Sock Parade: And That's How They Get Ya...

So, when I ordered all this yarn for socks I tossed a plain ball of white into the order. Yes I could just knit a plain white pair of socks - but really, what's the fun in that? I tossed it into the cart to mix with leftover bits to see if I could get an extra pair of socks out of the whole shebang. I had a decent chunk of the pink leftover from last year's socks and a little bit from this year. Even though the dye lots weren't the same, they really were identical. I became obsessed with the idea of pink socks with little skinny white stripes and contrasting white cuffs, heels, and toes. If there was enough left I could even do an opposite pair.

Have you ever been so pleased with an idea that you lose all sense? You see, if I would have taken even a second to think about it, I would have realized that there was not enough pink left to make it through even one pair, much less two. Reason set in only by the time I had already knit one. I know I could have just ripped it back but I was enchanted*.

The Return of Reason

So off (or at least online) to Knit Picks to order another ball of pink. Shipping is so crazy though that it practically costs more than the ball of yarn. If I add just a few more balls then it spreads out the shipping and makes it more reasonable. Oh yeah, I want to knit her a summer cardigan again this year and I really should just go ahead and get that ordered so I'm ready to go in a few months when I'll be knitting it. Man my feet are cold, I really need to replace those slippers that wore out - just another couple of balls there. And then I see that I'm only fourteen dollars away from free shipping - the exact amount of that chart keeper I've been wanting to try.

And that, my friends, that is how a ball of yarn turns into fifty dollars worth of yarn. That is how they get ya. These have turned into some seriously expensive socks.

*I can't help it. I truly am enchanted by stripes. One day I was squealing with joy over her peachy stripes socks and saying how much I loved stripes. She asked me why. I thought about it and told her because I think they're cheerful. "And happy," she added. So there you go. You heard it here first - stripes, they're both cheerful and happy.