Shopping hauls - General and Specialised

So we've been away to somewhere where there are 'proper' shops, which naturally means I've done some shopping. Fist up, the general stuff.

Two new pairs of pyjamas for me, a ball of wool, two books, two bottles of shower gel and a Yankee Candle Advent Calendar. 

The wool is the West Yorkshire Spinners Christmas colourway for 2024. Normally I buy two balls and make a pair of socks for each of us and Son No 2, but this year there's too much going on and I can't be bothered. However the OH would be disappointed if he didn't get a pair, so I bought one ball in John Lewis and I'll fit those in sometime before December 25th I hope. The books are part of the Christmas present for one of the grandsons.  The shower gels are my two favourite scents from Arran Aromatics or, as they are now known, Arran Sense of Scotland, and the only reason they are in a gift box, since they are for me, is that the girl in the shop very kindly pointed out that it's cheaper to buy the two together  in a gift box than it is to buy them unboxed and separately. I decided this year to forgo the Aran advent calendar as it leaves me with stuff I don't use, like conditioner, and spend rather less on getting something that I really liked and would use. 

Then there's what I got at the Glasgow School of Yarn. 

I had a list and am happy to say I stuck to it. As hinted previously I bought the pattern and some wool to make the Stirling hat from Wee County Yarns, that's the pattern at the back, and the two skeins on the right are for making it. Pink is an unusual colour for me but it seems to appeal more the older I get! Beside that are two further skeins from Wee County Yarns which are for some mitts from the Lord of the Rings Knitting Book. At the back is a skein and a co-ordinating mini-skein form Helen at Giddy Knits, from her 2024 Roald Dahl Collection. She does a special collection for Roald Dahl Day every year and this year it was based on Fantastic Mr Fox. I am not a fan of Roald Dahl as a person or as a writer, so RD day generally tends to pass me by, but the colours are so beautiful and autumnal this year  I knew I wanted to make something with this as soon as I saw it on the website. And then there are two Doodledecks from the Pacific Yarn Co, stocked by Claire at Cookston Crafts. There are lots of topics covered but I chose Fantasy and Desert this time. I have the Arctic one already. 

There's a close up giving an idea of some of the motifs they each have. Claire was also the dyer asked to dye the mini-skein this year for the goody bags, which is what that small mini in the middle is, wrapped around a lovely Mackintosh themed tin, also form the goody bag, which contains rose gold coloured bulb markers. 

I'm giving myself a pat on the back for not succumbing to any of the other lovely things I saw, but really this is quite enough to be going on with.