Did you say "yarn sale"?

Now, I've been really good about de-stashifying lately and showing restraint at buying yarn, but something about the heat and/or humidity of July and August has gotten to me. In July I was tempted by the Webs' Valley Yarns catalog and ordered yarn for a baby hat (for a friend), a Picovoli (for me) and a scarf (possibly for me). A few weeks later, Ms. Aswim in Knits plaintively asked on our email list whether anyone might be interested in going in on an order to get discounts or free shipping from either Webs or Knitpicks. Well, the Diotima shell picture in the Webs catalog had been beckoning, so I bought 2 skeins of the Windsor yarn in pastel lilac too. Probably a good thing to get two, as although the pattern says it'll fit sizes 32"-42", the pattern notes that when fully stretched the top would only be about 16" long. And after two kids, my six pack more closely resembles a two liter bottle. So yes, I'll be sizing the pattern up a little. I figure I could maybe make a matching top for Z with the leftover. OK, so that's a lot of yarn to acquire in the span of a month, right? But wait, there's more.

My in-laws were visiting (more technically, my father-in-law and his longtime "galpal" to get all Inside Track about it) and noticed that Woolcott was having their anniversary sale this past weekend. The galpal is a scarf knitter and figured she'd like to see if there was any Eros or other glittery stuff on sale. Z and I tagged along. And oh yes, there was yarn. Everything in the store was 20-25% off, and there were many bins of $1/skein yarn. Z was entranced by a cuddly ball of Plymouth Sinsation, while I idly sifted through the bargain bins as galpal was in line. And lo, what did my eyes see...the familiar beige of a tasteful Rowan label...some lone balls of All Seasons Cotton, some Glace, and...a huge pile of Cotton Braid in Monet and Degas (blue and pink), for yes, $1/skein. Reader, I bought it. All of it. 15 balls, 10 pink and 5 blue. I'm heading to the beach in two weeks, and I'm making a stripy Cotton Braid sweatshirt that I will wear as my sweetie and I take long evening walks on the boardwalk. I will have a $15 Rowan sweater.

My jovial father-in-law catches up to us in the store. "Ladies!" he announces to everyone, "I just got off the phone with your husbands and they said to buy all the yarn you want!" (Really ingratiated himself with the owner with that). As I was about to get in line, Z was petting a cute kid-sized Fair Isle sweater on the sample rack. "Mommy, I like this!" The box of Jameson's Spindrift was next to it. I pick out 5 balls of brown and 7 other complementary colors, and Z starts getting tired. I pay for my haul (total: $27).

And now I have yarn. Lots of yarn. And, oh! I won one of the Yarn Harlot Knitters Without Borders giveaways, so a kindly knitter is going to be sending me two cones of kitchen cotton and a collection of circular needles. Score!