You know how sometimes, someone writes something - maybe even just a sentence or two - and it strikes a chord in you and you go, yes, that is so true for me?

Today, Crazy Aunt Purl summed it up for me in a couple of sentences:

"I LOVE YOU, KNITTING! You make me happy. You know I'm crazy and you love me back anyway, with your 100% wool goodness, with your silly crazy stitches, with your never-ending world of possibility."


hahahahahahahahaha.

while I'm not a fan of loop stitch (as she is), I can totally relate to the "knitting still loves you even though it knows you're crazy" vibe. And the "it doesn't matter if you start ten million projects" vibe. Hobby as source of unconditional love. (Oh, don't start calling the shrink; I know knitting is inanimate and thus incapable of love. But you know, there have been days when the whole day has gone down the toilet, and I can still come home and turn a heel, or make a perfect repeat of lace, and it makes everything better).

And on the subject of starting projects when you don't really need another project (or rather, when you need another project like you need a hole in the head), I'm thinking of starting one. See, I have four balls of Jaeger Mohair Art in this absolutely gorgeous cranberry color...it's a color that feeds my soul. It's not really red, not fire-engine red or fake-strawberry-flavor red. It's more of a crimson or a cranberry or the color you see in good old Persian rugs. (it's Brocade , except that site doesn't do it justice). Very rich and deep. And I bought it on a whim, no project in mind, and only bought four balls because there were only four left.

And then, flipping through this book (a recent 40% off coupon at JoAnn's purchase), I happened on a lacy stole...made of mohair...in the same weight yarn as my Jaeger. Requiring slightly fewer yards than what I have. I resisted it for a few days but now I MUST CAST ON FOR THAT STOLE. I keep thinking about it. (Yes, I get mildly obsessed about new projects). And it will be a lovely knit-and-proctor project for tomorrow. (Today? I wrote my Christmas cards in my exam). And I want it. I want the feeling of that yarn sliding through my fingers, I want the delight of that color. I want the finished product even though I'm not sure at this point which of my things it will go with.

Crazy, yes. But I'm one of the good kind.