Being a non-consumerist knitter

Did you listen to the radio or watch tv over the holiday at all? If you did, did you notice how everything is all about buy more more MORE?

I hate it. I hate the more, more, more attitude. When is it enough? When does one have enough of something so as not to need more?

One of the main reasons I knit is so that I can be in touch with the process of creating something, preferably something useful for myself or others. I knit a hat for my grandma who is having chemo, to help her to feel a little bit better about herself when she looks in the mirror.

I knit hats for my dad and my brother for Christmas.


I'm knitting mittens for my hubby and I, so that our hands can be warm in the bitter cold of winter on the prairies.

I spin so that I be even closer to very beginning of the process. I have a collection of lovely spindles, which I feel are enough to make the kinds of yarn I want. Quality tools for my craft. I do buy yarn. I do buy roving/top/fleeces. But not uncontrollably and not just because they are pretty and I have to have them.

So am I the only one who thinks it's odd that other knitters and spinners have the more, more, more mentality? I was on ravelry and I saw a post where someone bought a very expensive ball of yarn, and it was met with comments like, "oh you're on your way down the slippery slope", and "welcome to the addiction". (yes this blog is called allison's knitting addiction, but I'm addicted to knitting. not buying yarn.)

I am glad that I have a small yarn stash. As a poor student I have been knitting from my stash a lot more often. That's the key though, KNITTING from STASH. Not just stashing and stashing it away. The yarn I have, could easily be used up by me in a couple of years. I don't really feel the need to buy a lot more.

I've seen similar comments about collecting spindles. One woman in my spinning group even commented that I say I have enough spindles, until I see one that I just have to have and then I'll buy another.

I'm not saying I won't buy another spindle, if I find there is a gap in the usefulness of my current collection. But what is with the pressure from the knitting and spinning community to buy whole rooms full of yarn and pounds pretty roving, and hundreds of spindles. When is it enough? Why won't people accept it when I say I have enough?

I find it very troublesome that a hobby that is so grounded in tradition has succumbed to the consumeristic pressures of modern society. What do you think? Are there other knitters/spinners out there like me?