I should have brought the Palindrome

Truly, I should have.  But whether it was the really good coffee, or the surprisingly sunny skies, or just fleeting insanity - somehow yesterday morning before I left my apartment I decided that instead of the hat I'd been knitting on for the past few days, the one hour boat trip to the mainland would be the perfect time to work on a project I've been ignoring for quite awhile, one that actually does require focused attention.  Attention and the ability to count your own stitches.  You already see what's coming don't you?  Of course, I managed to screw up the stitch pattern, realized it about halfway across the channel, and then finally in a rare moment of clarity, put it away before screwing it up any further.  I spent the rest of the boat ride staring out the window and listening to the conversation behind me. (What? Like you wouldn't??) Without knitting, boat rides are loooooonnnnnggggg.

After completing my final exam (two mind boggling hours of which we shall not discuss) I headed over to the Big Box Office Supply Store for my most important purchase of the entire trip - paper.  Yes, that's right, while on the mainland I bought an entire ream of paper to lug all the way home. Because...wait you need to swallow any liquids and sit down for this...ready??? It would cost me over $11 to buy it at my local office supply store. Seriously.  I know, for that much money you'd expect the paper to be gold-edged or something, right?

Then I visited the Big Box Craft Supply Store, (not going back in there between now and Christmas!) which along with every possible holiday craft item under the sun and and potpourri that makes me sneeze, sells very inexpensive yarn.  And that is where I purchased a couple skeins of this:

 

The same Red Heart sock yarn I've used in the past for my Fabulous Fake Isle Socks, in a different colorway.  I really enjoyed knitting those, the patterning was nice and they turned out to be a great pair of socks. Since simple stockinette socks appear to be what I need right now, then why fight it? I cast on later that afternoon and did the first two rounds, knitted away happily in the dim light of the boat ride home last night, and by this morning:

 

A good start on what I believe I shall dub the "Attack of teh Stupids" socks. I expect these are going to go quickly and just in case, I also purchased another self-patterning yarn:

  

I've never tried Patons Kroy before but I've heard good things about it.  And I think this colorway, "Denim", will knit up into a very practical pair of socks.  Both of these yarns were purchased for less than a single skein of some of the lovely handpainted sock yarns I find myself admiring and now I have sock yarn to knit with for the next couple weeks, which should keep me from doing sad and unfortunate things to those pricier yarns already in my stash!

Of course, no mainland excursion is complete without one last stop, at one of my favorite places. Someone else can have the champagne dreams and caviar wishes...I just want all this:

Fresh salads, sushi rolls, pastas and my beloved stinky cheeses!