Sock Progress and Yarn Porn

So here's the progress of the sock--I think I'll actually be able to finish it by the end of this weekend (I hope, I hope, I hope). Now if I can only be assured that the second sock will go as quickly (probably more so since I have more of a clue this time around)...



The sock is actually a little longer already. This was before I did another 15 or so rounds last night.

Hubby was a victim of yarn porn yesterday. I sent him a link to the koigu at Purl and after much e-mailing back and forth, he decided to get me some yarn so I could make a pair of socks for myself (something for me! Oh my!). I think that it is really cute and sweet that he gets excited on my behalf about yarn--when we went on our mini yarn crawl last weekend, he was amazed at all the textures and colors. Now I send him pictures and he buys me yarn. How awesome is that? Riding the subway into Manhattan this morning, he asked me not to send him any more yarn porn because he'd have to buy more. Yeah, like that's going to happen ;-)

My new Koigu:

I'm on the hunt...

Why does it seem like I'm always on the hunt for discontinued makeup or the perfect pair of shoes? After getting out of the ASPCA on Saturday (where I saw the cutest little kittens ever, ever--they fit into the palm of my hand!!!), Brad and I went to Roosevelt Field mall out on Long Island. Brad needed to get a present for his aunt and uncle, and I needed to find my favorite lipstick. It's not just any shade of lipstick mind you--it is the perfect, perfect shade of red--it's deep and has a really beautiful blue/cool undertone (I know the ladies understand the importance of getting a red lipstick that is not too orange and not too brown). This was perfect. It makes your lips look like ripe cherries. It was by this company called Alchemy and the name is (approprietly enough) Devil's Claw. Well I dragged poor Bradley in and out of Sephora, Bloomingdales, Macy's, and Nordstom's and no one--no one--had anything even close--not even Channel! I am distraught. I did search on eBay and Googled it and my search turned up nadda--apparently the company is out of business. Ugh. To make up for my disheartening lipstick search, Hubby got me some drop dead gorgeous peep-toe black patent-leather shoes that I will post a picture of as soon as I get a pedicure.

In happy news, I bought more sock yarn yesterday. I went to this sweet little yarn shop in Park Slope called Stitch Therapy--lovely people in there. They don't have a ton of yarn, but what they do have is beautiful. (I checked out Knit-A-Way too and though I was impressed with their selection, I didn't like the vibe--and they're more expensive than necessary. They were selling Karabella merino at $10 a skein--the same yarn I can get at Knitty City for $8.) Not that I've finished the socks I'm currently working on, but that doesn't matter--this yarn was too yummy to pass up. Not to mention having the Hubby with me to pick out the colors of his next pair of socks makes things easy and fun. Here it is:

It's from a Welsh company called Jitterbug. 100% merino wool and it's so freaking soft. I can't wait to knit with it. Has anyone ever used this company before? I'm hoping that they'll be self-patterning like my beautiful Koigu, but I won't be devastated if they aren't.