It all starts off so innocently! You find a craft you like, you start buying a few things and suddenly the bag/box/knitting basket/shelf overflows and you need more space for your craft. Then you might pick up another craft and off you go buying more equipment and supplies for that craft and next thing you know you are taking over the house with your craft. You might be lucky to have a space dedicated for your craft (like me) but you’re busting at the seams. Oh dear. Am I talking about you? Because I know I’m talking about myself.
I remember that I started knitting about 10 years ago in London and I could fit all of my supplies in one bag. Just one bag and I kept it near the couch for late night knitting. Now, I am taking over the house and retro daddy is noticing! So I thought I’d have some fun and share this list with my fellow craft addicts out there. Tell me if any apply to you!
1. you get the urge to craft every day
2. if you don’t get to craft each day you get a little edgy/down/cranky/restless/have withdrawal symptoms
3. you dream that you are knitting/sewing/quilting/of fabric/of yarn
4. your husband/other half asks ‘don’t you have enough craft books/patterns/fabric/balls of yarn/craft’ before you head out to the craft shop/craft fair/open another parcel
5. your husband/other half tells you to clean your craft room (ok, maybe that is just me)
6. your husband has now turned a blind eye to your obsession hobbies
7. you read a blog about a new fabric/book/project and feel the need to go and buy it….immediately
8. you have a craft budget
9. you spend more money on craft than clothes
10. your kids know their way around the local craft store
11. your kids can name your crafts/supplies/know what you’re talking about
12. you sometimes get bored in conversations with non crafters as they don’t talk craft
13. you feel the need to show crafty creations to non crafters even if they don’t ask to see them
14. you know you can’t start another craft because you don’t have the room
15. you know you need to cull some of your crafty supplies
16. you would rather start a new project than finish a UFO
17. you know what a UFO is and I’m not talking flying objects.
18. you have been to casualty/the doctor with a craft related accident
19. you find knitting needles/pins/needles/other supplies down the back of the couch (ok, again maybe I am just talking about myself)
20. you just love craft!
There you have it, it’s not the definitive list but it sums up my life as a craft addict. Let me know if I’ve missed one and I’ll add it to the list. I’m pretty confident that some long suffering craft widows will have something to contribute to this discussion!
Well about 15/20 apply to me especially no2, I wish I had a craft budget and no19 well my dad came to install a cupboard in my craft area then went on to give me a lecture about the multitude of pins that he found on the floor and how the kids will get hold of them. Happy crafting!!
How about: You start tearing down walls between two un-used bedrooms to make a nice big crafting space.
Oh so true! I can absolutely relate. My husband is tolerant of my hobby most of the time. I also get told to clean my space up, take stuff out of the loungeroom etc. But I tell myself it’s a relatively healthy obsession
OMSL this is sooo me!!!!!
I’m definetly guilty of most of those things (including being told to clean my room and finding pins/needles in and on the couch). After 11 years of sewing and 6 years of scrapbooking I’ve accumulated quite a stash…and there isn’t much I can bear to part with
Tatum xx
So true but I wouldn’t have it any other way!
do I hear AHEM sister, most of these apply to me these day, I did dressmaking at TAFE in the ’90s, I also like to do embroidery, cross stitch, knit, patchwork. My obsession/hobby does take over the house.
My budget is how many gold coins I can save between events to have to spend – for the Quilt show last week I had extra stashed away that Steve didn’t know I had, so I was still given a small spending amount for the show. Problem was that I came home with more money not spent than spent.
I discovered that Hobbysew sell KONA solids for $6.95 metre, now I find any excuse to go to IKEA so I can then drive up the hill to Top Ryde and have another visit. Yesterday I sent $50 on must have grey and yellow and a couple of reduced pretty flower ones that I am going to make Toni Cowards Uptown girl jacket for no1 grand daughter.
Yes I get your craft room need cleaning especially after I have been looking for something in particular and just can’t find it.
Oh dear that’s all me !
Hello my name is Vreni and I’m a craft addict!
haha…can relate to almost all of those!! you are not alone! hehe
Me too and with one to add *Freezer stocked with homemade meals to be used when unable to tear ones-self away from current project to cook dinner and husband trained in the how to of heating said dinners and cleaning up after. If it wasn’t for the freezer we might not eat when I’m in the ‘craft zone’.
I think a LOT of these apply to me. But I’d add one too – you are member of a craft group and craft group nights are the best and you find yourself daydreaming about what you are going to do at craft group and ticking down the hours till the next one, and wondering what the other crafty girls will be up to and then staying up half the night after craft group googling all the links and ideas that you discussed at craft group – oh dear me. I think I really am an addict!
haha I can relate . I love number 12 that cracked me up, that could be my problem with some people too!!
Hahahaha this made me laugh. It is me to a tee! My boyfriend is scared to sit on my couch because he knows how many needles could be lurking under the cushions.
They all apply to me!!!!! Hubby often threatens to do a stocktake as he can’t pin point it but is sure my supply is expanding.
He is going fishing for 4 days and I can’t wait to drag the machine out of my craft room
Tick. Tick. Tick.
Except numbers 4 and 5. He wouldn’t DARE!!
xx
I found myself nodding as I was reading through your list. Not to all of them though so maybe I am not quite as addicted 😉
I am very,very sick, I guess….I agreed with all of your signs!! Ahhhhh, crafts. How I love you
ha ha
i would also add, that you find yourself and most of your family members wearing/using things you have cooked up in your craft room/space… i sometimes wonder what others think about this!!
and it’s a long term mission… you buy crafting supplies for adorable things you see and WANT to create, yet you know in reality you probably won’t have time to do it for several years!
and you find a way to NEED to craft things that aren’t even useful… but because they look nice!
and nothing in the house is safe from your crafting…everything in your house starts to be looked at with a crafter’s eye… “i’ll keep that old pillow, to stuff the door stopper/dog’s bed/draft stopper etc with”, chopping up clothes to make other things from, chopping up other things in the house to make clothes from… chopping up CLOTHES to make other clothes from… and so on!!
