So I decided to go on with the Rogue, despite not having the proper needles for the kangaroo pocket in front. Instead, I marked where the stitches will need to be picked up for later and continued on. (The knitting police have not hunted me down yet! Don't tell them where I am, k?) I have gotten all of the way through the lower half of chart A (the side cabling) and am starting the repeats that add the body length. I have to say, I've been pleasantly surprised so far. I was a little nervous about the intricacy of the cabling - this would be only my second cable project, my first was a very pretty afghan I started but then frogged for other reasons - and have had no problems with it so far. Knock on wood. I have to recheck the chart legend every time, but better safe than sorry, no? I'm very happy with the yarn choice so far - the cables are really starting to pop. My one concern (which I have been assured will fix itself with wear and washing) is the looseness of the stitches when I have to switch back and forth between the stockinette and reverse stockinette. I've been knitting them as tightly as I can, and twisting the stitches, which does seem to help, but makes me a bit nervous. Anyway, I've gotten that far and am now out of yarn. I didn't bring another ball down with me - what WAS I thinking, I have no idea. So now back to the second sock. I can't wait to have this pair done and wearable! I've been surruptitiously checking out other potential Bearfoot suppliers. There are supposedly four shops (FOUR!) in Santa Barbara that are listed as carriers. I will probably head back home a day before Steve (I have to get all that cotton yarn from Cleo cleaned up from its sprawl across the living room floor before he sees it) and I might just have to make a stop in Santa Barbara along the way. Of course, I also still have the Spunky Eclectic yarn waiting for me at home, not to mention another shipment of it on the way. Ahh...sock yarn....

Oh...and should I be worried that my mother knows me so well that when she mentions "alpaca" she ends the sentence with "no, I don't know if they sell the fleece or make yarn out of it"? We found out right before they left that one of the wineries in the area also has some alpacas...