What are YOU learning?

I thought I would post at the end in Sept. all that I've learned by doing SOS, but then I realized that I have already learned so much that I wanted to share and hear what you all have learned. Deb's post made me remember that we all came to SOS for different reasons. I joined because I was discouraged at my expanding stash, and because I had reached a point in my knitting where I felt stiffled by the stash. I have realized that this may have been because of how little I knew about myself as a knitter and how much I was letting the almighty bargain controll my knitting. What I have realized by slowing down and doing SOS is:

• I am picky about yarns. Very picky. I do not like yarns that spilt, yarns that fuzz, yarns that don't show texture and stitch definition, and yarns that make it hard to see stitches.
  
• I like cottons, and wools, and high-quality blends. I hate mohair, cheap acrylic, novelty yarns for anything other than accent. I'm not a fan of fingering/sport weights and really really chunky stuff doesn't do it for me either.
  
• This pickiness is NOT a bad thing and leads to better projects and a happier Wavybrains who actually enjoys what she is making.
  
• I am very process orienated. It is ffrustrating wanting to make something and not having the yarn in the right amounts or weights for that project.
  
• To that end, it is a lot of fun picking out the right yarn for that project and designing and making that project my own.
  
• Yarn bought for a specific project tends to get used up a lot faster while the odds and bargain balls languish regardless of how good of a "deal" I got.
  
• High quality yarn gets used up way faster than low quality stuff that is a pain to knit with.
  
• My skills at swatching and switching yarns for a project have vastly improved out of sheet neccesity during SOS.
  
• I like using up odds and ends, but honestly my bargain hunter nature is not as fullfilled as I thought by having to constantly come up with projects to use up an odd amount of yarn I got on clearance or had left-over or got gifted.
  
• Too much of creativity by neccessity makes me feel stifled. It is freeing to have the right amount of yarn for what I want to do in a fiber and weight that makes the process a joy for me.
  
• In the future, I think I will be more a project by project yarn buyer. This is much more satisfying for me.
  
• This means taking a different approach to bargains: coming up with a project and then searching for the right yarn at the right price.
  
• I like having multiple projects on the needles (right number seems to be 3-4), but projects left too long stress me out
• I need a variety of projects--BIG long projects and many small projects and any future stash needs to reflect this and not be all onesie-twosie projects
  
• I LOVE trying new things: socks, mason-dixon, sweaters, vests, baby projects, dying yarn and I can't let my stash get too far ahead of what my next phase may be. This summer has meant turning many yarns bought during the "scarf" phase into more complext projects with mixed results.
  

I feel so grateful (despite my few "slips") for SOS. I have grown so much as a knitter by having this time to focus on what I have and by seeing what you all are up to. What have you learned about yourself as a knitter so far? Chime in on comments or do your own list!!