Ask HN: I need to get some icons designed. How and how much?

I am currently working on a website for a project and I need to get a handful of icons designed. I have looked for free icons on sites such as iconfinder.com and similar, however as some of the icons are quite specific, I am considering getting them designed by a professional designer.

I have never done this before and have a budget of no more than £1000, with a preference to get them designed for much less if possible.

Having never paid for icons previously, or any other design work, I am unsure of how to proceed. Is my budget feasible or will I only get poor quality icons for this amount? How long does the process take? I highly admire the work of companies like IconFactory (www.iconfactory.com) however judging by their client list - they'll presumably be outside of my budget for even a single icon :-)

I have also considered sites like 99designs - anyone got any experience with using that?

Anyway, do any of you have experience with getting icons designed, know any designers or are you a in fact a designer who designs icons? Feel free to show me stuff you've done if you are.