Elegy for Roofers; Indeterminate Startitis; Yarn

Last week saw (finally, finally) a most important milestone here at our building.

The roofers' truck is gone.

Gone? Gone!

Why is this such a milestone, you ask? Well, the truck hasn't been parked here the entire time since they first came, back in September (yes, September) (the one that's 10 months ago, yes, that September), but it was starting to feel like it. Especially as the demo upstairs started last month, bringing its own trucks every day, as well as their builders skip that takes up multiple parking spots, that roofers' truck took on a meaning larger than its footprint. On Monday, when the tree-trimmers swept onsite with their trucks and wood chipper, it started to feel like we were never going to have a normal lot again.

The roofers themselves were here on Monday, working between rain showers, but I didn't notice them after that, and then on Thursday, my mother saw the truck, finally, finally, pull out and go away.

Is the roofing actually for real done this time? I have no confirmation. But at least the truck is gone for now.

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Startitis, as I have mentioned before, is when a knitter wants to start a new project even though they have other projects to work on. Last time I had it was when I started the Trianglegram shawl, which is still coming along nicely, thank you. This time, I'm feeling a more vague pull, going this way and that, this pattern or that, this yarn or that... I can't decide. I'm definitely feeling the desire to do something new, but what? Working on that little detail...

Yesterday I pulled (most of the) fingering weight yearn out of the bins where it lives to sort through it (there are some pockets of it elsewhere, but this is certainly most of it):

I will admit that my first thought upon seeing it there was, I have a problem. But I corrected myself at once: I do not have a problem. I'm not spending money I don't have, it makes me very happy, and I'm not apologizing for anything.

So am I going to stop buying yarn now? I most certainly am not. But am I comfortable that when the budget no longer allows, I  will have plenty of lovely yarn yet to worth with? I certainly am.

Including the yarn that came last week. Yup, more.

First up, and I apologize if this also leads you into yarn-buying that you may not have wanted to, but are you aware of Jimmy Beans Wool? It's a yarn store in Nevada, and seems to be a great one. I probably blogged about it earlier this year when I got a wee tiny pair of scissors, and that's where I got them. 

I learned recently that they have a feature called Wool Watcher, where they put something (might be yarn, notions, pattern, anything) up for a good sale price, just for an hour, or until the set quantity sells out.

And you can sign up for the alerts on Twitter.

So:

This lovely skein of Urth Monokrom Fingering was 42% off, and they're also offering free shipping in July, so, boom, done.

Then, someone in my local knitting group was telling us about an order she'd placed with an etsy shop for a vendor called A Chick That Knitz, who was having a tremendous sale, 50% off some of her yarn, including MCN. And since the C in MCN is cashmere, I hopped right over, and snagged a skein of that. It came super-fast, and look at the cute packaging, too. The envelope:

And the bag inside:

And the yarn!

It's fabulous, soft and pretty.

That's it for today, but yes, there's more in the mail. Yarn shopping seems to be my therapy during this time of much stress. One of my friends is buying more books these days, another is working on home improvement projects, a third is doing a ton of baking: what are you doing? Any one thing more than others?