I've long been a fan of Penzeys spices. They've got a great offer this month. When you place your order, you can get a jar of one of their new spices, free!
When you are placing your order online, just go to the express tab, and add in
29454C for Smoky 4/S seasoning salt 29359C for Spicey 4/S seasoning salt or 16555c for Tuscan Sunset salt free seasoning.
Standard shipping rates apply, and it's good til 20 Oct. This offer works for online orders.
Last night, I placed an order at DiscontinuedNameBrandYarn.com. I had fun picking out Christmas Yarnzies for my yarn buds. A few minutes after I hit send, I got this in my inbox.
This morning, I sent them a follow-up email that said, basically-
Just verifying that the project bags price will be subtracted!
Thanks
To which they replied: Betsy:
You receive 1 free project bag with an order. Do you want only one? If you want two, we will need to charge you for one of them.
Regards, Tina
To which I replied: Oh- The way the copy reads, you get one per 50.00 worth of WiW yarns. It's written in a way that's up for interpretation, so you might wanna change that. I was gonna use this yarn for Christmas prezzies-that's why I was looking for the extra bags. If I have to buy the second, no, I will skip it.
Thanks!
To which they replied: That's the copy for the goodie bags. The copy for the project bags reads:
Receive a free project totebag with yarn purchase! Click here to add a project bag to your shopping cart!
We will remove the extra project bag from your order.
Regards, Tina
To which I replied: "Don't forget your FREE Wool in the Woods' Project Bag with $50.00 purchase of Wool in the Woods yarn. Also, Goodie Bags are back with $50.00 purchase of Trash & Treasure or Clearance Yarns. "
Is what it reads at checkout. I think I am pretty average-I am probably not the first person to wonder about it.
Bets
(Stick with me guys, I know this is longgggg!)
And they wrote back-
Thanks for pointing that out. I've changed that. But for either offer we are sending only 1 bag per order.
Regards, Tina
And I said
Um, ok, I got that.
All this transpired at about 9 this morning.
Just now, I got an email which said Just to let you know that we cannot process your order as it came through incomplete. If you would still like your yarn, please go to www.discontinuedbrandnameyarn.com and try again! Thank you from the Yarn Girls!
You gotta be kidding me. Part of me wonders if I am being punished for feedback I gave the folks at Cherry Tree Hill (they're affiliated) on their Sugar Maple color, which I basically said was a pretty hard color for most people to wear. Cheryl Potter wrote me back, personally. She was not amused. That's part of me. The other part says "Well I just bought my lime disaster from Cherry Tree Hill." That came out fine-after I fixed it. But I didn't whine or complain to the company. That's the crapshoot you get with mystery bags.
Breaking news (Friday Morning): I just got an email that said Sorry about the confusion. Yes, your order was been filled and shipped. Regards, Tina Well, what the hell was all that about? I get such good service from other places (namely Ann and the folks at Elann) that this really makes me scratch my head. I think they just have big technical issues!
Hillary Clinton was a governor's wife who worked for a law firm. Her husband was elected President. She served on a committee. First Ladies do not traditionally have actual political or diplomatic duties. She changed her residency to New York State and convinced them to elect her to the Senate. Now this junior senator is running for president. And has a decent shot.
You gotta be kidding me. When I'm sick, my dang doctor has more experience in his job than she does. It's like a student teacher taking over the Superintendent of School's position.
I'm afraid my intended yarn combination won't work. That's the 2/6 yarn (reads as light grey) at the bottom of the swatch. The bluer portion is 2/9 wool carried with my Kauni. That's a lot closer to the required gauge, and the yarns are balanced, so nothing jockeys for position. This swatch was knit on a 4 mm needle.
Of course, I couldn't stand it anymore, and had to cast on. (Never mind that I have two sleeves on the needles now from my 'current project'. That's kind of a problem, because sleeves are SOOO boring.) But I wanted to see what it would look like, and how the colors go.
This pattern isn't all that hot. The sleeves have little "wings" (yeah, like maxi-pads) to give them shaping. That's good design right there, I'll tell ya. (Insert eye-rolling here.)
I am sorely disappointed with this yarn. The texture is as expected, the weight is as expected, but I feel like I could have done the color mixing on my own. With color runs 100 yards long, I could just spit splice entire balls of yarn together, and knit them up. Look at the freaking joins on Noro Kureyon, and tell me that's not so.
Boo-hoo, yeah, I know. I wasn't expecting any sympathy.
I wound my Kauni today. I have heard quite a bit about how LONG the color runs are. Since I wound my yarn by HAND (it wasn't going to fit on the ball winder without breaks) I can tell you all about that. My hank was about 30" long, and weighed 250 grams, in colourway E-F. According to my math, this should be about 1000 meters. I went thru a green, plum, blue, and mauve color sequence TWICE-with maybe 15 yards back into the green. According to my guesstimations, one color in this 4 color sequence was about 59 loops (yes, I counted them. What else was I gonna do?) or roughly 100 yards. Including the color transitions, this works out about right. So each color swatch shown on Astrid's site displays the variances expected in a 125 gm quantity. Know it!
