Oh, poor Apollo. That poor man. *eye roll*

Being a person of no employment, my yarn intake has dropped sharply. And even though I have a healthy stash, I couldn't find exactly what I needed for a last minute pair of birthday socks for Mom. I wanted something that I could knit quickly (stockinette) but had some sort of pattern, like a self striping yarn. So I decided to head to Joann Fabric's to see what they had for just a few dollars.

First, I was really surprised at all the sock yarns at JF's. Just off the top of my head, I'd say they had at least four different self striping brands. I decided to try out Premier Serenity Sock Weight in Indigo from the Deborah Norville collection. Being on a budget, I was able to convince Apollo to use a coupon and purchase one ball of yarn while I purchased the other. We both paid a little over $2.50 each. (The Joann Fabrics here in Springfield is real friendly and helpful with coupons and such when you don't have one, unlike the stores we frequented in San Diego. You can ask Apollo about The Great Coupon Incident of '04 if you'd like to hear a good story involving one of their CSR's, a printed coupon, the flu and myself. There may have been some chicken necking involved. Apollo was NO help. And while he says he was afraid of me and knew I could take care of myself, I still hold his stepping away against him.)

The funny thing about Apollo shopping with me is he acts embarrassed about it. (And I'm not talking about tampons which, after those first couple years where he wrapped them in newspaper, he now buys without issue.) The normal guy would hide the item of "shame" so nobody sees it. However, Apollo always flaunts the item and whines to any woman within ear shot of how he's being forced to be seen in public with it. Then they engage in a teasing discussion about "how it looks good on you" or "but you look like a knitter." He acts shocked and gives them the, "don't you feel sorry for me?" spiel to which they give no sympathy, laugh and walk away. We then bump into them several times during the shopping experience and he holds the offending item up and giggles and they giggle back, with some sort of quip related to him doing a good job. Seriously, it never fails. Once I was in a dressing room trying on clothes and I heard some sort of boistrous laughter outside. I stopped and listened closely, realizing he was crying to some women about the tank tops he was forced to hold and how he was so tired from all the shopping and really would like to be outside grilling some food or watching football, blah blah blah. And this is why I don't feel bad taking him shopping because I know he basks in the attention.

Anyway, so I furiously knit both socks over the period of a few days (though I technically knit three but frogged one out because the leg wasn't long enough, even though days ago Mom had just asked me to knit shorter legs) and with aching pre-arthritic hands, give them a wash as usual. Normally I do this just to get dirt, oils, cat slobber, etc out of them but also because I like to block all my socks before I give them away. The strange thing is, as soon as I put the socks in water and added Soak, the socks started to bleed. A lot!



I know some yarn bleeds but I was shocked at the intensity of the dye (this photo does not give it justice) and how long it took me to rinse the socks until the water ran clean. None of the other yarns I've used have done this. But I guess that's what happens when you buy cheap yarn. I had almost given them to Mom without a wash (because I really don't care for the design of the yarn pattern and just wanted to put them away) but I'm glad I did this time. I would have felt bad if they bled all over her clothes. Granted, hand knits should be washed separately but Mom lives on a farm. Nothing gets special treatment at Moms. (Last week I hung her clothes on the line to dry and found hay stuck in some of her hand knit socks. I didn't ask any questions, I don't want to know.)

Alrighty then. Just wanted to warn people out there! Don't forget to wash your yarny goodness! (And do get your man to buy yarn for you and do ignore the whining. He probably secretly enjoys the attention. Or at least you can tell yourself that.)