There’s a lot of Yarn Guilt out there. I’m a knitter, I have been an indie dyer, I have owned a yarn store. A common theme I see with a lot of knitters and crocheters is Yarn Guilt.

I’ve noticed a couple different types of Yarn Guilt. The guilt that comes with the actual purchase of yarn, and the type that comes from a particular colour/pattern/brand. Yarn Guilt is a feeling that you should not be purchasing yarn for whatever reason, and I am of course going to explain why Yarn Guilt is a crock (for the most part).

There’s a level of guilt that many fibre artists feel when they’re padding the stash. You see a beautiful yarn. You love it. You want it. You don’t have a project in mind for it, but you just know that somehow your life will be a little bit more complete if you could just hold that yarn in your arms and know that it belongs to you forever. But what will you knit with it? You already have SO much yarn!

It’s that little bit of guilt that makes the moment more exciting. It’s the guilt that lets you know that this little purchase is a treat, rather than a necessity (although I would argue that it feels like, and therefore is a necessity for most of us!).

The other thing I see is colour/pattern/brand guilt. For example, people that always buy purple tend to say “Oh I have SO much purple yarn, I guess I don’t need any more.” Pattern guilt for things like always knitting the same type of pattern. Brand guilt for always buying the same brand of yarn.

I love knitting. I love yarn. I don’t want to feel bad about it, or guilt. I don’t like to see people turn their hobby and passion into something that makes them feel bad. So I’ve created a flow chart to help you with those feelings of guilt.

Don’t turn your passion and love of yarn into a negative. Let it be a bastion of sanity and happiness. Don’t let other people make it negative for you. If someone questions your purchases you can tell them it’s none of their business. Or simply answer “It makes me happy.”