To quote the little cardboard boy, I learned something today

Several things, actually. One thing I've learned, to my dismay, is that Benedryl anti-itch spray does not work on feet and ankles. My local symphony orchestra does outdoor concerts in the summer and my friends and I attended Friday night. My ankles and feet (foolishly on display in sandals) got absolutely eaten up by mosquitoes. Having such a nasty itch on the top and back of one's foot, and not being able to stop it, is unbelievably frustrating. Tonight I finally found a temporary cure: I have some antibacterial ointment for my dog's skin issues that has a topical pain reliever. Finally. Finally, I can sit still! Ah, blessed relief.

I also learned that Paton's now produces a lace weight yarn that is sold at big box stores. To whit:

Colorway Wood Rose. Very pretty. I picked up two of these today on a whim, and swatched with it. The yarn is primarily acrylic (naturally, considering where I bought it), with wool and mohair added in. I'm not sure how successful the yarn will be as an actual lace yarn, what with all that plastic, but it was inexpensive enough that I'm willing to try it out. I swatched and am attempting to block, and will report back later. Even if it doesn't block out, I'm sure much ground could be gained by just using a much larger needle than called for and faking it.

This lesson probably shouldn't count because I learned it earlier this week and not today, but I'll go with it anyway. I have learned I can be trusted in a yarn shop. A proper yarn shop, with pure silk laceweight and alpaca/lace/mohair blends. I went to my LYS because I'd finally got a little money and was about to pop with desire for something new. I took the Phew, primarily because he was already over at the house, but also because he has excellent color vision and coordination abilities. A side effect of the artist genes, I suppose.

Anyway, the yarn I really wanted (and had hidden away the Friday previous when I went in for a consult on another matter) was gone (curses! Someone dug through the Malabrigo bin and found the two skeins of lace in Dusty Rose!), so I had to adjust. I got this instead:

More Baruffa Cashmerino. This time in purple. It's darker in real life than that picture, although I'm glad to see that it came out purple at all--in my camera's screen it looked royal blue. I love that stuff. Excellent mileage for the cash (1460 yards for $17 at my LYS) and it's soft as buttah.

I point out the Phew's color ability to explain the purple yarn. I have other purple yarn but this is a lighter shade than I've ever tried before. It's on the edge of purple shades I can wear without looking seriously ill, and I rely on Phew to check this sort of thing for me. He really is excellent at it (and since he can see the difference between blue and purple in all their shades, unlike many men, he should be). I think he did an excellent job, don't you?