Another month, another Order

Well, Knitpicks.com is fast becoming my sole yarn store. I spent some time looking thru their stuff last night, found Sierra and priced out what it would cost me to make Banff from an ancient issue of Knitty.com. Now, the pattern comes in a L/XL size, but I'm more of a 2X right now, and I like my stuff longer than most people. So, I added 2 skeins more. $49.39 for 11 skeins in Grape. Over $40, so there's no shipping, and it's from another state so there's no sales tax. This will be one of the rare instances where it really is cheaper to make it than buy it. And it's in Wool/Superfine Alpacca, not an acrylic blend. I should note, I've never finished a wool sweater to date, but this one is so simple and the yarn should be pleasurable to work with, so I'm expecting this to go quickly and be wearable by the fall. I'm hoping that the bulky yarn works up fast... I've been working on my Philosopher's Wool sweater for countless hours and it's still only 2/3 done.

Of course, no purchase would be complete without adding some new needles to try or some clearance bin yarn. I got 2 skeins of Sock Memories in the only color they have left (which happened to be the one I wanted), Easter. I've never made socks with 100% wool that's not superwash, so it will be interesting to see if I'm able to wash them without felting or shrinking them. I got some of the new Options needles that Knitpicks introduced a couple weeks ago. They're basically a combination of Addi Turbo and Boye Needlemaster. Now, I love my Denise Interchangeables, so I'm not sure I'll be replacing those, especially given the price. But I got a set of cables and size 10 tips to give them a try on this project. I figure that if I want to work on 2 sleeves at the same time, i can use 2 cables and just change the tips between the 2 pieces.

Now, the trick involved in allowing myself to make this purchase is that the needle orders are taking longer by 1-2 weeks. By the time this order gets to me, I'll have another paycheck, and Hopefully have the pie are square shawl done so that I can get started right away. I'm making a deal with myself that the shawl has to be done before I start this sweater. I don't know if its my meds or what, but I haven't gotten bored with the strictly garter stitch shawl, and I haven't had any interest in starting another project. But I know that thick purple yarn will be calling to me.

I ordered my last package of yarn at the end of May. I'm going to try to keep to about a $40/month allowance for yarn, but that I won't buy more than 1 project ahead (with the exception of the sock memories clearance - I mean, it was the last color and you can't beat $6 for a pair of socks). I wish the LYSs had natural fiber as cheap as Knitpicks. Even the other discount online yarn stores couldn't beat the price for this sweater. I should try the other yarn diet tip - working 1 project from stash between new purchases. I know I can't fit any more yarn into my stash closet. I want to make another felted bag, maybe that'll be next.