{"id":281,"date":"2010-02-10T06:00:15","date_gmt":"2010-02-10T14:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ittakesballstoknit.com\/?p=281"},"modified":"2010-02-10T08:17:03","modified_gmt":"2010-02-10T16:17:03","slug":"yarn-or-drugs-is-the-choice-that-clear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ittakesballstoknit.com\/?p=281","title":{"rendered":"Yarn or drugs … is the choice that clear?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I can’t quite remember where or when, but today I had an epiphany. The more I think about it, the more I realize that yarn is a lot like drugs! Now before you dismiss me as a quack, let me tell you the comparisons I have made and you can make the decision for yourself. Here we go.<\/p>\n

Yarn, like drugs …<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. comes in a varying degrees of quality. You have the fancy designer yarns like Cashmere, Qiviut, Alpaca, and Silk, and then there’s the mid-range stuff like Merino, Cotton, Mohair, and Bamboo and finally the budget yarns like blends, acrylics, novelty yarns, and raw wool.<\/li>\n
  2. is consumed by a wide demographic of “users” and the type of yarn used is entirely dependent on their budget and preference.<\/li>\n
  3. is highly addictive and if its use is not monitored can quickly get out of control leading to a large surplus, otherwise known as a “stash”.<\/li>\n
  4. is acquired when the “user” needs a “fix”. The fix can ease the need for yarn for a short period or quite a while. It all depends on the discipline of the “user” and what kind of a fix they are trying to satisfy at the time. Is it to get a quick fix, i.e a hat or scarf, or are they looking to prolong it by making a sweater or blanket.<\/li>\n
  5. is used with a variety of implements, like needles, fingers, hooks, machines, or sometimes even toothpicks and brooms. The way yarn is used is as varied as the types of yarn and “users”.<\/li>\n
  6. is sold in various quantities and forms like cones, skeins, balls, and hanks, and “grams”, depending on the intended use and number of users.<\/li>\n
  7. can be mixed or “cut” with other yarns or materials to increase the quantity and profit margin from its sale, or to dilute the effect of the yarn to prolong the desire of the user.<\/li>\n
  8. is often sold by distributors who operate much like a pusher. You get hooked with the lower grade materials at very low prices then are gradually enticed by richer, purer “cuts” which are much more expensive, but by then it’s waaaay too late to stop.<\/li>\n
  9. is usually sampled in small doses called “swatches” to embed the hook deep in the psyche. After this arrangements are made for the acquisition of larger quantities and the sale is usually completed with the phrase “You should get an extra one just in case”.<\/li>\n
  10. is best enjoyed in its purer forms and should only be mixed with other yarns of the same quality.<\/li>\n
  11. can quite often cause overdoses if not controlled at the source.This is also known as the STABLE effect – STash Amount is Beyond Life Expectancy. At this point the user goes into a state of panic in trying to come to grips with their addiction when they realize there’s too much yarn and too little time.<\/li>\n
  12. causes severe withdrawal symptoms when removed from the user through drastic means like removal of the stash, the banning of procuring more yarn,\u00a0 intervention, or budget reduction. These symptoms are extremely dangerous and can lead to violent attacks with implements mentioned in #5.<\/li>\n
  13. is often afflicted on the young, so that dependency grows with age, and becomes rooted deep within the soul of the user.<\/li>\n
  14. is very easy to acquire and sold by varying levels of “salesmanship”. Here little girl, the first one’s free ;-<\/li>\n
  15. causes rise to “entrepreneurs” working outside the normal parameters – they would rather grow and make their own than pay the full price requested by salespeople.<\/li>\n
  16. and lastly, is versatile and arises from raw materials of a varied nature – soy, bamboo, petroleum, wool, cotton, silk, possum fur, … the list goes on!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I think this comparison brings rise to the question – “Are we any better than a drug addict”? Well, I am not one to judge, but until they come and try and take away my stash (especially now that it’s so neatly organized) I will deny any existence of an addiction in my bones. I will continue to exude the confidence that I am in full control of my condition and try never to have to utter the words “Hello, my name is Mr. Hugzzz and I’m a knitaholic”!<\/p>\n

    Hugzzz \ud83d\ude0e<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Yarn, like drugs … is highly addictive and if its use is not monitored can quickly get out of control leading to a large surplus, otherwise known as a “stash”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,10,11],"tags":[982,15,71,69,76,70,78,77,27,969,984,971,72,68,75,74,981,73,67,976,977],"class_list":{"0":"post-281","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-discussion","7":"category-lessons","8":"category-musings","9":"tag-alpaca","10":"tag-balls","11":"tag-bamboo","12":"tag-cashmere","13":"tag-cone","14":"tag-cotton","15":"tag-gram","16":"tag-hank","17":"tag-knitters","18":"tag-knitting","19":"tag-merino","20":"tag-needles","21":"tag-novelty","22":"tag-qivuit","23":"tag-skein","24":"tag-soy","25":"tag-stash","26":"tag-swatch","27":"tag-user","28":"tag-wool","29":"tag-yarn","30":"pmpro-has-access","31":"czr-hentry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pNDS0-4x","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ittakesballstoknit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ittakesballstoknit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ittakesballstoknit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ittakesballstoknit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ittakesballstoknit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=281"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/ittakesballstoknit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":286,"href":"https:\/\/ittakesballstoknit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281\/revisions\/286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ittakesballstoknit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ittakesballstoknit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ittakesballstoknit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}