I want to tell you about a new (to me) online yarn store: Yarn Culture in Fairmont, NY. I am so impressed by them! I originally ordered 4 skeins of Artesano British Wool from them,on August 11, in Teal. I got the yarn Thursday (quick!), but I was busy around that time, and I didn't do more than open the bag and look inside. And then I was busy working on my own design (see below), so I didn't really take it out to play with it until yesterday. And I was surprised to find not Teal, but Turquoise, yarn. So, I went online to their site and told them about it.
This morning, I got an email from Mitch at Yarn Culture, apologizing for the mistake, assuring me that 4 skeins of Teal were available and were being sent at no cost to me. Not only that, they didn't want the Turquoise back. Not only that (2), he noticed I had just placed another order with them, and since that yarn was soon going on sale (50% off), he was going to refund 50% of my order. And not only that (3), he gave me a discount code to take 15% off my next order.
Wow. What a terrific response to my problem. I don't think I've ever been so well treated by a company (of any kind). Not even Webs, which has terrific customer service, too. Just Wow.
One other thing I really liked about this company: they sent little, knittable samples of two other of their yarns with the original order. I have already fallen in love with one of them, even before knitting the sample, called Hedgehog Fibers Silk Merino Singles. It is just so incredibly soft, and it's a worsted weight yarn with 262 yards of 50% silk, 50% merino in each skein. The colors it comes in are named things like Wish (my sample) Unforgiven, Malice (I like this one too), Hush, and so on. It's $32 a skein, so I won't be buying it this month, but maybe in September, or October. I just know I have to have something made out of this yarn in my closet. It's too yummy to let go. The other sample is of Rosy Green Wool, a 100% organic merino called Cheeky Merino Joy. They sent me the color Rose Garden, a nice, gentle red. It's a fingering weight, 23 - 26 to 4", on 2.5, 3, or 4 US size needles, and each skein is 350 yards. ($24 a skein). I'll be knitting that one up later today, and I bet it will look beautiful, but I truly don't have much use for fingering yarns, although I am looking at a couple of lacy shawls or shawlettes, really, that would use this weight, so who knows? Just click on that link at the top of this post, and check out this site for yourself. Be prepared to fall in love with some really luscious yarns!
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Friday, August 8, 2014
Almost done with the body of this sweater
So, it finally cooled down a little around here, after almost a full week of high 90s every day. And our days don't cool off much even after the sun has gone down, so that meant it was still @ 90 at 10, 11, or even 12 at night.
Anyway, I've just got another 5 inches, or 1,440 stitches, to go on the back of this sweater, and I'll be ready for the sleeves. I'll do those both at the same time, since I find it hard to motivate myself to do the second sleeve if I've already completed the first. And it's easier to make sure they match each other if you do them at the same time.
While I was waiting for it to cool off enough to pick up my knitting, I got another knitting book. It's Knit in New Directions by Myra Wood. She uses templates, full sized, to structure the knits, and leaves it up to you to fill the spaces of those templates with any sort of knitted material you want. It's an intriguing way of looking at knitting, much like using a sewing pattern and making up fabrics to fit the pattern parts. Once I finish this current sweater, I'm going to play around with the ideas from this book and see how it goes.
I also got a bunch of new yarn this week. From Webs, I got 5 skeins of CEY Giselle, in a greyish blue, 2 skeins of Plymouth's Juli in a dark green, and 9 skeins of CEY Mesa in a purplish beige mix. From Eat, Sleep, Knit, I picked up 2 skeins of Targhee Worsted in Tanzanite, which is a beautiful tonal deep purple. I also got one skein of Alchemy's Haiku, in Sugar Mountain. (I'm still looking for Silk Purse in the same colorway, but so far, unless I'm willing to pay $40 a skein (and I need 2), I haven't found it.
From EBay, I got 5 beautiful skeins of Noro's Lily, a cotton/silk yarn (70/30) in a multi (of course) with purple, blue, teal off-white, and tan (and maybe more!) in it. I also picked up 5 skeins of CEY's Provence in purple. (I'm beginning to see a purple pattern in this!)
That's all for now. I should be starting the sleeves on my sweater some time tomorrow (or later today, I guess), and I truly hope to be done with the knitting part (just sleeves and neck to complete) by the end of this week. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
May you find joy and contentment in your knitting, whether it's in what you produce, or in how you knit.
Anyway, I've just got another 5 inches, or 1,440 stitches, to go on the back of this sweater, and I'll be ready for the sleeves. I'll do those both at the same time, since I find it hard to motivate myself to do the second sleeve if I've already completed the first. And it's easier to make sure they match each other if you do them at the same time.
