Outclassed by my yarn.

A present? For me? How delightful! My yarn arrived from o'er the seas -- traveling first class, no less!

The first class bag of yarn that arrived for me was a result of my panic regarding running out of yarn for Purple Olive. I did a search on Ravelry's Yarns database, and found another Raveler who had a single ball, in my colour, available for sale or trade. A few messages and a PayPal purchase later, and a lone ball of Purple-Olive-to-be was winging its way towards me by the end of the following day.

Good ol' Ravelry. I know I'm hardly the first person to mention that site, but seriously; I mean seriously. That's an awesome site. Jess and Casey, the couple who kicked the whole thing off, have clearly got brains and business sense, and they've created a magnificent tool for knitters and crocheters all over the Interweb. Every time I discover something new about it, it blows my mind all over again. Those guys deserve bags and bags of success.

I can never work out if the best bit is cataloguing all my stuff, or the groups, or the patterns database, or the yarns database...there's just so much to it that it's incredible.

Presents!

Beautiful, isn't it? My new parcel arrived today. It's nothing fancy, nothing schmik. Just half a dozen skeins of Cascade 220. But I love them, passionately.

On the far left of the above shot, you can also a skein of heathered pink, with hints of grey and white and a taste of Spring storms. Also, a skein of dark rose is there, although kinda eclipsed out of the picture, which has enigma, passion and potential. I can't remember why I ordered them, but I'll bet my reasoning was sound.

Here's a close-up: this is the heathered dark green and black that will someday serve to create some gorgeously warm felted slippers for me. I've made the Fiber Trends/Galeskas felted clogs before, as Xmas presents for my parental units. I loved them. I hearted them, as they say in the vernacular. And now that Autumn has come, I want a savoury-coloured pair for myself.

I can't help myself when it comes to online ordering. There's something so enchantingly disembodied about it: I give them my details, and then a few days later someone arrives with a present for me -- and get this, it's just what I wanted! I love it. I got something else, too. Something to help me finish the Purple Olive:

Oh yes.

Deliciously sharp DPNs. In just the right size. I was jealous of those in the continental Northern Americas who could get KnitPicks products easily -- luckily, we've got a couple of stockists here in Australia who can feed my desire for dangerously pointy, sexily slick needle points. Want to see more?

The above package, yarn and needles and all, came from Yarns Online, an Australian online store that stocks Cascade and a few other yarns, at astonishingly cheap prices. A skein of Cascade 220 for around $10 is okay with me. Plus, they stock the KnitPicks needle range, so I'm very pleased indeed. In addition, Meaghan, the customer service rep, is excellent: efficient, friendly, cheerful, keen to please, and prompt to telephone you if you have any hassles. I love working with them, and when there's a few extra pennies kicking about, I try to work out a way of sending them on in exchange for some great yarn.

Looking forward to some hardc0re ball winding this weekend.