OPP. Do you Have it?

I've come to the stark realization that I suffer from OPP. Now prepare yourself, for you might discover that you suffer from it as well, and quite sadly, I don't think there is a cure for it.

What is OPP, you might ask? Well, let me enlighten you, but be warned, this is not for the faint of heart.

OPP is quite simply a deep abiding lust for Other People's Projects. There is no stopping OPP once it strikes, and quite frankly, my yarn stash is staggering under this folly.

"Oh, there is no such thing as OPP," you may scoff, but I present the evidence:

Just look at my last post, Monkey Shenanigans. I saw that hat at a knitting tea--a nice, lovely afternoon of tea, wonderful food, and a friendly knitting show and tell. I was fine until that hat popped up and then I HAD to knit it. I HAD to. I was in the yarn shop the next day jonesing for a fix of sock/rag yarn.

You can't get it in until tomorrow??? my OPP mind raged silently, while I stoically smiled and thanked the overly helpful store owner, then went outside the shop and took deep calming breaths.

Still cynical? Okay, then why I am currently knitting the Curiously Clever Clogs? Because those crack dealers of OPP, Jenny & Nicole over at Stash & Burn mentioned it in their Felt Me podcast. I could have gone my entire life without knowing about these clogs, until Jenny or Nicole mentioned them and began describing them. They used words like "freaking clever" and went on and on about how challenging they were. Of course, then I had to go look at the pattern over at Stitch Divas, and the next thing I remember is waking up in the middle of my Brown Sheep stash trying to decide whether to make the inner soles lime green or orange.

I would like to blame Stash & Burn for quite a few of my latest bouts of OPP, but I fear that bragging revealing more of the truly cool, no, tempting, no addictive projects they promote on their "knitting podcast" (which really is nothing more than an Methadone stop for OPP addicts like myself) will have you, gentle reader, rushing off the WEBs to order four skeins of Lorna's Laces Lion and Lamb to make the Clapotis. Not that I would ever do such a thing. No. Never. Now where did I put that dammed Visa card?

No, I really shouldn't put all the blame for my current bout of OPP on Stash & Burn, because Ravelry is just as problematic. Ravelry for OPP victims is like opening a Godiva stand outside your local Weight Watchers meeting.

What? I can surf HOW many Other People's Projects?

Did you know that 15 other people have the Clogs in their queue? And the Clapotis is listed 3798 times? Do I really need to look at all of them before I knit mine? Well, of course I do.

I would like to think there is a cure for OPP. The cynical might say stop listening to podcasts or haunting Ravelry or reading Tiennie Knits, because she always has something cool going on or Brainy Lady because after reading her blog I had to hunt down an old knitting book she shared because again, I HAD to knit one of the hats in there. But that ain't going to happen. These people fuel my creativity, or at least that is what I am going to keep telling myself. I wonder if I could get OPP declared a medical issue, and have my insurance company cover my yarn expenses. Laugh, you might, but come on, if they can cover Viagra, yarn isn't too far to dream.

So fellow sufferers of OPP, there is no reason to lurk about the web, head hung in shame, VISA card propped up in front of the keyboard. Let's unite. Share where your favorite OPP hangouts are. Because truly I don't know about you, but I don't think there are enough ways to taunt my knitting muse.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Oh how I suffer from OPP. I get it when I come here to visit too! Thanks for the nice compliment!
LizKnits said…
Isn't this a terrible affliction? I just called my LYS to see if they have the newest issue of Vogue Knitting after seeing a preview pic of the long cabled cartigan over at robin's (http://yarncrawl.typepad.com/)
Sarah-Mae said…
Stash & Burn is equally bad for my bank account and stash increasing!!!

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