.^[2] This method has been adapted as the foundation of other twelve-step programs such as Narcotics Anonymous, Overeaters Anonymous, Co-Dependents Anonymous and Emotions Anonymous and Knitting. As summarized by the American Psychological Association, working the Twelve Steps involves the following.^[1]

• admitting that one cannot control one's addiction or compulsion; Yes
  
• recognizing a greater power that can give strength; of course
  
• examining past errors with the help of a sponsor (experienced member / experienced knitter);
• making amends for these errors; ripping
• learning to live a new life with a new code of behavior; translated: buying new yarn or trying new patterns
  
• helping others that suffer from the same addictions or compulsions yarn groups or conventions, (i.e., Stitches, Knit-Out & Crochet, etc.)
  

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve-step_program
I think I can copy this text if I add the following:

Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) tax-deductible nonprofit charity.

Now, knitters and crocheters, does this fit us to a T
or what!?!?!?

All kidding aside, my heart and prayers go out to those killed today, and the families/friends/fellow students at Northern Illinois University:
Feb 14, 2008