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Why Do Adults Act This Way?

Background info first:  Less than four years ago I learned to knit socks.  Thanks Susan!  Almost as soon as I learned to knit socks, I realized that sock yarn was as addicting for the knitter as is fabric for the quilter.  We can just sit at the computer and poke buttons .. and like magic, the yarn is delivered to my front door. The honest to goodness truth is that part of the 2010 commitment was to lay off the yarn buying.  I really have plenty!

While this isn’t a HUGE supply of yarn, it’s enough to keep me busy for several years.  And the beauty of sock yarn, as opposed to fabric, is that I don’t have to come up with colors that match or work together.  Mostly, 1 skein of yarn makes 1 pair of socks and that’s it . . move on to the next one.  So I’m all set for a while with sock yarn.

Then . . really, it was after the first of the year, like maybe on January 1, I began reading about this yarn called Wollmeise.  It sounded like everyone was saying this is THE sock yarn to use! It was like everywhere I turned, people were talking about Wollmeise yarn!  I had to have some!  To make matters worse, it’s a German yarn and from what I’ve read, there’s one lady doing all the work and this yarn is very hard to find.  Some reported that it had sold on ebay for more than 3 times its original cost (and it ain’t cheap!).  I didn’t spend a lot of time looking for it because I read on Ravelry that it’s just one of those things you sometimes get lucky and stumble upon but otherwise . . well, just dream about owning it.

Tuesday I had just finished loading Chad’s quilt on the longarm and sat down at the computer to see what was happening in my little world.  For some reason, I clicked on my favorite yarn shop, The Loopy Ewe.  Don’t ask me why . . I’m not buying any more yarn.  I wasn’t even thinking about the much worshiped Wollmeise yarn.  And guess what they had!  Wollmeise yarn!  I clicked to put three or four skeins in my cart . . I was so excited!  It was like I’d just won the lottery!  I was clicking so fast, I didn’t even know what I got but I managed to get a couple of skeins.

Tuesday evening on Ravelry, someone finagled out of Sheri, the owner of The Loopy Ewe, that she had more Wollmeise to put up later.  Here’s where the insanity began.

Twice during the night I got up to check to see if she had put it up.  The thermostat is set on 60° at night.  Getting out of the warm bed and waiting for the computer to boot up . . insanity!  Only to find nothing new on The Loopy Ewe site.

I brought the laptop into the bedroom so I could keep checking it while getting dressed.  Nothing!

I brought the laundry into the bedroom and folded it while watching the computer.  Nothing!

But, at some point, there was little more I could do upstairs and I needed to go down and sew.  Running back and forth across the sewing room to the desktop was just taking too long so I brought the laptop and set it next to me at the sewing machine.

10:32 a.m. and no Wollmeise has appeared on the website.

There were dozens and dozens of refreshes and F5 hits and finally, at 3:05 p.m.  . .

More Wollmeise yarn appeared on The Loopy Ewe‘s website.  And, I was quick enough to snag a few more skeins.  I’m not sure how  much of the yarn she had.  Maybe 15 or 16 colors were posted but within 10 minutes, it was all gone!

I think a whole bunch of knitters spent a lot of time hitting the F5 (refresh) button at The Loopy Ewe!  All I have to say about all this is . . I sure hope I love Wollmeise sock yarn!  And, short of something really outstanding, I’m finished buying yarn for a while.

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Comments

  2. OMG, that is too funny. I’ve been caught up in auctions too. Once I was bidding on a Gund stuffed tabby cat that was once sold by Avon. My 4 year old grand daughter really wanted this. I found it on ebay and started bidding on it near the end of the auction – after 1 AM . I lost the bidding. Turns out my daughter decided to bid on it not knowing I was going to get it for her daughter, and we were bidding against each other. That was her first ebay bid ever. Argh…..

    I’ll be anxious to see if you like your sock yarn. Now I want some…I’ll be checking that webstore for more.

  3. Thanks a lot! Now I’ll probably spend the rest of the day looking for yarn. LOL Happy knitting.

  5. Hehehehe…. I learned to make socks 9 months ago. So far I have made six pair but somehow the yarn seems to have appeared here for another ten pair. I need to stop pushing the “purchase” button and try to window shop ONLY!

    • I use the booklet, Classic Socks for the Family by Yankee Knitter but there are lots of simple free patterns available. I started with double point needles, knitting cuff down. Some knit on circular needles, some knit two socks at once on circular needles, some knit from the top of the cuff down to the toe. There are plenty of videos available online to help you out if you get stuck. If you already know how to knit the basic knit/purl stitches, socks should be a piece of cake.

  7. Well, it definitely is an addition. I’ve not quite finished my first sock and I have yarn for 2 more pair – I know that doesn’t seem like much but, hey, I just started knitting socks last month! Fortunately(?) I live within 3 miles of the Loopy Ewe – OMG I’m in trouble!

    • Karen, living that close to The Loopy Eye would be very dangerous for me. I guess I’m lucky I just found them online a few months ago. Are they really as nice as they seem online?

  8. This reminds me of trying to get concert tickets through Ticketmaster. I looked at Ebay for prices…eeek! That must be some extra special yarn! Enjoy.

  9. And this is why I refuse to learn to knit socks! Not the on-line yarn stalking…that I understand :-), but the new yarn stash I would acquire! I already have my XS stash and my quilting stash and when I discovered crocheted dishcloths, now I have a huge cotton yarn stash. So, yes, I’m an addict too and I don’t need one more addiction LOL. Congrats and scoring some of the yarn.

