RavenLore -- Yarncraft Diseases and Opadoos

This week, we are going to explore some crafting diseases.  Not actual physical conditions like tendon or muscle strains, but conditions that result when one or more Ravenclaws become obsessed with a certain pattern or designer.  This is by no means an exhaustive list, just some of the more common maladies.

Hexipox - This sad condition afflicts people who have succumbed to the lure of tiny owl knit's Beekeepers Quilt. One Ravenclaw was so affected that she walked an entire marathon while knitting hexipuffs! Beware of this one; it is highly contagious.

Hitchpoxia - Similar in name only to hexipox, this disease affects those obsessed with the Hitchhiker shawl. As you can see from the project count, this one is fairly widespread, but mostly benign.  Some people recover after only one bout, but other are affected over and over again.

Maple Lurgies - This virus comes in both knit and crochet versions. It's not hard to see why -- the Maple Leaf shawl is a pretty specatacular (if fiddly) pattern.  There was a fairly widespread outbreak of this malady about three years ago.  It has mostly run its course, but there are still a few individual cases.

Stephen West Nile Virus - As the name implies, this disorder concerns an obsession with the patterns of designer Stephen West. Susceptibility to this virus is highly variable -- some people are extremely likely to catch it, others are completely immune. Once one is infected, though, it seems to be nearly incurable.

Ysolda Fever - This condition involves a devotion to Ysolda Teague's designs.  While it is not quite as virulent as Stephen West Nile Virus, sufferers of this complaint are pretty devoted to this designer. Outbreaks are by no means epidemic, but they are pretty continuous.  Infection does not convey immunity; one can catch this one again and again.

Are you aware of any other yarncrafting diseases?  Let us know in the comments!

Word of the Week: Opadoo! Opadoo is toddlerese for Octopus.  First coined by gwenschweitzer's older daughter, it has spread throughout the Tower and become common parlance for any 8-legged cephalopod.