So far, I’ve been just breezing through this diet (the whole 3 weeks I’ve been on it!) telling myself this wouldn’t be so hard. After all, I’ve been moving towards a lifestyle characterized by less consummation on a number of levels and I’ve been feeling pretty darn good about the steps I’ve taken so far. I’ve managed to curb my getting and spending quite a bit!
But… only three weeks in, and sales flyers and catalogues have begun arriving in the mail (despite my best efforts to NOT get on everyone’s mailing list, I still manage to land up on a few).
Last night I made the mistake of looking through one of the catalogues that landed in my mailbox. It was timely: Montreal had a big fluffy snow fall yesterday, and temperatures are mild enough that what looked beautiful as it floated and swirled in the air, became ugly, wet, clompy slush on the ground. What a contrast to the light, colourful, breezy spring clothing that I found in the catalogue! so very, very tempting!
I don’t know what others think of the compromise I reached, but here it is. I’m a knitter. I have a stash of yarn. Some of it is cotton yarn, some a lace-weight silk (perfect for breezy, floating, spring wear!) So I’ve rationalized that it’s okay to knit myself something springy so long as I only use yarn I already own.
What do you think? Fair enough, or am I deluding myself and moving outside the spirit of the diet? Your insights most welcome!
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i think its absolutely okay to use the items you already owned to make something “new”. part of breaking the cycle is rationalization, just make sure you dont start with the “but ive been so good, so one item wont matter”
song and dance! lol
cant wait to see your creation!
I think that using anything and everything that you already own to recreate, restyle and refashion your life is exactly the idea of the diet. Learn to work with what you have instead of constantly chasing something new in the store. I’d love to see your final spring knit.
YESSS!!! Knit away! I think that’s 100% allowed.
I really loved the quote in Damon’s earlier post, “If you look, you will find, and if you find, you will want.” So true! So good luck resisting looking at those sales flyers and catalogs… they’re dangerous!
Thanks for the feedback!
So far so good – What Cathy and Damon say is so true, so I’m throwing catalogues out without turning so much as one page. The reality of this diet is really starting to hit home though. Yesterday I realized not buying clothes included not buying yoga pants! I’ve never really considered yoga or other sports gear clothes until I started reading some of the other posts. Now I realize clothes is clothes!!!
But I’m determined to stick it out.
And it will help that I can knit for myself, but I will stick to using only yarn I already own. In fact, I’ve decided I’m even going to use re-cycled yarn, so how’s that for sticking to the spirit of the diet! I’ve just frogged (technical knitting term for when you rip out something you’ve already knit) a sweater I never wear, and I’m going to knit a summer tank with the yarn.
-Sharon
[...] any clothes – Just knitting them. But hey, I didn’t buy new yarn! My rule is (and verified by my fellow dieters) I can knit using yarn already in my stash. Stashes do come in handy, that’s all I have to [...]