Confessions of a Yarnaholic

By Me

Edited and Commented by kcknits (aka My True Self)

Hello, I am a yarnaholic. Fiber of all types invades my home; its siren call renders me powerless. Strike this sentence! This is not an invasion. It is a willing collusion resulting from the symbiotic relationship between man and sheep. I am an equal opportunity yarnaholic–acrylic has as much of a chance with me as cashmere. Equal opportunity my foot. Cashmere and bison are expensive. I’ve even bought fun fur because it was well…"fun". The swatch looked cute, but the finished scarf must never see the light of day. Remnants–those innocuous little half, quarter, and eighth balls–have sentimental value and must be pried from my dead fingers. The acrylic may be used for tying up plants, but touch my wool at your own risk!

I confess I give the fruits of my labors to others to justify my yarn habit. But I did keep one pair of socks, a scarf, a hat, two pairs of mitts, and the hideous fun fur for myself. My addiction harms my loved ones, forcing them to graciously accept clown socks and sweaters two sizes too large. My aunt asked for the purple, green, and orange socks. She even picked out the yarn. There’s no accounting for taste. As for my best friend, she crash dieted while I was knitting. Besides, the sweater fits now. Even my dog has suffered because of my affliction. The snow booties, hat, and sweater looked so cute on her. Alas, malinois aren’t poodles and she meticulously tore the hat to shreds. She’s now on my “Do Not Knit” list.

I go to craft fairs and stand in the alpaca booth for hours trying to decide between the cream and brown lace weight baby alpaca before going home with both. Leaving them both there would have been a crime of immeasurable magnitude, particularly when they gave me a Sunday afternoon discount.

When I moved, I discovered I owned five things: books, knitting books, yarn, knitting needles, and CDs. Imagine how heavy the book boxes would have been if I hadn’t filled them halfway with yarn. I gave away my movie collection for yarn space. My favorites are all available online and I needed the space. Instead of china, my sideboard houses yarn, carefully preserved in hermetically sealed bags. Fancy plates that I will never use are useless. I even purchased a vacuum sealer to support my habit. In your face, moths!

At tax time, I go through my receipts and calculate how much I spent on my hobby. Appalled by my yearly yarn expenditure, I lie to myself and claim I spent less than I actually did. I rationalize this by saying I am overpaying my taxes, which supports my government. This always sounds better than saying what percentage of my income I spent on yarn. Oddly, I’m okay with this practice.

Before I purchase yarn, I spend inordinate amounts of time studying the different brands. I will even PM people on Ravelry and ask about wear. In short, I am obsessed. This is not obsession; it’s research. Hand knit socks should last for many years and this is the only way to know.

My New Year’s resolution was to only knit from my stash. I kept it for five months before asking for yarn for my birthday. Well, everyone asked what I wanted. It’s not my fault yarn was cheaper than the new computer I need. I have a problem. No, I don’t.

With my assistance, smooshy balls have invaded my home. They are like gremlins except they replicate without water. I wish they were like gremlins. Then I would have enough of that yummy Madelintosh for two pairs of socks. Before I drown in my self-made vat of fiber goodness, And I would want to stop this from happening why? I am turning myself over to a higher Power and begging for help. Only through His grace can I overcome my addiction and clean out my yarn basket. He asked for a sweater.

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Inkscape 0.47

Tomorrow, if the developers are to be believed, Inkscape 0.47 will become the newest official Inkscape release. Since this is the first version of Inkscape that handles well on a netbook, I’ve had it for the past several months and I can honestly say that the tweak tool improvements justify the upgrade. (Particularly, if you do your croquis drawings on the computer.)

I have a new Knitter’s Guide to Inkscape: Cables, but I’m sitting on it until after the release. To the best of my knowledge, the current Knitter’s Guides to Inkscape also apply to Inkscape 0.47.

Update: Inkscape 0.47 is still in prerelease. When it releases, I’ll update the Inkscape posts and release the latest tutorials.

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