I have a problem...problems...

After looking over the credit card statement and my current WIPs I realized (my husband helped) exactly how much I've spent on yarn over the last 4 months. It's a lot. My bathroom could have been redone. Well, maybe that's a little bit of an exaggeration but not by much. To be fair I had pretty much no stash previous to this, just leftovers and a few skeins of novelty yarn. Add to that the store closing sales at the Fabric Place and some serious stress at work and boom. I have a butt-load of yarn. I can make myself feel better about this by saying oh I used some birthday money, oh it was a big sale, oh I've never been to webs before, etc but the fact remains I went a little too crazy. I have plenty now to keep me busy for awhile so I am officially on a yarn diet. I need to curb my spending (which I never thought I'd hear myself say as I am insanely stingy with money) so I can only hope I get gift certificates for Christmas, gift yarn doesn't count :)

My second issue is with all this new yarn I can't seem to stop casting on new projects. As evidence I present this.

Hiding under my snowman tree is the newly cast on Drops Jacket in Berkshire Bulky. And what is that to its left you ask? Why that is my hibernating Print O'the Wave stole I started this summer. I put it aside to start on the Christmas gifts, one of which I kept (Minimalist Cardigan), one of which I finished, and two that are still in progress. Why aren't those done? Well I had to make my husband his dashings, I needed both those neckwarmers, and I had to cast on for the Tangled Yoke Cardigan. Sigh. I know what the real problem is, I don't enjoy knitting the gifts I am making and so I find it hard to make myself work on them for extended periods of time. My Dad's gift hurts my hands if I work on it too long and my Mom's is both annoying and hard on my eyes. I long to get back to my Tangled Yoke and my stole, to knit on something I really enjoy working on. I've made a deal with myself that if I get a certain amount of knitting done per night on the gifts I can then work on something I like. It's like doing your homework before watching TV. At my pace I will finish in time but I still wish I could make myself get them over with sooner so I only have 2 WIPS... and one hibernator. I'm not too worried about the stole, it is more of a fair weather knit and my friend is getting married in June, I have time before then to finish it. But I already need a hat for the winter and I'm sure other things will come up that I must have. I wish my discipline that keeps me going to the gym in the mornings and cooking every night would work its way into my knitting. Well, that is enough complaining for one night. I'll save my feelings on truncated words and unfriendly terms for another day. I have to go do my homework now. Then, maybe some fun stuff during pushing daisies!