The art of growing up

On Sunday my kids and I had fun wandering through some stores. At one of the local craft stores we found some Plymouth Encore on clearance and picked some up for socks for M. I wanted to try my newly learned technique, 2 socs on 2 cirs out. I cast on Sunday night, worked on them throughout the day on Monday, and by Monday night cast-off:

1 day! Now granted they are done with thicker yarn, size 3 needles and with short cuffs, but still...1 day! I'm sold. My son tried them on and proclaimed that they were the best socks ever. They are a little big, so hopefully he can wear them for awhile (we are in growth spurt season now).
Now here is a little petpeeve of mine: obviously I love to knit. I don't think that my knitting should put me in the poor house, but I try to use it to enhance our lives. I can't say that it saves money, because that's just not true. By recycling yarn, looking for bargains, and generous friends, I have been very blessed to be able to knit with great yarns. Even if circumstances changed and I no longer had to watch my pennies so closely, my personality will probably continue to be careful with how I spend my money on my 'hobby'. (knitting seems like more than just my hobby, it keeps me sane, has brought great friends into my life, and allows me to use creativity to express my love for others). So here is what irkes me. The price of knitting seems to be going up. Sure Lion Brand is coming out with great yarns, but they are still not cheap. I try to take advantage of coupons in the craft store, but they don't carry alot of things that I need or want. The current example is circular needles, particularly the size 1 or smaller. To buy 2 pairs at the LYS would be at least $25, something that I just couldn't justify or afford right now. I bought the size 2 needles at a local craft store (20% off, making them $4 each). They are Susan Bates and amazingly are very nice. Once I realized that I really liked this technique, my Mom and I spent way too much time going to the various local craft store trying to find circular needles in size 1 and hopefully use a coupon. Eventually I returned to the original store and bought the size 1 at 20% off too. Now this could have solved my problem, but these Susan Bates were not at all like the size 2. The joint (between the needles and cord) is not smooth, so the yarn gets stuck. With no other place to try and look for other these needles, I called the company. They had no idea what I was talking about, but said they would send out new needles. Whether or not this will really happen, we will see. (It's been over a week since I called. Yes, I'm not patient here...I want working needles!! hehe). And the big question will be if these needles will be as nice as the size 2 I bought.
So what's the point of this long story? (ok, complaint) Where am I supposed to shop? When did knitting become a hobby that you needed to take out a loan for? Is there anyone else that feels this way?
Now I don't want to end my post like this, so I will share something new that has come into our house:

Deodorant for my boys. We had to smell alot before they both decided this was the best one. (Ironically found during our first visit to a dollar store...hehe). It seems we have made another step towards growing up. (sniffles)