This is a public service announcement: There is yarn in my house.
Not just yarn, but visible yarn. It’s where people can see it if they drop by unannounced. Even when I know they’re coming, it might still be there when they arrive because I’m actively using it. Why put it away when I’m going to need it again in ten minutes?
I used to try to hide my projects (and new yarn acquisitions) in baskets and trunks and drawers, and in my office (AKA yarn room). That’s what respectable people do, isn’t it? They don’t just leave their knitting out in broad view of guests?
True story: Right now there is yarn on my couch.
This is my reality. There is yarn in places it really doesn’t belong, but I’m not going to stop. Maybe it’s time to embrace it? People build entire coffee tables and wall art around the wine corks they can’t part with. Why can’t we do the same with yarn? Throw it in a basket and call it art, that’s what I say.
It’s not out of control, or at least not to the naked eye. I have five current projects, and I want them all reasonably within reach, so there’s one on the couch, one in my to-go bag and three in the leather trunk where I can get to them quickly, but they are not visible to a passerby. This is how I appear more tidy and organized than I really am – it’s all about furniture with compartments. If you want to store yarn while simultaneously convincing yourself that you are totally organized, it’s all about the compartments.
A few months ago I binge-listened to The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up on audio and went crazy organizing my clothes, my paperwork, the hall closets and the kitchen. I do this every few years. It’s a thing. But – surprise! – the message didn’t translate to my yarn stash. It’s all still here, with the exception of a few balls of eyelash yarn that I inherited from a friend and boxed up to send to my mom for art projects. (In my defense, the book is about keeping only those items which spark joy, and all good yarn sparks joy for me, therefore I must keep it. It’s perfectly logical.)
My public service announcement is this: If there’s yarn on your couch, it most likely means you are making space in your life for joy. And that’s really the point, isn’t it?