While I was waiting for it to cool off enough to pick up my knitting, I got another knitting book. It's Knit in New Directions by Myra Wood. She uses templates, full sized, to structure the knits, and leaves it up to you to fill the spaces of those templates with any sort of knitted material you want. It's an intriguing way of looking at knitting, much like using a sewing pattern and making up fabrics to fit the pattern parts. Once I finish this current sweater, I'm going to play around with the ideas from this book and see how it goes.
I also got a bunch of new yarn this week. From Webs, I got 5 skeins of CEY Giselle, in a greyish blue, 2 skeins of Plymouth's Juli in a dark green, and 9 skeins of CEY Mesa in a purplish beige mix. From Eat, Sleep, Knit, I picked up 2 skeins of Targhee Worsted in Tanzanite, which is a beautiful tonal deep purple. I also got one skein of Alchemy's Haiku, in Sugar Mountain. (I'm still looking for Silk Purse in the same colorway, but so far, unless I'm willing to pay $40 a skein (and I need 2), I haven't found it.
From EBay, I got 5 beautiful skeins of Noro's Lily, a cotton/silk yarn (70/30) in a multi (of course) with purple, blue, teal off-white, and tan (and maybe more!) in it. I also picked up 5 skeins of CEY's Provence in purple. (I'm beginning to see a purple pattern in this!)
That's all for now. I should be starting the sleeves on my sweater some time tomorrow (or later today, I guess), and I truly hope to be done with the knitting part (just sleeves and neck to complete) by the end of this week. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
May you find joy and contentment in your knitting, whether it's in what you produce, or in how you knit.
Friday, August 1, 2014
Some progress
Well, it's been super hot this week. Up in the mid-90s even at 10 pm. (It's impossible for me to sleep when it's that hot)
But, I have made some progress. I've done about 11 1/2 inches of the back - done in stockinette. I hate stockinette. It's so bloody boring. It's not that I don't like purling. I do. I think it's fun, and it's actually easier for me than knitting. Now that I'm nearly to the armhole bind offs, I'm kind of wishing I'd put a single repeat of the stitch pattern up the middle of this sweater. Anything to relieve the boredom. I know the sleeves won't be much better, but at least they'll have the one repeat of the pattern all the way around at the beginning. Just, after that, it's all stockinette to the end. And it's all my fault. I just had to cast on to make this sweater I had in my mind, with the stitch pattern I fell in love with. I mean, it's not even close to being wearable around here, not for months. It doesn't actually get cold until usually late December or early January. It starts cooling off by October, but high 60s and low 70s are definitely not cool enough for this sweater. Oh, well. It's the process, right?
I just got another book, Botanical Knits 2, by Alana Dakos. Some of the patterns in this book coordinate with the patterns in the first Botanical Knits, which is kind of cool. And I really like a couple of the sweaters she shows, too. It's 4 sweaters an 8 accessories, like the first one. And some of the accessories are really cute or good looking (since cute doesn't really say the right thing about these knits.)
So, I'm off to continue working on the back of my sweater. It's down to only 73 degrees (It's 12:37 pm), so it's the coolest part of the day.
Hope all is well with all of you, and you're finding contentment in the process and/or the product that you're working on.
But, I have made some progress. I've done about 11 1/2 inches of the back - done in stockinette. I hate stockinette. It's so bloody boring. It's not that I don't like purling. I do. I think it's fun, and it's actually easier for me than knitting. Now that I'm nearly to the armhole bind offs, I'm kind of wishing I'd put a single repeat of the stitch pattern up the middle of this sweater. Anything to relieve the boredom. I know the sleeves won't be much better, but at least they'll have the one repeat of the pattern all the way around at the beginning. Just, after that, it's all stockinette to the end. And it's all my fault. I just had to cast on to make this sweater I had in my mind, with the stitch pattern I fell in love with. I mean, it's not even close to being wearable around here, not for months. It doesn't actually get cold until usually late December or early January. It starts cooling off by October, but high 60s and low 70s are definitely not cool enough for this sweater. Oh, well. It's the process, right?
I just got another book, Botanical Knits 2, by Alana Dakos. Some of the patterns in this book coordinate with the patterns in the first Botanical Knits, which is kind of cool. And I really like a couple of the sweaters she shows, too. It's 4 sweaters an 8 accessories, like the first one. And some of the accessories are really cute or good looking (since cute doesn't really say the right thing about these knits.)
So, I'm off to continue working on the back of my sweater. It's down to only 73 degrees (It's 12:37 pm), so it's the coolest part of the day.
Hope all is well with all of you, and you're finding contentment in the process and/or the product that you're working on.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)