Crooked Paths & Paypal Meltdown

When Melissa released her two most recent hat patterns, Acorns and Crooked Paths, I knew beyond any doubt that I would be making both of them. Her patterns are among the clearest and most fun to knit out there, and since I am a bona fide small accessory fangirl, well the three of us were 100 % meant to be.

First up: Crooked Paths. This is an absolute delight of a pattern. The byzantine twists and turns are so visually pleasing, their circuitousness belies the actual ease of the pattern. Crooked Paths is beyond easy! So much so that I even knit a few rounds after several Pimm's cups and the hat isn't any worse for it.

Specs:
Pattern: Crooked Paths by Melissa LaBarre (Knittingschool Dropout)
Yarn: Madeline Tosh Tosh Merino in Moss, 80% of one skein
Needles: size 6 & size 8
Time: About a week
Mods: None at all

This is the first time I've used the Tosh Merino and I am 100% charmed by it. I can seen what all the hullabaloo is about--the color is sublime and the softness? Off the charts. Here is an example of an Internet sensation that isn't a bunch of malarkey.

Speaking of Internet sensations...I've been on a bit of a Paypal tear this week and am not at all sorry about it. Virtue be damned! I'm all about coming home from work and finding a parcel waiting on the stoop. Students, are you ready to be schooled with some show and tell?

1.) A brand new DSLR strap from one of the biggest talents out there, Caro of Splityarn. If you are into cheerful patterns, ingenious design and an eye for color, then you are well aware of her handiwork. This is Splityarn strap #2 for me. Why a second one? Well obvs. I need one for when the first one is being washed. Yes, they are that essential. She also makes a mean wee pouch & an even meaner box bag if camera straps aren't your bag. Heh.

2.) A brand-new project bag from Stitchy McYarnpants--do you know her stuff? She has a knack for wicked humor and everything she makes just basically sends you into retro paroxysms of happiness. One quick glance at her Etsy shop will send you over the cliff, and if it doesn't, you are dead to me. I'm only sort of kidding! Recognize the design on that fabric? If you lived through the 70s you certainly d0. Wacky Packages my friend, Wacky Packages. If you lived in my neighborhood in the summer of 1976, and you checked the drug store for them on the tri-daily basis like my friend Carrie and I did, then you know we would have cut a bitch to add to our collection. They were a scarce, valuable currency in our cruel, candy fueled underworld.


Hilarious footnote from the land of the husky jeans: At some point Target came out with Wacky Packs t-shirts and I begged my mom to let me get the POUNDS shirt (take-off on the Mounds candy bar).
Mom: Oh lovie....Golly...I don't think that's such a good idea...
Me (clueless): What? Why not?
She had some serious tact, right? Luckily she was able to steer me clear of the humiliation that would have surely rained down on me.

3.) You might have noticed that I used my flash on several of the above shots. But...I thought she hated the flash, is what you might be wondering. Well not any more I don't, because I am the proud owner of a Lightscoop, an ingenious little device that allows you to deftly bounce the pop-up flash off the ceiling, thereby creating pictures that don't make you despair. Love this thing!

So that's my little consumer round-up for you. You are now kindly invited to share all of your amazing Interwebs deals, because that's what we do. GO!