Stash Enhancement and a Sockapalooza 4 Plan!

I got my order from The Loopy Ewe yesterday! This was the first time I had ordered from them and I have to give them a shoutout for such fast service and the way everything was so nicely packaged. I'll definitely be ordering from them again. Starting at the top left are two skeins of Claudia's Handpaints Sock Yarns in Country Kitchen, three skeins of Louet fingering weight in Soft Coral, and a new set of Crystal Palace 6 inch DPN's in size 1. (I knit all my socks on Crystal Palace DPN's - they're the slickest bamboo I've found, and because they're bamboo, they're warm in your hands too. I also live in fear of breaking a needle and having to wait until I can get to the LYS to pick up more. Obviously, I need backup needles.) Beside the needles is a little set of needle inventory cards - for DPN's, circs, and Single Points. This was my free gift for my first order from The Loopy Ewe. They give you free gifts on the first 5 orders and then you become a Loopy Groupie - you get even more stuff then! At the bottom are a pair of sock blockers - probably more for blog modeling than sock blocking, but we'll see. Finally, the little notebook there is Knit Notes For Socks - a little freebie for being a Sockapalooza-er. Its the cutest little notebook with places to make notes about different yarns, favorite sock patterns, foot sizes for all my intended victims, listings for sock yarn shops and all kinds of things! For convenience, I've added them to my "Got Fiber?" section in the sidebar. Like I said, I'll be going back!
OK, as promised, I also have a plan for my Sockapalooza Pal! One of the colors she listed in her preferences was Teal and I found this gorgeous yarn with all shades of teal (it photographed a bit darker than it really is). (Yes, I got it from The Loopy Ewe, too!) For a pattern, I decided to use the New England sock from Nancy Bush's Knitting on the Road. I think that since the lace design is so bold in this sock pattern, it should work well with this yarn, even with the tonal color shifts. The yarn is Scarlet Fleece's sock yarn in Pacific. I feel so much better now that I have a plan for my sock pal's socks! I can't wait to get started on them, but first I have to figure out the fancy cast on the pattern calls for - I've never done that kind of cast on before!