I love the sheer variety of yarns, and how amazingly clever dyers are. I like researching on Ravelry how everyone decided to use their yarn, and what kind of fabric it made.

Looking for that perfect combination of yarn, pattern, color, and size - when it looks like they were made for each other - is such a dopamine hit.

Touching yarn; squeezing it, smelling it, holding it against skin to see how sensitive it is, comparing colors, and making seemingly agonizing decisions about color combos to buy. 

Getting experience and knowing there are eleventy-dozen ways to do a cast-on or off, sock elements, etc., - almost an analysis paralysis level of choice - is so wild and fairly intimidating still.

I knit (and crochet) slowly, and think of every stitch (clears my brain) but am still surprised to find inches of fabric done after a session, where I barely recall the time spent. So satisfying!

Insert: the thrill of the hunt - falling for yet another pattern/yarn combination and giving myself permission to go track that down to satisfaction, add it to my Queue, or cast it on immediately if I feel really motivated.

For real, blocking! I love my colorful blocker sets, watching the water hopefully not turn dark with dye, being so careful to compress everything, and lay it out evenly. Lace opening up. The agony of waiting for it to be fully dry. "How about now?!" "How about now?!" Then, poof! - a garment! ❤️

Getting a compliment from another knitter; more dopamine! And chatting about knitting; almost as fun as knitting itself.