Pop! goes the weasel

I finished knitting Jelly Bean's jumper a few weeks ago, and it is now waiting for me to sew it up. I have exams brewing (real, summative, end-of-year, everything-you-should-have-learned-since-the-first-day-ever exams), and sewing bits of knitting together doesn't seem like the welcome break from revision that a few rounds of sock provides.

Undaunted by the growing sewing pile, as soon as I'd finished knitting the baby jumper I started plotting what I might knit next for JB, and thinking about the Chunky Knit Cardigan from Erika Knight's Simple Knits for Cherished Babies, and how to fit yarn for all the projects I want to knit into my monthly budget, I remembered Ashley's thoughts on Valley Yarns Longmeadow. I immediately hopped over to Webs, chose the colour of yarn and was about to click 'buy', when I remembered this. 'Hum,' I thought. 'Four balls of cotton-blend, in a colour I don't really want; what on earth would I do with that?' and was about to give up on the quest when I noticed they had a colour card! Problem solved.

Only, of course, since I was trying to save myself money, it didn't quite make sense to pay transatlantic postage just for a piece of flimsy card with some threads tied on, did it? Obviously, it would be sensible to buy some more of the yarn I have plans for from Webs at the same time, so I went looking for them. Lamb's Pride Worsted, Cascade 220, no colour cards. Silk Garden, Bamboo Soft, not in the colours I was hoping for, Rowan Denim, sold out of the colour I wanted - and after that, I was plunging into the realms of the unknown, or unneeded.

And then I remembered that I'd always wanted to try Louet Gems, and then I found that their super fine yarn was recommended for socks, and then I thought of a pattern, and then - Well, buying sock yarn has always been a good way of saving money, hasn't it?

Half a pound of tuppenny rice, half a pound of treacle...


Louet Gems fingering weight in Eggplant and Grape. Yum.