Benefits of Obsession

I am obsessive. There, I said it. All those who know me are rolling their eyes and exclaiming, "No kidding!" The real problem here is that I keep getting rewarded for my obsessive nature so I have no incentive to change. I owe much of my standing in my profession to my attention to detail and my willingness to get jobs done that no one else is willing to tackle.

On the home front, my obsessive nature gets me into trouble, but can still be quite rewarding. I am now a knitter. Well, I still have beginner standing, but I do knit. Being obsessive means that I rip out my errors instead of leaving them in as curiosities. It also means that I stay up too late getting down to the last error when I find it at 11:00 p.m.

Today, being obsessive meant that I went shoulder deep into yarn during a quest. I visited a new (to me) yarn shop and wandered through crowded aisle upon crowded aisle of glorious fibers. Wools, acrylics, and cottons all called to me. At first, I stayed focused on my stated goal. I wanted a particular bulky wool in a color that would be acceptable to my four year old niece. I found the exact yarn specified in the instructions in a delightful pink. After this success, I found the sock yarns and picked up two skeins of blues on which to learn the art of sock making.

Next, I turned my attention to finding yarn for a scarf. I wanted something variegated in a nice, soft blend. I don't need wool's warmth in Southern California, but I wanted something bright. I finally succumbed to the call of the Noro yarns. I just couldn't resist the Noro Silk Garden blends, but which one to choose? None caught my eye until I saw two sample scarves that were knitted in #43. This is a gloriously bright mix of orange, pink, blue, and purple that just begged to come home with me. My joy was short lived as the owner of the shop wandered by, shook his head, and said that he didn't think they had any more of that colorway. Of course, I would pick a discontinued color! Undaunted, I continued to search the bins of Silk Garden, sure that some other color mix would beckon. In the bottom bin, I found one lonely skein of #43. This was beyond cruel! I needed three skeins and there would be no way I could do this crossing dye lots even if I could find other sources. I continued my quest and wandered into the bins of Kureyan. Suddenly, my hand found a bag of yarn. I slowly brought it out to the light, could it be? Yes! I had found a bag containing two skeins of Silk Garden #43! I held my breath, not daring to check the dye lots. Finally, summoning all my courage, I looked. Obsessive nature wins again! I scored three skeins of a discontinued color all in the same dye lot!

Stay tuned as the saga continues.....