SInfull

Positively Sinfull. But how could I resist? Look at these lovely skeins—The Opel tiger stripe yarn is missing a label—but I am sure about it --there was one with a label—it was more expensive.  I was perfectly willing to forgo a label for an even better bargain.

This lovely haul--(all that I bought) set me back $20—A wonderful collection of exciting yarns for $5  for a pair of socks.  Cheaper than Kroy, or Red Heart,  even with the best of sales. While the color ways are old—Do fun self striping yarns like tiger ever get old? I don't think so!

I still didn't get the solid color ways of Kroy that I want. I am going to be very frugal for the next few weeks to justify spending even more money on yet MORE sock yarn.

I belong to a Ravelry group called solid socks—Even though, I so rarely do solid socks. Still I end up looking at all the completed projects and pattern ideas, and think—Oh, I like that! or—Wow, why didn't I think of doing a pattern like that?

Self striping sock yarns are definitely fun—And I really enjoy knitting socks with them. But solid socks—which at first seem simpler, and less interesting,  are a wonderful base for fancy stitch work.

I might at some point grow tired of knitting socks. But I doubt it. They serve my need for process knitting—and have the bonus of being production knitting as well.

These yarns were bought Saturday evening—and what an evening it was.

Last week when I went to the Garage Sale—I was in and out (door to door) in under  2 hours—and I stopped off at another store to pick up some hardware for a home repair project in addition to the yarn sale.

Saturday? It was an outing. Nancy hoofed (OK, she took the bus) to my house. We drove a few blocks to pick up Debbie, and the 3 of us went off  together.

All of us are tight budgets—and we all carefully considered our purchases. (We all spent about $20)--Still I found what I wanted in 10 minutes or so.

Nancy—a relatively new knitter stocked up on needles and notions (and a bit of yarn, too) She took a bit longer, but still came to a decision pretty quick.  Debbie was like a kid in a candy store—she wanted EVERYTHING and flitted about, looking at this, looking at that, pondering this, pondering that—until she finally settled on 4 skeins of sock yarn—after an HOUR of looking at everything.

Then—the adventure continued.   Nancy has lived in Queens for years—and drives—but she's never owned a car in NY. So, since we were all ready in the car, I took her on a tour of one of the prettiest parts of Queen's—Shore Drive in Douglaston—It is breathtakingly pretty—anytime—but there is a special magic to it at night –when all the light reflect on the water.

Debbie—still in her childlike glee wanted to indulge—and we stopped in White Castle (the one on Northern Blvd at Bell Blvd.) I never much ate at White Castle—I don't have memories of fun times--(or of belly aches). I had 1 (yes, just 1) double burger--Plus,  Debbie and I shared an order of sweet potato fries, and fried clams. (And a number of belly bombers were sunk--but not by me). We giggled like school girls. And we entertained (and were entertained by) the teens (and the drunk) hanging out there.

What with the side trip to Douglaston, and the stop at White Castle—it was near midnight by the time I got home! I was exhausted! Not a good start to daylight savings time.

Then, yesterday, (Sunday knitting at the Rego Park Panera's) we entertained Jessica with a recount of all the adventures. She had a prior commitment on Saturday and missed out. So to make her feel better (and to make ME feel better) I gave her some of my stash yarn—2 lovely skeins of Tahki/Stacy Charles wool in a mostly brown blend. 

 It's not quite equity (4 skeins of yarn came into my house, and only 2 went out)but it's better than the alternative (4 balls of yarn  came in and NONE went out!)

Jessica is also a new(ish) knitter—but she is a natural. She's knitting a scarf (brown) —one of her own design and has just learned to do a simple lace (and is thrilled with it!) We talked about another outing—and every one but me is excited about Stitch & Pitch—(This year on June 3^rd/Citifield-Mets stadium). I am not much of sport fan, and less of Met's fan (It's the Yankee's for me!) and even the company of lots of other knitters can't make baseball exciting. 

Debbie (all of us, really) had great fun dividing some of 100 g skeins of sock yarn into 2 cakes (using my ball winder) for knitting 2 socks at time. There is something mesmerizing about winding up yarn, isn't there? It's no wonder I turn to making hanks or skeins of yarn into cakes when ever I lose my knitting mojo.

A bit of progress was made on both the scarf (a inch more perhaps) and the secret socks (another 2 inches of leg)—but that just brings the leg up to 4 inches (of 7) so there still is a ways to go. It's a good design—especially for a beginner, but a bit ho hum for my taste.

The yarn is pretty—but subtle, the pattern mostly stocking knit. Easy to knit—nothing challenging--but slightly boring at the same time. I like a challenge—It's actually hard for me to keep it simple.

I have a doctors appointment tomorrow (and may or may not get a post made)--If thing run slow I'll get a lot of knitting done—if they run on schedule, I'll have time to  post (but won't have made too much progress. The appointment is nothing much—just a base line mammogram. And I don't expect anything but a normal report. I regularly do self exams—and there isn't much history of breast problems in the family.