The necessity of knitting

I've been lurking in various forums on ravelry recently, and I've noticed a recurring post, which is usually entitled something along the lines of: You know you're addicted to ... when

Now I don't think of myself as having a particularly addictive personality - sure I feel a bit miffed if I'm unable to get my weekly fix of Heroes, Torchwood etc., and after 'going cold turkey' from alcohol and caffeine (including chocolate - eek!), I realised how much I was relying on the latter to stay awake past lunchtime, I feel I am strong enough willed to resist most addictions.

However, I am developing a increasing compulsion to knit.

I thought I was just knitting for fun, for presents, or to improve my knitting skills for the future when I might need them (after the apocalypse, stuck on an island somewhere with a couple of sheep perhaps). But I think it's gone beyond that.

A case in point. I'm going to a friend's wedding in a couple of weeks. I need a new dress (don't we all, although husband disagrees). Upon finding a nice dress, the first things that rush through my head are:

I've got a hat (handknit) that will go with this ...

But wait a minute, I'll need a wrap (sleeveless dress in York in March)

Aha! I've got some kidsilk haze in exactly the right shade of green to look gorgeous with the dress and aforementioned hat, and if I make Knitty's Wisp shawl then it will be gorgeous and light but at the same time snuggly warm.

But I'll need a contrast colour somehow, so why don't I just nip downstairs to John Lewis' haberdashery department and pick up a second ball of kidsilk haze in a nice brown colour, which will in turn go with my shoes, and then I can get some brown tights (to go with the yarn).

Thus, decision to buy the dress was almost entirely based on the accessories I had already knit, or could possibly make to go with it.

I am actually starting to feel quite naked if I go out of the house without wearing something hand made. I made Knitty's Foliage hat the day before coming to work after Christmas because my previous hat was a bit felty. But then I had the hat so I had to make the mittens, and now I have the mittens I really could do with a scarf ...

And I have some comfort knitting (the Hemlock ring blanket / shawl in baby alpaca) by my bed ... just in case.

I am pretty confident that I could stop knitting if I really wanted to, but I think that my life would be emptier and certainly less snuggly without it.