Better off shopping online

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I trekked over to Joanns today, with M in tow, with the intention of picking up a 4.5mm circular needle. M was busy moving stuff around the shelf/hooks while I looked at knitting needles and crochet hooks. They had Susan Bates and Clover knitting needles. I decided to get the Clover bamboo circs since I had never tried bamboo knitting needles before, and they had 4.5 mm circs in stock. Yay! So I picked up one of those and proceeded to look at crochet needles.

I only own one crochet hook, a Skakel G/4.5 mm with metal hook & plastic handle. I haven't quite gotten into crochet but think I need a few more sizes on hand in case I need it for knitting. I was just too overwhelmed at the choices ... plastic or metal? which sizes to get? ... so I decided to skip the crochet hook.

Onwards to needle point protectors. They seem like such a great idea now that the stitches on my Luna Moth Shawl are threatening to fall off my 36" circ. The simple cone types ones look like they would do the trick, but the store only had "large" and I wasn't sure whether this would stay on a smaller needle. I've been using 4.5 mm needles lately (hence my desire to buy an extra one today), but my range has tended towards 4 mm to 5 mm for most of my knitting. Then I saw these sock shaped point protectors...

Aren't they cute? I chose red thinking they would be easier to find when they wander off in the house. It wasn't until after I purchased them when I realized that I wanted to use them for my Luna Moth Shawl which I'm knitting on 6 mm needles. I hope they stay on ok...

Then I turned the corner and wandered into the yarn section where I saw some Lion Brand Cotton which I decided to get because I have never worked with LB cotton before. I found a shopping basket nearby (somebody sure planned that well!) so I dropped all my stuff in there. M, having a thing for carrying stuff (bags, baskets, etc), wanted to help hold the shopping basket. We eventually made our way from the far back corner of the store to the front where the registers were, and I made my purchase.

Ok, if you were paying attention here, you would notice that the knitting needles pictured above are not the Clover bamboo needles I intended to get. How did I end up with Susan Bates 10" 5.5mm straight needles?! I did not notice this until much later, after we had left the store...

I don't know what happened. Somewhere between needles/hooks, yarn, and the front of the store, M must have swapped items on me and I was so out of it that I did not even notice it at the register. My mind registered that they were knitting needles, but I didn't notice that they were the wrong ones. That's what happens when I shop with toddler in tow...

So the question now is.... do I keep these short straight US9 (5.5mm) needles? or do I return them?

I don't have US9 needles, so this would make the first US9 needles in my collection. I suppose I could keep them. But I really hate using straight needles. I use circular needles for 99.9% of my knitting, even for flat knitting. And are 10" straights too short for an all-purpose needle? I wouldn't know. My other straight needles are 14" US11 (8mm) needles, and I think they're too long, heavy, & cumbersome to work with.

So the lesson learned today is... I'm better off shopping online...

Teatime ... I'm enjoying a cup of Yamamotoyama green tea right now, while M is napping; she is going to wake up soon.

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