Goodwill hunting

Fair isle romper for baby Marte

Well, the vendor of the second royal blue Bernat Sox eBay auction got back to me, and quoted me a very reasonable $1.10US for shipping. The Canadian vendor had quoted me $5.50US, which was ridiculous - it's never a good sign when the shipping for an item is over twice the cost of the item itself. Plus, the cheaper-shipping auction was a Buy It Now, so I was able to snap it up right away. Before I even went downstairs for breakfast this morning, the yarn was won and paid for.

(We will not discuss how much money the yarn ultimately cost me, what with all the dollar-a-litre gas I wasted visiting five different shops only to conclude that I could not buy it in person. Yes, I have environment-destroying guilt. However, my household is pretty frugal in the energy conservation department, so I am not completely evil.)

To top it off, the vendor emailed me before the morning was up to say that the yarn would be in the mail within the hour. What. A. Sweetheart. How delicious to deal with someone who understands the need to have yarn rightnowthisveryminutenowaiting. Naturally I will wait until the yarn arrives to leave feedback, but so far I'm desperately impressed.

I am so excited about finally being able to start swatching in my red/purple/blue colourway!

Striped socks for moi

I am aware that I have A Schedule. I am aware that this Schedule is very tight. I am aware that Christmas is fewer than four months away and that babies are coming. Really, I am. I know the news that I have started knitting these socks may make it seem like I'm not aware of all these things, but I am, I swear. It's just that, well, last night, there was no way I was going to be able to meet The Schedule's demands for my BIL's Christmas sweater before bedtime anyway, so therefore I was quite free to cast on for the sock and do a little bit of the toe before I went to sleep. And this morning, well, I figured there was no harm packing the sock project in addition to BIL's Christmas sweater project, right? I mean...just in case? And it's a good thing, too, because the subway was really packed this morning and it was much more considerate to my fellow passengers to whip out a small sock than a big sweater. Yeah.

(Ah, sweet Logic. How easily you can be twisted to suit my purposes.)

Sadly, though, the universe may be punishing me for deviating from The Schedule, because the sock just isn't striping. Now, admittedly, I've only just finished the toe and have about a half inch on the main foot, so perhaps the striping is just taking a while to fully show itself. But so far, it's a bust. Especially considering how beautifully the same yarn striped for me on another pair of socks in a different colourway. But I will be patient. Perhaps I am in for a pleasant surprise.