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megknits
Sustaining Member
USA
728 Posts |
 Posted - 09/18/2002 : 11:56:29 PM
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I've recently developed this really strange habit and I'm wondering if anyone else does this too. Every couple of weeks I read about a yarn that intrigues me. I then end up spending hours online searching for the yarn and patterns to go with it, and looking at dozens of yarn web sites for the very best price, even though I don't have any current plans to buy it. I've filled up all sorts of electronic shopping carts.
It's like I've developed a romantic "crush"   on it, and I end up thinking about it throughout the day. Then, another yarn catches my interest and I do it all over again with my new "love."
So am I psycho  or do other people do this too?
(Actually, I have a co-worker who once admitted to me that when she is really stressed she goes to real stores and fills up shopping carts with stuff she has no intention of buying, and then leaves them there. So I guess I'm not as nuts as she is.) 
Meg
"Do not meddle into the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup." |
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RoseByAny
Permanent Resident
USA
12598 Posts |
Posted - 09/19/2002 : 04:50:38 AM
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I stalk books on Amazon.com like that all the time (I have 4 in my cart right now!) and don't always put yarn in cyber-carts, I do tend to look at yarn and patterns - particularly Regia yarns, where I'll go so far as to have up multiple screens so I can compare solids with pattern colors so I can decide which colors to make toes and heels...
Sounds like you're just using the part of knitting that is among the most fun for you - shopping for yarn and patterns - and using it as a therapy without actually going so far as to spend money! Astounding self control!
Keep it up and don't feel at all guilty!
"Choose your friends by their character and your socks by their color. Choosing your socks by their character makes no sense, and choosing your friends by their color is unthinkable."
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Kristin
Seriously Hooked
USA
606 Posts |
Posted - 09/19/2002 : 07:14:11 AM
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LOL...you sound like me!
I'll find a yarn that catches my fancy and then I'll scour the net trying to find a good deal on it, look at all the colours, check out patterns, spend my day imagining what I'll make with it, etc. I think that's one of my favourite parts of knitting: visualizing what I'm going to do! 
I'm in between "stalks" right now. My last few were with Jaeger Chamonix and Noro Silk Garden. I'm eyeing some cashmere right now but have to wait til after Christmas to even consider it.
Ahhhh, it's always fun to dream!
--Kristin |
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chris
Permanent Resident
USA
2449 Posts |
Posted - 09/19/2002 : 08:13:23 AM
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I can't do that! If I do, I later can't remember whether I actually bought it or left without going through the checkout. No estrogen in my brain at all!!!
However, I have been doing a similar thing with spinning. I read the posts in the spinning section with something akin to a deep hunger. I've checked out sites that have spinning info, fiber, spindles, etc. I have actually put things in carts, but then backed down. I've thought about signing up for the classes at Fiber Factory. (You should hear the arguments in my brain over that one: what if Tony gets a job somewhere else and you have to move before the classes start? what if Tony doesn't get a job; that's a lot of money for your diminished income! and on and on and on. sigh) So, I don't think your abnormal. If you are, I am, and I know I'm not!
hugs,
chris
Keep on knittin', mama, knittin' those blues away! |
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maya
Warming Up
93 Posts |
Posted - 09/19/2002 : 09:54:50 AM
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| I have found Noro silk garden on ebay. |
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GreysMom2
Chatty Knitter
USA
158 Posts |
Posted - 09/19/2002 : 10:00:42 AM
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I too stalk yarn on the internet. I go through obsessions, one after another. I don't even limit myself to yarn. Sometimes it's needles, sometimes a knitting book.
I am currently stalking Opal sock yarns and anything on the web about kool-aid dyeing.
Is that so wrong? he he he
Kim
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beth95
Chatty Knitter
149 Posts |
Posted - 09/19/2002 : 12:24:58 PM
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This is the *best* topic! ;-)
I know exactly what you mean. This summer, my obsession was Mountain Colors. I had online shade cards from various websites bookmarked, so I could compare the different scans and try to figure out which ones were closest to "true". I made lists of which colors I liked best and which sock patterns I thought would show them off to best advantage. Really good scans of finished projects, full skeins, etc I saved to my hard drive for easy access, and I pored over them while I should have been studying.
If this yarn were easier to obtain (it's hand-dyed and frequently out of stock), I'm not sure I would have developed such a powerful interest in it. But now that I have managed to get several skeins in my stash (and one on the needles), I still think it's the most amazing stuff in the world, kitten-soft and uniquely lovely.
I do feel a new interest coming on, however: Jaeger Shetland Aran. I saw some at the LYS yesterday and very nearly brought home a sackfull. It's not especially colorful, but it's soft and luscious and would probably make the world's most comfortable sweater. Or socks. Or a hat-and-mittens set. Mmmm.
--beth ;-) |
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crombie
New Pal
USA
14 Posts |
Posted - 09/19/2002 : 5:13:26 PM
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heh. me too!! me too! i got into knitting cuz i wanted to knit my husband a cap. it turned out abt 3 caps, and 2 lace shawls and more projects on the way! i read up on the yarns i think i am interested in.. i got into fibers and daydream abt rearing alpacas. i surfed the net to find the best deals on my latest "crush" that i have on e particular yarn and think abt it for days. i have the same obsession but i think i look more for projects then go around madly looking at available yarns. :P
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elliela
Gabber Extraordinaire
433 Posts |
Posted - 09/19/2002 : 10:27:24 PM
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OMG...I am amazed to see others out there like me!!
I have been "stalking" Colinette's Tagliatelli for months and months. Every LYS I went into, never heard of it, since it was available in Europe first.
