I'M NOT BREAKING MY YARN DIET, I SWEAR.

The last time Jim (mom's fiancee) was in town, they ventured up to Jerome and bought me a gift certificate for Knit 1 Bead 2. After weeks of it burning a hole in my pocket, my mom and I took a trip up there today. We had lunch at the Haunted Hamburger (which was fantastic, after they re-cooked my burger. The first time around it was barely cooked and totally gross.) and then went to the yarn shop.

I paced and walked around the store, picking up and feeling skein after skein of pretty yarn that I wasn't really loving. I considered buying just a skein of or 2 of something I knew I liked from A Good yarn so I could get out of there, but I didn't want to leave the shop that I"ll probably never go to again with something I could buy in my town.

After pacing for about an hour, I finally stumbled upon a giant rack of Dream in Color Starry. How had I not seen it before? I have no idea. But it was there, next to the beaded jewelry, and it was gorgeous. I walked up to the rack and first saw the giant red skein called Lipstick Lava. Then I looked down and saw a shelf. A shelf with even more Dream in Color Starry. It was there that I saw a beautiful skein called Blue Lagoon. My mom came over and then picked out a nice skein for herself, Some Summer Sky, with the idea of me knitting her socks (considering that she was the one responsible for the gift certificate, and was also willing to spring the cash for an extra skein for me as a gift, I'm more than willing to knit her the perfect socks.)

Blue Lagoon. It's a smidge darker than in the photos, but seriously, I adore this yarn. It's my favorite color. And as a girl, something deep inside of me really, really loves the sparkles.



Some Summer Sky. I was a little surprised, my mom chose this over a lovely baby pink (which is usually her favorite). It's a little too light for my taste, but there's no denying that it's gorgeous.



Lipstick Lava. Way more red than in the photos (close to the top picture, but not completely), way way way more red. It has some subtle hints of dark brownish-purple as well. I think I might make a pair of Nutkins out of this, that's what popped into my head the second I saw it.


So yeah, it was a gift. And I had to spend the gift certificate before I moved. So, technically, this wasn't breaking my yarn diet because all of the yarn bought today was a gift. And 1/3 of what I bought today will be made into something for my mom, not me. (It's totally justified, I swear.)

~~~

Project kits. Tons of them. A tall laundry basket filled to the brim with them. I counted, and then added more, so I'd guess around 30 projects kits. AND I STILL HAVE MORE YARN. Good Lord. I have 3 bins that used to be overflowing, and are now comfortably filled, but seriously: How do I have 30 project kits and still more yarn?!

I'm thrilled with this whole thing, by the way. Everything is organized and it pleases me to no end. As soon as I finish my socks, I can grab the neck warmer WIP, and then the Habitat WIP, and my Ravelympics project is right on top just waiting for me to work on it. I love this. Love, love, love this. Organization is pretty much the key to my happiness. No more yarn on shelves, or in baskets, or on top of books. Nope, none. There's yarn tucked away in 3 small-ish bins in my closet, and then The Basket Of Project Kits. I am tickled, really, this is going to be great.

All of the patterns I want to do, they're in The Bin. All of the yarn I so desperately want to work with, it's in The Bin. The projects that need to be done and over with, in The Bin. It's sort of prioritized, a little, the projects I want done NOW are at the top, while everything else is mingling below them. I just can't explain how much I love this.

~~~

I picked patterns for the new sock yarn, and my mom picked a pattern for hers.

"Alex, this is cute, but it looks too difficult. It says Intermediate."
*grabs book to look over pattern*
"Mom, it's just knit, purl, k2tog, and ssk. No biggie. The chart is easy to read and the instructions are clear. It will take an attention span, but it'll be fine."
"Are you sure, it looks awfully hard. I don't want you to be ripping your hair out making these for me."
"Mom, seriously, it's fine. I wouldn't offer to make these if I didn't feel confident I could do it."
"Alright, but it's okay if you decide to make just simple socks."
"Mom, I want to make socks you're going to love."
"Thanks sweetie."

Watch me be ripping out my hair making these. Hahaha. Of course.