Yarnwise, it's semi-sheepy, and my hands feel softer for the handling. I am kind of glad I took all the time to wind it by hand, because I know EXACTLY what to expect when I knit it. I will probably knit the sleeves first, because I will engineer them. I can't stand mismatching sleeves. I may knit my fronts and backs together to the underarm, I haven't quite decided about that.
I am a little disappointed by how long the color runs ARE. That makes the entrelac layout a little difficult, because my pattern's not in the round. It should either match closely, or vary wildly at the fronts. Anything else is a cheesy look. I am trying to picture how far I would get if I knit this using 25 gram balls of fingering weight, because, in an odd way, that's exactly what I am working with. Winding this took a long time, but I've wound CTH BabyLoop before, and this was pretty straightforward.
If they ever have a colorway you like wound into 150 gram balls, buy it. The price is the same!
I've seen a lot of unconstructed jackets this fall. Mostly, they are too deconstructed to translate into knitwear; a flat piece of fabric will always be a flat piece, and if done in too large of a gauge....Eww.
This is nice. Wide open top down that flares out on the sleeves and bodice. Floaty, not floppy. This may be a November project.
Number 38 from Vogue Knitting Fall 2006. Knit from Kauni-EF carried with a light blue grey tweed I already own. My yarn came in from Astrid's today. Holy crap, that's a lot of yarn to wind. It pretty much looks like this.
I'd like to make it shorter, skip the belt, and change up the neckline to make a vee. This is entirely do-able. But I am gonna need a lot of cheerleading
I don't know why I love to knit tams. I just do. I don't even like to WEAR hats. I think I love them like other people like socks. Once you know how to do them, you can go on auto-knit.
Here's one for A4A. Nothing special, but I can see it on a little boy or girl with dark hair and flashing eyes. Of course, if it goes to a little boy it should just be pulled around his ears, or snatched off by an older brother. Hopefully, someone will be a little warmer this winter. The simple fact that this hat could go to a child of either gender made me pull back on design whimsy. I've read The Kite Runner. No one needs to get beat up. I avoided anything that smacked of florals! I wish I had jimmied the numbers a little to get an odd number of segments. I like those better.
It's been stressful around here lately. We've had espresso machine troubles for two days running, the car repairs are on my last nerve, and I had to call the credit union and complain today. I must be middle aged.
Sunday, I pulled up to the ATM and double checked my balance before heading out to Shopaholic Land (aka the outlet mall.) My savings account was low. Several thousand dollars low. Talk about killing my shopping buzz! I racked my brain-ID theft? Did I SPEND it? I was SCARED. As it turns out, I deposited a large check a few weeks ago. As customary, they held 2/3rds of it until it cleared. As it turns out, they were still holding it, but for no particular reason, other than the automatic clearing date did not trigger the transfer. Whew.
Pull up a chair, and join me and Sooz. Would you like a tiramisu latte, or maybe an iced Thai style coffee?
Sooz just got a new stereo system, and asked for more music. So while we are hanging in the line-
We wore some bitchin' clothes in the 70s, huh?
This group released a song called "Touch the Wind" in the US, but it was not a direct translation. Here's an approximation from the group's website.
Like a promise, you are, you are Like a summer morning Like a smile, you are, you are Like that, like that, you are All my hope, you are, you are Like fresh rain in my hands Like a strong breeze, you are, you are; like that, like that, you are
You are like the water of my fountain (something like that, you are) You are the fire of my fireplace You are like the fire of my bonfire You are the wheat of my bread
Like my poem, you are, you are Like a guitar in the night My whole horizon you are, you are; like that, like that, you are
You are like the water of my fountain (something like that, you are) You are the fire of my fireplace You are like the fire of my bonfire You are the wheat of my bread
I don't know what I was thinking. Cherry Tree Hill sent me their Labor Day sale notice. The thing about their sales is that I never really get enough to do anything with. I have plenty of "I don't know what to do with this" in my stash already. A LOT of it is from their previous sales.
On the first day I resisted. On the second day, I resisted. Finally, they sent a notice that all 1 lb. bright-toned "orphan" yarn bags were 20.00. Oh, crap. Put a mark-down on a sale and I am a goner.
I've regretted that more than once. This year was no exception. Let me show you what was in one orphan bag-
Are you laughing yet? This was in bag two.
My eyes rolled. I started to laugh. Eight ounces of neon lime babyloop (1,000 miserable yards, thanks), four ounces (90 yards) of Fringe, and a like amount of Glitter Fringe. TIMES TWO-you'd think they'd at least have mercy on me, and alternate the lime mohair. (The person who thought that color mohair was a good idea should be slapped!) What do you do with a bag of orphans like THAT?
I picked up a bag, and felt a lump at the bottom. I dug throught everything to investigate. Oh my! Hanks of Suri Alpaca laceweight! Little apologies tucked into each assortment. What a relief. These retail for 20.00 each. Everything else was just really loud and expensive packing material.
I would be forever grateful if someone has a good idea for the 100 yard hanks of Fringe Ribbon. They are pretty. But I don't know what to do with them.