It's in the USA now andI finally got to see it in person..gorgeous! By some stroke of luck, found an eBay seller offering it and got it for tons cheaper than if I had bought it outright.
Wonder what my next "victim" will be?
Ellen
http://naturallycurly.blogspot.com
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fotyc
New Pal
8 Posts |
Posted - 09/20/2002 : 07:03:12 AM
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| I do this if I hear about a new yarn in a book I'm looking at - this happened recently with Elsebeth Lavold's Viking Patterns for Knitting, I fell in love with a sweater in Garn Silke-tweed (a Norwegian yarn that's half silk and half lambswool) and started looking everywhere for the best price on it. It's about $10 a hank everywhere but would you believe the best deal I found was to buy it from a shop in Denmark. It would have been $8 a hank INCLUDING shipping. IF I had bought it which I didn't...yet... |
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Marg in Mirror
Permanent Resident
Canada
3204 Posts |
Posted - 09/20/2002 : 07:24:16 AM
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Dear Meg,
You're not alone, as you can see! I stalk yarn, fabric (for quilting), threads (quilting and embroidery), patterns and books online! I also love to go to real stores to "feel" fabric and yarn. My friend Susan calls it "getting endorphins", and we do this regularly -- generally without buying anything, but often starting a wish list.
One of my biggest wishes is that I could afford to send away for some of the wonderful stuff available in the US -- or that it would be easier to know where to get it in Western Canada. Anyone any tips?
Thanks!
-- Margaret Blank, Calgary |
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pqpatch
Seriously Hooked
USA
616 Posts |
Posted - 09/20/2002 : 07:48:30 AM
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I must say this is happening to me also. I haven't knitted for about 10 years and decided to get my needles out of storage. I can't believe how things have changed. It was always hard to find yarns when I was knitting and now WHOOPEE!!! There is so much out there now, it is great. I am an avid quilter also and I am afraid this disease is rampant among quilters also. I have more fabric then I can use in a lifetime and it seems my knitting stash has started growing also. But it is better than going to therapy!!! We could be doing much worse things right?
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kmpeds
New Pal
1 Posts |
Posted - 09/20/2002 : 3:50:08 PM
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| I hear you! I've got it bad too, it's called OBSESSION!!! Time to join knitters annonymous! |
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GreysMom2
Chatty Knitter
USA
158 Posts |
Posted - 09/20/2002 : 4:03:07 PM
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I'm stalking right now...
Be vewy qwiet, I'm Regia cwazy cowors hunting.....he he he
Kim
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Pookie
Chatty Knitter
255 Posts |
Posted - 09/20/2002 : 4:09:27 PM
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Wouldn't that be "Wegia?"
Pookie in Seattle
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GreysMom2
Chatty Knitter
USA
158 Posts |
Posted - 09/20/2002 : 4:24:56 PM
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Pookie
You would be absowutewy wight!
Kim
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YarnAddict
New Pal
14 Posts |
Posted - 09/21/2002 : 10:03:34 AM
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I kind of do this too! I will dream up a project I'd like to do and then spend hours looking for the perfect yarn, ideas to adjust it, etc. Right now I am dying to make a fair isle style cardigan similar to one I saw at a crafts gallery a few weeks ago (anyone living near Asheville, NC can go check it out and see what they think!). I have been sketching out possible designs and scouring the internet for the "perfect" yarn. Trying to hold off though, as I have two sweaters and multiple smaller project going right now and I really can't afford the yarn!
Catherine |
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tomato
New Pal
USA
27 Posts |
Posted - 09/23/2002 : 09:27:45 AM
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I LOVE to do this!! Mostly with yarns and patterns - but sometimes also with shoes.... I call it "giving it a ride" and most of the time, that is quite enough, although there was the Kolibri fiasco.... never mind.
tomato |
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djfleesh
Chatty Knitter
USA
144 Posts |
Posted - 09/24/2002 : 12:04:59 PM
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like everyone else, i am so glad that i am not alone (although my husband has totally given up hope)! i spend hours looking, filling cyber baskets, emptying them, refilling them, and re-emptying them. if i do that at 5 different online shops, i usually buy from one. . . only to find out that the main color i need is already sold out! then the search begins again. . . viva la stalk!
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e_looped
Seriously Hooked
USA
712 Posts |
Posted - 09/24/2002 : 2:24:20 PM
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I don't necessarily stalk a particular yarn. I love patterns and books of patterns. I love dreaming about projects that I can do. Most times, I don't get far enough to buying the yarn for the sweater. I always look at patterns with the intent of making and who I would make them for.
erica :)
(knitgrl is my license plate)
Life is like knitting sometimes it's smooth, sometimes it's bumpy and sometimes it's the ultimate frustration.
http://erica-lee.org/crafts.html |
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lacylaine
Seriously Hooked
USA
989 Posts |
Posted - 09/25/2002 : 10:20:04 AM
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My mom and her best friend used to spend HOURS going to jewelry stores, looking at rings and pretending that one of them had a birthday coming up (presumably the husbands would be shopping for them shortly). I never, ever understood what that was all about and had serious doubts about their sanity.
Now, at long last, I understand. I don't shop much on-line, but I ADORE knitting books. I have way more than I have time to learn. I'm especially looking forward to Gossamer Webs and the Rambling Rows afghan. Whenever I'm in the mood to start another project (I try to keep it down to 2 or 3 at a time), I just buy a another book. A knitting magazine will do in a pinch.
I recently received Socks Soar and am working on the second sock of my second pair ever. Can't wait to try the Opal Tiger.
I just love this forum! Everytime I log on, I learn something new. Today, I learned that we are normal.
Melanie
"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might." Ecclesiastes 9:10 |
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