Kureyon Sock?! The yarn diet is doomed.

Doomed, I tells ya. Noro Kureyon in fingering weight. Sigh. Those color changes the vegetable matter, the uneven spin... in fingering weight. Yum! And I always thought Noro lace was an oxymoron. It's due in stores in December or January, but a few lucky people scored some on eBay earlier this month. I hate them. I guess I can look forward to scoring some at Stitches in February. It's not like it's going anywhere, right? Right? Oh, yeah. Noro. Well, maybe I'll get lucky. I want 102, 180, 182, 184...

Something to look forward to on a gloomy day.

Almost forgot...

Here's the yarn my SP11 pal sent - Spunky Eclectic Super Nova in Aspen:

And this is a skein I finally broke down and bought - Fleece Artist Italian Silk in Fruit Punch. It stinks to high heaven, but it is oh, so beautiful. Because of the smell, I doubt I will be buying it again, but it's so beautiful, it's almost worth it.

Lady Eleanor progress

I decided to work on Lady Eleanor a little today, and ended up adding an entire skein. The skein thankfully had no knots, or odd color changes, and wasn't noticeably thick/thin. If only the rest of the skeins are like this one! I wish I had realized when I was swatching that the skein I started with was much thicker yarn than the other skeins. I would have definitely gone down a needle size or two. I do like the color changes in this colorway. Now that I'm a quarter of the way through, I'm pondering what exactly I'm going to wear this with. I guess I have a ways to go before I have to worry about that!

Harmony needles

My Knit Picks Harmony needles set is finally on its way. It should arrive on Monday or Tuesday.

I also found out that my new job will let me ship packages via FedEx for their discounted rate, so my next SP11 package is going FedEx. That saves me a trip to the post office, and it's about 50 cents less going FedEx than US Mail. The second package will arrive before the first!

My package arrived today

My SP11 package arrived today with a cornucopia of goodies. Since I am an impatient person who rips wrapping paper off without hesitation, I don't have any pictures of the black and orange packaging.

I received 2 cookie cutters (a black cat and a pumpkin) a pin with a black cat on a broom, a small box of Russell Stover chocolates, 2 packages of Candy Corn popcorn, some fruit treats, a package of Brach's Autumn Mix (my favorite fall treat, besides egg nog), and the September Funky Eclectic club yarn, Super Nova in Aspen. The yarn is a sport weight in a merino/nylon blend, so it's very soft.

I'm not sure where my camera is, so I'll try to post pictures later.

The package is on it's way!

My SP11 pal's first package is on its way. We agreed that I would send one package at the end, but I went overboard on stuff, so I have to send multiple packages to avoid import and gift taxes. I hope she likes it! Since postage is so expensive, and customs so high, I'm sticking mostly to yarn. I hope to include a set of Knit Picks DPNs with the last package, but I don't know when those are going to ship. I may send those off when they get here, probably long after SP11 is over. Since they're small and light, postage should be fairly inexpensive if I have to send them alone, or I can send them with the back up yarn...

Semi-fiber related, I am gainfully employed again, so I can continue to support my yarn habit. I'm very excited about it. It's a fun job that pays well, has great benefits, I really like the people I work with, and it's close to home. What more could I ask for?

Halfway done with the SP11 project

It's taking way too long - I'm far too easily distracted. Anyway, it's halfway done. And now I'm realizing that it's not turning out at all like I had planned. Much the same as my life, really.

I must finish this scarf, so I can finish the second sock, so I can finish the dragon scale scarf, so I can start on the Forest Canopy shawl. And then I really need to work on some sweaters.

I received my size 0 KnitPicks Harmony circular today. It is frighteningly light and fragile feeling, although very pretty to look at. I am rather nervous about knitting with it. I'm rather impatient for the rest of the needles to arrive, though. I want 'em now!

I did some checking on postal and customs regulations for my pal's country. Oops! I've exceeded the gift limit, so I need to break up the shipments, lest they be taxed. That wouldn't be very nice of me at all, would it? If it's 2 separate shipments, it will stay under the limit, and I'll pretend the postage is, I don't know, Monopoly money or something. When did postage become so very outrageously expensive, anyway?