OCD Much?

That's Obsessive Compulsive Delightful as I heard on the morning news program the other day!  That said, I got rather obsessive about some quick to finish projects that would use up the bits and bobs of yarn that I have clogging up my stash bins.  Why did I get crazy about this one asks?  Well, I need to get rid of them so I have room for all the new yarns I want to buy!

For starters I gave away yarns that drove me crazy, such as the 2 partial skeins of Berocco Vintage left over from Destructo-boy's Tomten cardigan and some really pretty but difficult to use mohair bulky yarn.  The Vintage stuff just doesn't hold up, it pills if you look at it funny so regardless of how much I spent on it I'll never use those bits and off they went.  The mohair I just gave to Goodwill, I tried to knit with it, I really did but it made me cry (literally, is that sad or what?!) so away it went too.

For the knitting I first took a little trip through Rebecca Danger's great book The Big Book of Knitted Monsters, knitting 3 different monsters so far, with a 4th planned.  The monster creation used up 5 different yarns, hooray!  Then I made a pair of fingerless mitts for Destructo-boy (who put them on immediately and would not remove them for the rest of the day) and a ear-warmer headband for Lil' Miss (that still needs a cute crocheted flower to finish it off).  Those 2 projects used up 4 different skeins of leftover bits, so happy!

The only problem was that I have 3 larger projects going on already and I have been totally ignoring them in the instant gratification of pulling yarn out of my boxes, making something and being done in a day or two.  Additionally I found myself getting all anxious about the amount of yarn still in the boxes and that I wasn't getting rid of it fast enough.  Then I stopped and reminded myself that knitting is supposed to be an enjoyable hobby, not something that creates angst.  So I am currently back to the big projects and trying to remind myself to enjoy each and every stitch.  It helps some that I made a new rule for myself, only 1 yarn order allowed per month, and I still need to have room to put it into a box before I can order it...yes, I already made my order for March!

I discover the delights of Skinny Bugga!

I admit, I am late to the indie dyer party, but I finally ordered my first skeins from Cephalopod Yarns, and wowzers, I am hooked!  Not only does the yarn come wrapped in the most lucious color of teal tissue paper but it is very soft and smooth in the skein (I can only imagine what it will feel like after washing, swoon), but it even smells good!  Kind of like when you got a new textbook in school and the first thing you;d do after getting it was to crack it open and sniff...wait, that was just me?!  How about mimeographs (oh dear lord, did I just show my age?!)?

I got only 2 skeins, but yum, the first is one of their regular line of colors called Oleander Nymph, a truly lovely shade of buttery yellow.  The second skein is a new color that will only be available for a limited time called Leafy Seadragon (although after another Raveler posted a photo of Sully from Monster's Inc. as being what the colorway looked like that is what I will always think of when I see it).  I am not sure what I will make with these skeins, although the yellow in all likelihood will make a pair of socks from the soon to be released Knitter's Curiosity Cabinet, but regardless they will be something for me, me, me!

Now that I have seen the quality of their products I am really wanting some of the Traveller line of yarn they sell, a dk weight, in another limited edition color, Blue Ringed Octopus, so pretty!  Wouldn't a Drambuie pullover look fabulous in that?!