I blame Dave...

... it's all his fault. If he didn't insist on getting up at 7 a.m. this morning, none of it would have happened.

You see, I wasn't planning on getting out of bed until 9. I had no work appointments till 10, and after a few long days of double job, I was looking forward to sleeping in.. but nooo... he "had stuff to do" this morning and had to get up. Of course, I couldn't get back to sleep, so I got up, poured a bowl of froot loops and logged on to Ravelry.. and then I started thinking....(you see... I wouldn't have started thinking if I had've gotten up at 9, and rushed out the door.... his fault!)

I recently bought a couple of lovely little sundress (Dave's fault too... I have to look pretty for him don't I?) but they aren't appropriate for work, being a little too low cut. While I'm quite proud of the girls, there is a time and place for them.... and work isn't it.

So I need a little light cardigan I can wear over top... then they are perfectly appropriate for work... but I have no appropriate yarn....

But Julie is having a tent sale!!!!!.... it's only 5 minutes from work.....

So I went.... just to see if she had any nice white cotton yarn.....

She did... I got Super 10 Cotton for just $6 a skein!

But then I also got....Ten balls of Rowan four-ply cotton in the prettiest shade of pink (I love pink!)
Nineteen Balls of Baruffa Merino Otto... an extra fine (extra soft and squooshy) merino and a lovely dark forest green. This was going to be for me... but I've decided since this whole thing is Dave's fault and his Leo stretched horribly.... this will end up as his Christmas Sweater (since everyone else is getting socks)

And besides... I still have this for myselfThirteen balls of Filatura di Crossa Zara (extra fine merino) in a nice Mushroom. This was a SUPER score at just $1 a ball!!!! YEAH! It will probably end up as a short sleeved cardigan (for just $13!!!!) Mom made me an absolute stunning cardigan out of the Zarina... which is the fingering weight version of this yarn, and I love it.
I also snagged a skein of Debbie Bliss Pure Silk.. at $3 a skein you don't walk away from it even if you have no idea what you're going to do with it... I do have a skein of purple left over from my Shimmer shrug, so it will probably get mixed with this. I just loved the colours of the Fabel Superwash Sock yarn... they will probably end up as Christmas socks. The Regia Silk however is just for me... inspired by Jeanne's silk socks, of course. The off-white Lana Grossa is going to end up as a pair of slippers (pattern to be available soon). It has silk in it too... we all know how much I love silk. And yes, Angelika.. you were right... I picked up yarn for another hedgehog... but how can you pass up a $3 hedgehog... that's right -- $1 a ball.
And last... but certainly not least in my heart... SEVENTEEN balls of Baby Monkey (for $1 a ball!). Now there is a bit of a story with the Baby Monkey. When I first started knitting again in my early 20s, one of the things that drew me in was baby monkey... I have three baby monkey scarves... all bought while accompanying mom to Julie's (one from a tent sale too.. it's mixed with possum wool.. yep... possum). I fell in love with it because of the feel. If you've ever touched it, you'll know that it's the softest silkiest yarn around.. but it was special for me, because it felt exactly like an old cat of mine. She was the silkiest cat I have ever felt... and an absolute sweetheart... and her name was Monkey.

She was a barn cat at my Aunt's horse barn. My cousins had named her Monkey, and somehow I managed to talk my mom into letting me bring her home. She was a skittish little thing, but one of the most lovable cats I have ever known. We don't know how old she was when we brought her home (but she was full grown) so I'm not sure how old she was when she died of kidney failure almost a decade later.

I've had lots of cats over the years, but few as special as Monkey.... and Baby Monkey makes me think of her. When it first came out, it was quite expensive (about $15 a ball), but I don't think they are making it any more, and I've been able to find bits of it here and there. I managed to scavenge 15 balls in a lovely grey-green mix, and have five balls of a red-purple mix. My intention is to mix them with the red and green seen here, and make a Baby Monkey afghan! (The pink and purple balls will end up as scarves mostly likely) I don't know if I have enough yet for an afghan but I'm going to keep collecting.

Well... I better go put this all away... and get knitting!