I did wind up going.

And I'm glad I did. Almost as good as having a food replicator - I walked into the produce department of Kroger and what did they have? Fresh Medjool dates. (I also bought a package of the dried ones off the dried-fruits aisle for when I eat up the fresh ones. I don't get down to Sherman as much as I used to).

I also found they are once again carrying the greatly-beloved-by-me Hamlyn's Scottish pinhead oatmeal. This comes in tins (which I think is even better - I have one of the empty tins holding pencils right now) and is really incredibly good. I don't even put sugar on it when I make it, that's how good it is just by itself. It has a much more complex flavor than regular oatmeal.

I had had part of one tin left (keeping it in the fridge - it has the bran intact so it does have the natural oils in it, and I didn't want to risk it going rancid) and was rationing it out to myself because I figured I wouldn't be able to get any more.

I will admit to squealing a bit when I saw it, and I picked a tin off the shelf and briefly hugged it to my chest before putting it in the cart. And, uh, a stockboy probably saw me, I didn't realize he was there. But I don't care. I don't ever want to become the sort of person who cannot be made irrationally happy by little things like that. (Of course, the flip side is that sometimes little things will make me irrationally sad, but I'll put up with the occasional sad if I get to have the happy.)

And I found the Interweave Holiday issue - it's a good issue though I kind of think a few of the patterns have appeared before elsewhere; they look familiar to me. But no matter. There are some nice sock patterns, and a cute pair of fingerless mitts, and a sweater made with 6 balls of Rowan kidsilk haze...(which I happen to have in my stash, bought very cheaply when Ewe Knit was closing out her Rowan stock, and I had originally destined for the Icarus shawl, but I'm wondering now if it might be nicer as a cardigan...it's a dark brown color, almost a chocolate brown, and I think it would make a lovely cardigan).

And I picked up some inexpensive "learner's" needles for the box to be sent off for the school knitting program, and some nice-but-on-clearance wool-ease.

And I bought a couple more skeins of sock yarn. Paton's now has a yarn that is called "FX," it is an ombre yarn similar to Mega Boots or the Trekking XXL colors. And I love ombre yarn for socks.

And I got to thinking about sockyarn. Sockyarn, to knitters, is kind of like chocolate chip cookies. Most people like it, it is small enough and generally inexpensive enough that a lot of people feel comfortable enough spreading it around (as gifts, as thank-yous, as "just becauses"). And for a lot of people, when they're going through a rough patch, a little bit of it can make things a little bit better. So I keep sock yarn on hand - it will eventually become socks, for me, for a gift for someone, or the yarn itself will be sent off as a gift.

And even if you don't want to make socks, you can make mittens or gloves or fingerless mitts or a hat or even a very short lace scarf out of a pair of socks' worth of sock yarn. So in a way it's almost a knitter's currency. (And if you have a LOT of a single color - or don't mind mixing and having stripes - you can make shawls and sweaters, even if they do take much longer to knit).

I also admit a bit of a siege mentality about sock yarn. I look at my (rather enormous) stash of it, and think, "Come the Zombie Apocalypse, I'll be happy to have this." (Or substitute "us being asked to take a pay cut" or substitute "outbreak of some virus that requires us to stay indoors until it's passed," or substitute "gas prices go way way up and I can't go out to shop for yarn, and postage becomes equally high" or "an asteroid falls into the Atlantic, causing a new Ice Age to begin" or whatever). Oddly, it's the thing I am kind of survivalist about. (I mean, in an irrational way. I do have canned goods on the shelf - these days, mostly as a hedge against either being too busy to get out to the store, a trucking strike, or me coming down with the piggie flu.)

Then again, in the past few weeks I've been able to despatch the odd skein to people going through rough times or as a "just because" and it seems to be well-received.

Right now I'm contemplating when (and if) trick or treaters might arrive (there are so many "safe" alternative events - and I admit a bit of irritation at that "safe" designation; it seems to imply that we homeowners are carefully spiking the candy or setting out punjee stakes in preparation for the kids. When really, I think they should call them "convenient for the parents" events - take your kid to the mall, get them candy, and oh, do some shopping at the same time. I don't know about kids today but I would have felt rather cheated by that.)

I'm also working on the current Clapotis. I have finished the "increase" section (I am making it wider than specified, as I have extra yarn). In a few rows I get to drop my first stitches - so there WILL be pictures either tomorrow or Monday for those people who have not made one yet and are still a bit put off by intentionally laddering a piece of knitwork.

I have to say I really love the Louisa Harding "Impression" for this, it is very light and drapey (and should ladder well) and it's shiny and it will be warm without being too heavy.

I figure this is a good thing to work on while waiting for trick or treaters (again, if I get any, and I HOPE I do, I have far more candy than I will know what to do with otherwise...I think there's a dentist in Ardmore who is collecting to send to the troops overseas, but much of the stuff I have is chocolate, which might not travel all that well). The Clapotis doesn't require complete attention (mostly stockinette).

Oh, and I experimentally sampled one of the packs of Sour Skittles I bought. Turns out they are regular Skittles coated with citric acid. (They claim, on the bag: "A good source of Vitamin C!*" Indeed.) I like sour things but I do not like these. They are so sour that they tasted almost salty to me. (And I am sure too much citric acid will erode dental enamel, something I am sensitive about these days.)

(*Seriously, this is one of the more ridiculous claims I have seen about a food. When we have to start touting the supposed health benefits of a candy?)