You know you’re an addict when:
– You throw away clothes, just so that there is more storage space in your wardrobe to store fabric
– You take your annual leave, just so that you can catch up on your craft projects
– You don’t travel, because staying home is so much more fun
– You’d rather craft than eat chocolate
– The only room in your house that doesn’t have craft supplies in it is the bathroom
– You think about how water-proof and steam-proof your craft storage boxes, so that you can store them in the bathroom.
Welcome to my life!
Here’s one I realised today – when you husband insists on vacuuming because he’s sick of all the pieces of thread being tracked throughout the house, making their way into his study, into bed, all over his clothes thanks to the washing machine, and in his hair. Oops!
And I don’t have a craft budget. That’s why I have online stores. I can only spend what I make. It’s a sad existance really.
I score a perfect 20!
This made me laugh!!! Yep, I’m pretty much in the category listed!! Crafting budget though… well the money just comes out of another budget, maybe the grocery budget!!
so so true!
Yep *sob*
I feel this post was written about me!! Ditto, to all of the above!
When my toddler didn’t know where I was, Daddy told him I was in “Mummy’s crap room”.
When I go shopping, everything I look at makes me think “how could I make that??”.
Thanks for reminding me that I’m not alone.
a lot applies to me, even number 5.
Well I would add: “you hide your new buys when entering the house and try to pack them in your storage places while hubby can’t see them so that he cannot guess how much you spent”
So glad to find I’m not the only one with a crafting “problem”. I made a spreadsheet of all the craft and fabric shops in NSW, sorted into postcode order, so when I go on holidays… Another sign is working out your holidays around which markets will be on when…tragic isn’t it?
What a darling post! I believe I’m also guilty of all things crafty…and suddenly finding myself attempting to pack it “all” into boxes to fit from a large country house into a small student housing apt with two five year old twins…while hubby returns to law school at 60! I’m thinking we all need pillow top mattresses….packed with lots of fabric & batting??? Clever, huh? ;-))))
Happy crafting!
Me, very well described :))))
Thanks for your post!
Hugs,
Tatyana
Guilty on all counts!
Everything on the list including a visit to the doctor TWICE for craft related incidents. i had one incident the past few weeks and thankfully its gone and the top is halfway there – and that is because I have extra medicine and patches from the last visit to the doctor.
Oh my, that craft list is totally me!! I have been cross stitching for 30 some years, started crocheting 5 years ago, scrapbooking for about 10 years, and been an avid reader my whole life (40+ years)!! Hubby bought me a Kindle just so he doesn’t have to move any more books every 3 to 4 years! Now my daughters, ages 22, 21 and 12, are obsessed with the same hobbies and a few of their own! ;0) It’s a good thing Hubby loves us!!!
oh yes and I think of every luxury/treat in terms of ‘but that would buy me xx of fabric’, trip to a quilt festival? could stay at home and spend all that money on fabric! CRAZY!
Thank goodness I’m not the only one! Your list was perfect – I think you’ve pretty much covered it – I always think it’s so funny when my 8 year old knows exactly which charm pack/fabric range/half finished project I’m talking about. lol
Thanks for a good laugh!
This is hilarious !
I haven’t given it much though before however reading your words and comments from others has made me realize I greatly fall in this category. I took up spinning a year ago to compliment my knitting, lets just say its virtually equalling the yarn stash .D
..lets just say it keeps me (and I suspect others 😉 on the straight, sane, and very content 😀
Hi,my name is Ana, and yes i´m
a craft addict : ))
(Just to say that i´m a big fan of your blog)
Hugs from Portugal
Okay it’s probably a different country thing but is a UFO the same as a WIP? Apart from that I can relate to EVERYTHING else!!
Would just like to say people who DON’T craft have very boring lives lol..
Hugs
Pene x
Did you miss out that no housework or cooking gets done ‘cos you are too busy on important stuff like making things, blogging about things you have made and reading other blogs so you can make some more….?
I confess – I’m a craft addict! Good to know there is a support group
what about feelings of disappointment/ sadness when the local craft shops close for the weekend?
Hi!! I see myself in so many points on your list! But unfortunately my craftyroom is only “virtual”… 😉
Vanessa (spanish from Italy)
Oh yes, we could be very good friends! I already knew that but this list just confirms it again.
And yes, Pene, a UFO is the same as a WIP – and that’s another sign of being craft addicted.
I just finished crocheting 3 shawls in the same number of months. I don’t wear shawls. Enough said. All 20 apply to me and I’m proud of it!
Oh My! I related to nearly all of those… but last night I thought of another one – you know you are a craft addict when you are too sick to check your blog, but you ask your husband to check it for you just incase someone has posted something really cool to make!
OK sadly all of the above are true of myself and then probably some more…… i did have a giggle I was sure you were talking about me lol
OK sadly all of the above are true of myself and then probably some more…… i did have a giggle I was sure you were talking about me lol
Yep, about 18/20 here. And I’m only 22… lol!
Love your blog! Yes, I’m an addict too….
And I especially love those gorgeous fabrics in this post, where oh where can you get them, the usual supply shops tend only to have more traditional fabrics which can be a bit boring…
*the first thing you put in your holiday suitcase is some craft- “just in case”.