Yarn Diet '11 is (Almost) Here!

As I've mentioned a few times leading up to today, I will be partaking in a yarn diet with Alea and whoever would like to join us. We are doing this because over the past six months or so, we've bought yarn on whims (or sometimes with certain projects in mind) and have a lot of it to go around. I think we both realized this needed to happen when each month of Flash Your Stash, our stashes seemed to double.

Without further ad0, the rules and exceptions of our yarn diet:

Length of time: January 1st-June 1st or until over half of your stash is gone. Obviously it's pretty hard to use every single little piece of yarn in each skein/ball/cake/hank, so if it's down to the point you can find much to do with it, then that is considered finished.

What may be purchased in that time: During the yarn diet, the participant is allowed to buy yarn 5 times. At each purchase, you may spend or buy however much you want. This includes LYS, box stores and even online shopping (basically any yarn purchases). You may also still buy as part of a swap and/or gift. Also, if you short less than half the skeins to finish a project (let's say you're making a scarf and you run short of yarn by 1 skein) you are able to purchase JUST that ONE item and it won't count against you.

Punishment: For each time you go past the 5 given times you may purchase yarn during January 1-June 1, you will have another month added to the yarn diet, which will not include another chance to buy yarn for that month.

To participate: Just comment on this post (or the one I will be doing at the beginning of the year) to let us know you're joining us. Then, take pictures of all of your yarn and count how many skeins you have. I know some people have way too much to count it all, so if that's the case, keep track of how many bags/bins etc you have it in and gauge that way. Then, sometime in the first week of January, post on your blog all the pictures. That way, we can document the stash as time goes on. I will have a Mr Linky attached to my yarn diet posts where you can post new links to new pictures as the months go on.

Feel free to use the button (thanks to Alea for making this for us!) at the top of this post for your Yarn Diet posts and/or the one in the sidebar (a smaller version).

This is supposed to be fun, so don't get stressed over it. It will be a breath of fresh air using yarn that has been sitting waiting to be used for months or maybe even years. I know I can't wait to get rid of some of it, and even find unique projects to make. Just think how refreshing it will be come June 1st when you can replace the yarn you used with even more yarn!

If you have any comments or questions, please let me know in the comments section! I'll be happy to answer them.

I look forward to posting my first official yarn diet post in the first week of January, but before then, I'm heading to a LYS!