The yarn cost how much?

Well, I let the cat out of the bag the other day. Ken had no idea how much money I was spending on my yarn addiction until yesterday.

I was trying to untangle the end of a ball of Cherry Hill Yarn that was tangled only because I balled it up wrong in the first place. He asked me if all the trouble I went to to make hand-made socks was worth it?

"Of course," I told him, "Or I wouldn't spend so much on the yarn!"

Oops...

His eyes got narrow and he tilted his head to the side. "How much do you spend on the yarn?"

"Well," I responded slowly, trying to figure out how to get out of this one, "It depends on the yarn."

"How much was THIS yarn?"

"Well, I found out I could get it a little cheaper on eBay, but this skein was a little pricey. But I really like it." I was winding rather madly as a long section came loose from the knot pile.

"How much?"

I cringed. I looked away. "Twenty."

"Twenty DOLLARS!?"

"Yes."

"I could buy 15 pairs of socks for THAT!!"

"Yep," I responded. "And none of them would fit this well."

He started grumbling about my credit cards. I pointed out that I bought all my yarn from my checking account. I pointed out that my yarn budget came directly from the money set aside from my previous addiction: smoking.

At 2 packs a day running $3.50 a pack... $7.00 a day goes into my yarn budget. That's roughly $210 a month (and I don't spend nearly that much a month on yarn -- in fact, I spend some of it on him and the boys).

I reminded him of these figures and pointed out that if he quit smoking today, at $2.80 a pack (he smokes the cheap shit) at a pack and a half a day... $4.20 a day times 30 days a month: $126 a month. He could buy some serious woodworking equipment with that if he wanted to...

He got quiet. He settled down and watched TV. Later, before bed, he went out on the porch for a smoke. I finished unraveling the tangle tonight. It's all good.