    • Laura, don’t ever stick your feet in hand knitted wool/cashmere/silk blend socks! You’ll be hooked and you’ll be making room for that yarn stash! 🙂

  10. You are so right – it is an adult thing! I try to teach my son to shop from a list and even if we are at a store and I see something that I really, really want – if it isn’t on the list – chances are that I won’t get it when he is with me. I try to understand that being 6 years old must be very hard – if he wants new Legos or a book or something – it has to go through me. I try to budget his entertainment so that he has a good variety – gym, swimming, Legos, art supplies, etc. If I spend on myself, chances are that I set aside some money for him too – I figure if DH can spend extra money on cable TV, then our son deserves special activities too. Sometimes, on a very special day – we will go to the store just for the sole purpose of buying a much wanted Lego set. I think it must be for him like it is for me – going into a fabric store with money in hand, knowing I can buy something I really enjoy! It is funny that you titled your post as you did because I was just thinking about this at Christmas how kids really rely upon Christmas and birthdays to get the things they most want, but yet adults have their own buying power. Cheers! Evelyn

  13. Wow! What a story……you got my heart pumping, I was getting so excited. Yep I sure hope you like the yarn after all of that.

  14. Judy….you are too funny but sound very familiar. Keep
    saying that I’ll take a class but keep putting it off.
    Do you think I could teach myself ? I would
    love to knit myself some socks.

  15. Hahahahahah! Remind me never to go to a LIVE auction with you!

    Your message yesterday was too funny! Yeah, I heard it at 10:30 last night. Why or why do you insist on calling my cell phone? It’s never where I am. I have a house phone with 15 extension/cordless receivers.

    But no. I’m going to miss something exciting and wonderful because my cell number is the one residing in your directory.

  17. Oh Judy. This is behavior is so sad. LOL. I can say this because I’ve done it myself on numerous occasions for different reasons. Can’t remember what the situations were right off, but I know I told myself at the time that this was crazy, obsessive compulsive behavior, but I did it anyway. You are not alone.

  18. I went straight to the Yankee Knitter website–I wanted to order their pattern book–OUT OF STOCK–I knew you had a favorite pattern and bamb-there the name was. I’m going to keep checking. I tried to knit a sock on circular needles-got the heel done and then all went crazy on the next step–got me some sets of DP needles and I got casted on and then all went crazy again. I”m not giving up–I have yarn for probably 6 pairs of socks!!!! Hugs, Bobbie

  19. I just went back and looked again–is the “toe up” pattern easier or what?? Hugs, Bobbie

  20. Funny!!! Make me wonder about those knitters……LOL I just hope this yarn is a wonderful as you’ve been led to believe.

    I’m too froze up today to push buttons. Our wind chill is 46 below and as soon as the furnace shuts off I feel cold drafts on my feet even with the insulated drapes shut tight and folding chairs set across the bottom to try and keep the cold air at bay. Fortunately the furnace soon starts up again. Is pushing buttons on the computer enough exercise to warm a body up???

  21. Oh my, you are sick! Call the Dr.!!! LOL My own illness is Amazon.com. We all need a remedy, but what? There is something about pushing those buttons, or picking up another pattern, or kits or ??? Maybe I should Google “impatience” or “addiction?

    One lady at Guild admitted to having 94 quilt KITS, not counting all the other items.

    I’ve been thinking about learning to crochet. Are crochet’ers as sick as quilters and knitters?

  22. Hmm…wonder whether this is the same behavior that drove your *wonderful son* to purchase 25 duck-call thingies??? Nah, couldn’t be!!!

  23. Judy, I just checked for this yarn using the eBay app on my iPhone (very handy for late night searching!) and yikes, that stuff is expensive! Now I don’t need to worry about how much a yard of fabric is!

  24. Oh gosh, you are too funny… But um, well I came home with a horse from an auction once, kind of that way – he was SO pretty…. I could just envision him in my pasture…. and now he is there…

    I can envision your new beautiful socks too…. Have fun!

  25. Judy, You are too much. I can just see you checking your computer repeatedly. I have not yet finished one sock (had to start over because of dropped stitches) not sure how that happened. By the way, I too live very close to the Loopy Ewe (can see it from the front porch) and the funny thing is—- I didn’t even know it was there until you and another friend told me about it. I was spared the addiction, thank goodness. Who knows, IF I ever learn to make a pair of socks and they look good enough to wear, I may be hitting their parking lot weekly! Dar

  26. it is called A-D-D-I-C-T-I-V-E personality, lol….i have it too…..right now, it is cookbooks (again) because I have no more room for fabric; Now you are asking, and where will the cookbooks go? Why, in the bookcases that will be empty because I am getting rid of some of my quilting magazines, lol.

  27. Judy,
    You made me want to order some of that yarn & I have never even made any socks – I’m a very amateur knitter. I will have to look into making my own socks. The wool/ cashmere/silk combo sounds delicious.
    Thanks for sharing.
    Cathy Stoddard

  28. The first important thing is to give up the denial, and recognise that you have a problem…. Getting up in the middle of the night? Classic!

  29. Spoken like a true addict Judy! I have put away the credit cards and even the debit card for a bit. Time to use up a bit of the stash. I may even join your quilt-a-thon weekend! I finally came upon my Italy bag — a souvenir from Rome that holds my partially-knit pair of socks — and can get back to my sock-knitting when I have the time. In the meanwhile, I’ve settled down in front of the computer to wait for missives of the more personal nature. I certainly hope I’m not making a big mistake this time!

  30. Why do you do this to me?? I just spent 30 minutes at Amazon.com looking at books on knitting socks. I really want to learn to knit socks but I know it’s likely to be one more unfinished knitting or crochet project so I’ve been resisting. I almost bought a couple books thinking I could just read them and not buy any yarn…..yet.

  31. OMG you have it bad.
    I had to send your post to my friend April because it sounds so much like us I couldn’t not share. We’re both chuckling about it right now.

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