When one of your friends or family members sees you with your hook AGAIN attached to yet another skein of yarn do you commonly get asked the question – “Do you ever stop?” Or, “What are you making now?” Or, “Don’t you ever get tired of doing that?” Well, if you don’t then you aren’t doing it enough. Just kidding! But this seems to be a constant theme in my day to day. In fact every time I talk to my Mom she asks me what I am doing and my response is the same, “What am I always doing?” She then responds with how my hands are eventually going to turn into hooks or asks what I plan to do with this next piece. It has become an all too familiar banter.
But it got me thinking…I wonder how much yarn I go through in a year? Even scarier, how much money did I spend on yarn this last year? I will be honest that I don’t want to know the answer to the second question, but I became really intrigued about the answer to the first question. In one 4 days period I worked on a project and discovered I had crocheted over 1,200 yards. Admittedly that was a fluke to have 4 days to sit and crochet non-stop but even still it has peaked my curiosity. The new year just began and I am already on my 6th skein in 6 days.
How long would this last you?
So with all this deep thought I have decided I am tracking my yardage for all of 2019. CRAZY? Probably, but I am doing it. I took an empty box from the holidays and I am putting the labels from every new skein of yarn in it. My commitment is to report back each month (whether anyone cares or not) how much I have done each month. I think this will be fun. What I should really be doing to calculating how much money I am spending on yarn and then making necessary adjustments, but that is not as much fun so I am going with my first idea.
So who is with me? Anyone else want to accept the YARN CHALLENGE? We are just one week into the new year. Anyone could know at this point how much they have done so far for 2019. And if you think about the prize is in the bragging rights. If you need some tips on your current projects check out some of our crochet projects.
UPDATE: Is it January 19th and just for fun I thought I would update my progress. I learned through a quick Google search query that there are 1,760 yards in a mile. As of last night when I finished up crocheting a ruana that I have used 1,816 yards in the past nineteen days. So I have crocheted a mile + worth of yarn. I don’t know if I should feel accomplished or worried that I need to get a life. 🙂
MORE UPDATES: So the end of January came and went and I ran my totals posting the results on Pinterest and Instagram. In one month I crocheted 2,993 yards of yarn or 1.7 miles. I figure at this rate I will be able to complete a half marathon by the end of the year. Ha! Already three skeins in for the month of February but I will update you at the end of the month. Make the most of your time and never stop stitching.
FEBRUARY UPDATE: My apologies that my updates haven’t been as timely as I had planned. Life sure has a way of keeping one busy and falling behind even on those things they love to do the most. February was a busy month for me wrapping up a soon one job to start another, and did it all while keeping a hook going all month long. I crocheted 3,561 yards in February which is 2 miles of yarn. Whew, no wonder I am tired. March will likely be a slower month since I am starting a new gig, but will keep you tuned in to my progress.
MARCH UPDATE: Well, as I suspected March was a little on the slow side. I only worked 1,870 yards of yarn and quite honestly I was surprised I go that much completed. Starting a new job is draining both mentally and physically. Plus I ended the month working on a detailed piece with multiple colors. That always slows me down a bit. I still love keeping track of the progress. Now that the first quarter of the year is complete I have crochets 8,424 yards which is 4.78 miles of yarn! Insane – right? No wonder my hands and shoulders get sore sometimes.
I don’t think you are crazy at all. I have tracked my yarn usage for the last several years. You may want to check out Knitmeter.com. While I use it to track my knitting projects you can also use it for crocheting (don’t let the name fool you). It is great for those small projects and partial skeins. Every yard counts!
Rebecca – Thank you for validating my curiosity ????. I have never heard of knitmeter.com. I am going to check it out. It sounds more sophisticated than my labels in a box method. Thanks for the tip.
Uhmm…
Where do I go to stay updated on this?
Cuz I’m desperate to know.
Lorna – I will come back and update in the blog post every month. I will also post it on my Instagram account. Make sure you sign up for emails as I will make mention in those too. Thank you for being excited about it. I just put another label in the box today. This weekend I am on a plane for 13 hours. I am hoping to complete a wrap that will use 12 skeins.
Lorna – I updated this post today with March and my quarterly numbers. Check it out if you are still interested in tracking. Hope you are doing well. Happy hooking!