Needle Pains

I thought I might get some 2.5mm circulars to use Magic Loop with the little sock I'm knitting for Lucy. With only 48 sts, it's annoying changing needles every 12sts. Last Thursday Rob was home sick, and so was Huey, so I got to take just Lucy to speech therapy in Shelburne, instead of both her and Megan. At first I was going to pop into the LYS there, but realized we really don't have much time after therapy. So I looked up another LYS to see if they listed the needles/sizes on line. They did, but only Addis were that small. I'm sorry, but I'm not spending $15+ for a circular needle for a $5 pair of socks. So I checked Wal-Mart; nothing. I was in Newmarket on Sunday and checked Michaels'. Nothing. In fact, their needle selection was appalling. They had 6 sizes of LionBrand circulars, and maybe 10 sizes of a cheap Bamboo brand. Nothing smaller than a 4mm (there might have been a 3.75mm). I know big needles are 'in' still, but so is sock knitting, and lace knitting. I used to buy needles at Zeller's (K-Mart) and they had such a huge selection, you had to double check to make sure you got the right length. I haven't been into the LYS in town (Scary place/people), or Zeller's here yet, so I'm still hopeful, but I am almost to the heel of the first one. Now, I know I could just buy the Addi, considering I have no circulars in that size at all....but....

I bought yarn. Sigh. I'm throwing off my average spending on yarn! I really didn't think I actually buy that much yarn, but since the start of the year, I've spent about $50/month ($73 this month though). I have been good about using most of what I buy, but I'm not getting much used up from the stash! Once I get the ribber for the Singer 327 set up, I hope to start cranking out socks, but a lot of my sock stash is basic Kroy colours that need colour or pattern work.

What did I buy? 10 balls in parchment of the Peruvian Baby Lace Merino, alpaca/merino at www.elann.com. Rob wants me to make a baby blanket for his co-worker, and she's a high taste gal. So, that should use....ummmm....2 balls? LOL. The rest is for dyeing. Yeah, like in 3 years when Megan starts going to school, LOL. Oh, and I bought two balls in black for another shawl for me :)

Speaking of shawls, my Flower Basket Shawl is unblocking. I didn't think I over-stretched it, but I notice it seems smaller, and the ripples are showing on the back side again. Just a little, probably only noticeable to me. Interesting.