When Shopping Isn't Really Shopping

I know, I'm not supposed to be shopping for stuff I don't need (and believe it or not, DH considers yarn a non-necessity) but if you are engaged in productive, non-shopping activities and you just happen to trip over incredible finds, then that doesn't count as shopping...right?

It started with an impromptu visit to my chiropractor yesterday. Clare and I zipped over to Dr. Mary for a quick adjustment and found ourselves one block away from Knitomatic

Yarn purchases don't count as shopping when you are buying small quantities of yarn to finish projects you are knitting out of stash.

After swatching everything I could find in my stash for something to use for the Silkroad Cardigan contrast collar, I figured that Wool Gatto came closest to gauge and was smooth enough to wear against my neck.

Colour was trickier, black was an obvious choice, because of the black flecks in the main body of the olive coloured sweater, but Haley thought that it looked sort of...blech. (Haley was far more tactful, but she did dissuade me from the black collar.) After trying blues, greys, taupes and other interesting contrast colours, she found a couple balls of olive yarn that were a near perfect match for the ground colour of the main body yarn and far more flattering than anything I would have selected.

Sounds simple and obvious, doesn't it. In fact, this discovery necessitated handling every piece of merchandise in the store, including the sample garments, which led to my next non-shopping purchase. Haley had a Bees Knees Knits cardigan in the store...



When my SIL was expecting my now year-old nephew, I'd planned to make one using some red/blue/green sock yarn that I had on hand, but it really didn't look right when I swatched it. But...remember this from the stash?...



Wouldn't that make a fun cardigan...tiger stripes with dark contrast collar and trim? yup...I thought so too, which is why I had to pick up the contrast colour wool while I was at Knitomatic. Oh, and a new set of needles to finish Orangina. So really, I didn't buy anything NEW because everything I bought I needed to complete projects for which I had already bought supplies. (I'm rehearsing this for DH)


Two of my three kids are spending the weekend with my brother and his fiancee, so we arranged a kid exchange halfway between our respective homes. (Note: productive, non-shopping activity) Imagine my surprise when I found a millends outlet store nearby!

Now this really doesn't count as buying "knitting stuff" cuz I bought other stuff too!



Cute huh? My mum has a bad neck and loves cats...so a cat-shaped neck warmer seemed like a good buy. (It's filled with a sack of those beady things that pop into the microwave to warm up.)


And Santa forgot to tuck a new pair of oven mitts into my stocking this year. The old ones are starting to look rather unappetizing.


Super-cheap cotton millends for my mum's dishcloth collection...



And finally, 49 cent needles! Can't beat that!


I don't use really fine circulars that often, but it's useful to have some on hand, plus they are really handy for picking up and holding live stitches. The DPNs are big enough for my beginners at school to use. I figure that I'll wind thick rubberbands on one end so the stitches don't fall off and use them like straight needles. Hey, for a quarter a pair, they'll be good to have on hand for starter kits next winter.

So, I've been pretty busy NOT SHOPPING over the last couple days.