March 2026 No Buy Recap
Week 9 (Mar 1-7)
This week is going to be different from the rest of this no-buy, because this week is Portland Yarn Crawl! We planned this trip months before I decided to do a no-buy, and I’ve decided that this is the one time I’m allowed to shop for yarn. But that comes with a few major caveats.
No “buying for the sake of buying” - I can’t buy 1 skein just because I like the color. I’m only shopping for specific projects that make me excited to knit!
No bulk buying - I can stock up on notions I use regularly (especially buttons), but want to avoid buying quantities that would take over a year to go through. In other words, I’m buying what I plan on using in the near future.
Take a breath and re-evaluate before buying - When ready to check out, I’ll take an extra moment to sort through all the things in my basket. This way, I’ll follow rules 1 & 2 while also ensuring mindful shopping.
We completed the entire crawl between Thursday and Friday and visited so many other adorable crafting shops (and ate such good food). If you want more details on the yarn crawl, I’ve put it all together in this post.
Throughout the crawl, I felt these rules helped me avoid some impulse purchases (things like cute stickers, buttons, and accessories that I knew would end up as clutter). I intentionally brought a carry-on suitcase to add another layer of “impulse protection”. If you can only fit a few skeins, there’s no point in buying a dozen!
At the end of the crawl, I treated myself to an amazing hike in Silver Springs State Park, where I saw 8 waterfalls on a single trail. This solo, headphone-free hike felt like a mental reset after days of nonstop shopping. It was also a good reminder to spend “unplugged” outdoor time more often.
Another bonus this week - I finished the first sleeve of my blue cardigan! Yay!!
Things I wanted to buy, but didn’t…
Buttons that had sawtooth star blocks printed on them
Sequin yarn!!
Portland Souvenirs
Week 10 (Mar 8-14)
The first thing I noticed this week is how easy it is to keep spending once you start. After allowing myself a week of shopping and dining, I found the temptation of going out for a convenient coffee or buying just a “little something” was more present than before. I felt like I’d hit the no-spend equivalent of a “runner’s high” after hitting my stride, only to take a 20-minute pit stop and throw off my groove. But life is full of “20-min pit stops”, and so the point of this whole thing is to learn how to keep running.
I spent most of the week hanging out at home, starting a test knit, enjoying my patio garden, and working on some swatches with my yarn crawl spoils. The first tomato harvest of the year yielded 5 bright stupice tomatoes, and yes, they were delicious!
Things I wanted to buy this week, but didn’t…
Sequin Yarn from Good Yarn
Week 11 (Mar 15-21)
This week was kicked off with a beach barbecue in San Clemente with 4 of our best friends - what more could a girl ask for? The heatwave made for perfect beach weather, where I got to happily knit away in the sand and collect seashells on the shore.
Tuesday, I felt myself getting a little stir-crazy. So I made my way down to one of the local libraries to finish my work for the day. Pro tip, if you’re looking for the best places to find crafting books for cheap, its your local library’s book shop. Most libraries take community donations, or books being removed from their system, and sell them to generate extra revenue. Most of my favorite knitting books have come from these shops; I rarely pay more than $4/book.
Over the weekend, my friend Jazz and I visited our friend Julia in Palm Springs. Since we all live 1+ hr away from each other, any time with all 3 of us together is super exciting. On Saturday we went to a little place called Pioneertown. It was built as an “old west” movie set in the 1940’s but has become its own small community. We spent the afternoon walking from shop to shop, where we eventually stumbled into a place called Soap n’ Goat. I promptly went dead silent with excitement because the whole place was filled with hand-woven/knit/crochet accessories. We talked to the owner, who makes just about everything in the store, and she proudly told us that her goat, Sam, had won the mayoral election and had been inaugurated hours beforehand! Unfortunately, we didn’t get the chance to meet the mayor, since he had retired early after a long day of being pet by and kissing his constituents. I couldn’t resist and spent $10 on some roving from the mayor himself.
We spent the rest of the day line dancing and walking back and forth between the two establishments in town til 11 pm - it was a weekend well spent.
Things I wanted to buy this week, but didn’t…
Hand spun yarn
A heddle loom for weaving
Week 12 (Mar 22-28)
My #1 goal for this week was to get back into my no-buy habits going into April, which meant spending more time doing slow, intentional tasks. I focused on finishing my test knit and working on my current cardigan WIP over starting new projects (though TikTok really wants me to get into bedazzling and French beaded flowers). Outside of knitting, I spent time with my plants every day, pulling off dead leaves and making sure they were all taken care of.
I collected another round of tomatoes from my plants on Monday and followed it up with a little walk where I saw multiple duck couples going on their little dates. The best time of year is when all the little ducklings are born, hopefully I’ll get to share them with you in a few more weeks <3
Saturday was a glorious, lazy day at home - one of the best ways to spend a weekend. I knocked out the second sleeve of my test knit and got to use my little icord tool to finish off the ties in record time. The cherry on top is the current heat wave that made the drying process a million times faster.
Things I wanted to buy this week, but didn’t…
Fabric for a new wall hanging
bedazzle kit lol
Week 13 pt 1 (Mar 29-31)
I jumped into the start of this week by taking my test knit off the blocking mats and trying it on for the first time… and I love it! Now it’s time to play dress up and come up with spring outfits with my newest knit. The main grey yarn came out of stash - my cousin gifted it to me in Peru years ago, to make sure I reached gauge, I held it with some lace Silkpaca from Malabrigbo. In just the right light, you can see the bits of rainbow from the Malabrigo yarn shining through.
The first part of the week also included FINALLY finishing the body on my blue cardigan. I’ve been working this on 3.5mm needles so the last few rows felt like they took an eternity. I can’t wait to start on the collar and slowly see the whole piece come together. I’m thinking of naming this design the “Lizzie Cardigan” since it feels like something Lizzie McGuire would’ve worn/something I would’ve begged my mom to buy for me at Justice in 2008.
Last but not least, this idea for a quilt popped into my head, and I had the urge to “sketch” it out online. I use the free version of the Pre-Quilt app to do a layout of my quilts. The free version doesn’t allow you to save any designs, but they have an affordable paid version that does (~$5/month). Unfortunately, new subscriptions fall under my no-buy so I’ll keep using the free version for the time being <3
Things I wanted to buy this week, but didn’t…
A pre-quilt subscription lol
HBO Max subscription so I can watch The Pitt
Going out to eat when I didn’t feel like cooking
March Recap
As far as no-buys go, this is my least successful month so far. I bought yarn in Portland and fiber in Pioneertown, and went out for food and treats much more than I would’ve liked because of the travel. But this month was a test of leaving behind an “all or nothing” mentality and finding long-term balance. When we were on the yarn crawl in Portland, I didn’t buy an abundance of yarn or buttons; instead, I practiced taking my favorites and purchasing with intention.
This month, we went through 5 skeins of yarn - only 3 of those skeins were completely used up. I also unraveled some old projects for yarn in place of buying more. This brings us up to 20 skeins of yarn out of stash in 3 months! It can make me feel a little silly to say how proud I am of hitting that number - but I am! It’s the first time that I can look at my stash and see a visible difference, and that certainly counts for something.
