The Thing That Made Me Go ... "Hmmmm"

I was recently chatting with my yarn buddy, D and she was telling me how she got this amazing sock ruler and is totally in love with it because she just knits to the 6" mark then starts on her heels.  Because I simply love accessories, I decided to check it out and read as many reviews I could find about it.  To give you an idea of what this is, here's a picture of it:

While researching the sock ruler and figuring it out it works, I started to wonder:  Would something like this really work for me?  Do I really need to accurately measure my socks so that each pair is perfectly matched to each other?  Or would I simply want something like this because it's another cool accessory?  And, most importantly, would I really use it?

As you know by now, my favorite type of socks is the tabi style socks in which there's a big toe and the rest of the toes.  So, in all reality, while this sock ruler would help to measure the foot portion (sort of) to the heel and the heel to the cuff, it really wouldn't be able to measure all that accurately as I wouldn't be able to put the rounded part in the toe area as intended for toe-up socks.

Also, the ruler is only 25 cm (or 9 3/4") long.  That means that it's really made for "regular" mid-calf socks.  While I do make "mid-calf" socks for Hubby, I like making knee-high socks for myself.  So, how would this ruler help in that matter (especially since sometimes my "mid-calfs" for Hubby isn't always truly a mid-calf (as it depends on how long (or short) Hubby really wants his socks))?  

Then, I suddenly (and somewhat shockingly) came to a realization: I'm "this close" to becoming an accessory addict! :P  I know that I do love knitting accessories; they're fun, relatively inexpensive and more often than not (generally) useful.  

I've been lucky so far - most of the accessories that I've purchased and/or received have been very useful for me and I really enjoy using them on my projects.  There were a few duds that didn't work well (at least for me) but, I didn't spend too much on them and it was a learning experience (it taught me what I liked to use and what I didn't like).

I had seriously pondered on getting this accessory before I realized that: 

• I like to try on my socks (and torture Hubby by making him try on his socks ;P) as I make it.
• I (kinda) didn't really care if my socks (or Hubby's) are perfectly matched in which they're the exact same length (in the foot and/or cuff) with each other - just as long as it's "close enough". :P
• I'd rather have the sock actually be mismatched if it meant that each side fit perfectly (and exactly) to my feet (or Hubby's) (particularly since my feet aren't "close" in size as one foot is shorter than the other)

So, what did I end up doing?  I drooled a little bit; I mulled over it; I even pondered on making something like this that would work for me.  But, in the end, I decided to let this accessory go as I didn't really think it'd work for me.

I know that it doesn't seem like much but, I think I just took a step back from the edge of becoming an accessory addict! :P lol :)

New Toys (and some really cool "How-Tos)

On International Women's Day, my favorite yarn store had its annual sale. :)  Here's what I picked up:
Sweater yarn:

I couldn't resist!  I've been wanting a green sweater and now, I can make one! :D (I thought it might be too much green so, I bought a skein of cream to mix it up.:))

Camo sock yarn:

Well, I only took forever and a day so, I thought Hubby deserved some yarn too! :P

Knitter's Pride colored cable cords:

I got sick of trying to figure out what length my black Knitter's Pride were so, I finally gave in and purchased different colored cords as that I would be able to tell at a glance which cord was which length.  It's been worth the splurge. :)

I also bought this on Etsy: Needle Keepers!

I've been drooling over this for ages and Hubby finally just "made" me buy it. :P  It works really well; it keeps the other pair of needles at my desired length (instead of slipping too far to the right or left), from flipping around and potentially stabbing my eyes out (I've got really long circulars)! :P  It's long enough to hold a variety of circular and interchangeable length needles and with my sock needles, it and even hold 2 pairs! (Although I think I'd rather have a NeedleKeeper for each pair! ;P)  This was totally worth it. :)  Now, I just need to figure out how many more I "need". ;)

I also found this tidbit in one of their newsletters:

Did you know there is an easy way to determine what your yarn's fiber is when you've lost the label? 

This Bleach Test is very accurate, doesn't require any guessing, and uses just a wee bit of ordinary laundry bleach.

Pour about 2 ounces of bleach into 1-cup measure, snip a length of about 4" from your yarn and drop it in the bleach. 

The yarn is a protein fiber such as wool, alpaca, mohair, angora or silk if within a few minutes it starts to 'fizz' or get tiny bubbles around it. After about 20-30 minutes in the bleach the yarn will have completely dissolved. 

If it's a cellulose fiber such as cotton, ramie, flax, rayon or linen the yarn will have entirely bleached out to it's natural color (near white in most cases) within a few minutes. 

If the fiber is a synthetic such as acrylic, nylon, polyester or metallic it will be floating on top of the bleach and not doing much else. 

If you have a blend of fibers, you will get a blend of the effects. It will be best to launder the finished garment according to the most delicate of fibers discovered herein.

Amazing, huh?!  This has been the best and easiest way (so far) to figure out mystery yarn! :)

And, I also found this tidbit:

I've used it on one of my projects and it's amazingly!  The knot is tight and will not come loose.  I'm going to keep on using it for a project I'm working on. :)