It is September 11th. This, in my mind, is the day of the bluest skies. Ever.
I see Blogger rearranged things last night. Wonder what else they "fixed"? I can't link to anything because the tags are gone. Or is it because I am in Safari? Bueller?
I was up til the wee hours ordering from Astrid's Dutch Obsessions. http://www.astridsdutchobsessions.com
I had to do some some serious shuffling, as you can imagine. (What, a multi-colored yarn that I don't OWN? Horrors!) If you are going to buy enough for one sweater, you might as well max out the weight and go for it, just from a postage standpoint, so I did. I bought some EF, EG, EJ, EM and EC. I had better clear my needles, because when it comes in, I will need the momentum to wind the yarn!
Added at noon-Daryl asked, so this is what I bought. 1 KauniEC-330 Kauni EC-330 1452 yards. 1 KauniEF-250 Kauni EF-250 1100 yards. 1 KauniEF-280 Kauni EF-280 1232 yards. 1 KauniEG-250 Kauni EG-250 1100 yards. 3 KauniEM-150 Kauni EM-150 660 yards. 1 KauniEN-240 Kauni EN-240 1056 yards.
That's it. I have no earthly reason to buy yarn this year. For any reason!
We bought our first Mac. Transitioning over is gonna be challenge. I took my last Unix course in 1999. Things are in different places-it will take me a little while to figure it all out.
The Ravelry update-10878 are ahead of me in line. 9301 are behind me. It's gonna take a while. Wonder if I will actually use it?
I had a horrible restless day yesterday-starting, frogging, starting, frogging more. I just couldn't decide what I needed to knit. Finally, I decided on this, from Vogue Knitting Fall 01. I'll probably put a little waist shaping in it. My yarn is Elann's Bag Wool, and the color is the light grey...it's not really mottled, I just didn't hold it flat when I scanned it.
Holy crap. I'm knitting a solid colored garment. With wool yarn. For me. Weird, ain't it?
Shhh. Don't tell the knitting world. I, a perfectly competent knitter, just made a hat in a NOVELTY yarn. And it was fun.
Yesterday, I got in two balls of Elann's Marrakesh. I ordered them kind of for the hell of it. I finished up my DenMknit 'spearmint, and it's waiting a spin in the washer. So I cast on for a hat.
Novelty yarns were the knitting industry's one-night stand 24 months ago. Since then, they've done the walk of shame straight into the bargain bin. And I don't know why. Sure, you only need so many GS scarves, but let's face it, it's fun to race thru a hat every so often. I don't want to knit 1300 yards of cables or lace for EVERY project. This is strictly playing!
I used a US size 5 circ (yeah, I know the ball band says 6mm, but I was trying to calm the yarn's long lashes) and one ball of yarn. There's a row of dropped stitch in there somewhere, but the fabric is so dense, it's tough to see. I have one more ball, and I will probably throw more dropped stitch rows in there.
I am thinking about crocheting up some kitty ears and sending it off to DGD as a fun fall hat!
Right now, it's a little wider than I want it to be. Hope it shrinks in, just a little-maybe an inch, as well as up. I am scared to finish. You know I ain't froggin' it.
Less than a ball til 'the great DenMknit wash experiment.
Last minute add-Grace is having her bloggerversary, and holding a contest. Say I referred you, so I can get an extra point. Puhleeez?
Lisa's DD has been hard at work, helping organize this event.
I recently discovered that women's abuse services in my area were not as good as I imagined. Matter of fact, I was shocked by the lack of certain services. I think I will talk to someone on the hospital board about it.
You might ask why the heck I care about what's going on in the Mat-su Valley. Fact is, if my DD has any trouble (and if the crowd she runs with is any indication, that's inevitable) she'll go there. So it matters to me. Take a look at services in your area. Are they fit for you to use?
Tamie Vickers remembers her friend and long-time Chugiak resident, Stacey Johnston as a fun-loving, free-spirit with a passion for barrel racing and horses.
Vickers, along with other friends and family, are planning a memorial barrel racing fundraiser at the McCormick Farm in Palmer Sept. 15 to remember Johnston, 42, whose body was found beaten to death in the back of a car after a police chase July 28 in Chugiak. “Proceeds from the event will be donated to AWAIC (Abused Women's aid in Crisis) and to the Palmer Women's Resource Center,” Vickers said. “This is the kind of event that Stacey would have loved. We want to celebrate her life and passion for family, friends and horses. Plus we hope to raise money to prevent other women being trapped in abusive relationships.”
To make the event special, Vickers said additional prizes will be provided. “We're putting up a $1,000 added first prize purse to make the event special,” Vickers explained. “Stacey was an active part of the barrel racing community, and we believe it's important to honor her for her passion and commitment to the sport.
Reach the reporter at darrell.breese@alaskastar.com. This article published in The Alaska Star on Thursday, August 30, 2007.
DH was supposed to drive 6 hours north to DMIL's Saturday morning, but the "Sudden Impact" event Friday left us uncertain about my car's road-worthiness. This morning, he was restless and wanted something to do. "I wanna go somewhere," he said.
This doesn't happen often. I flew out to my Road Warrior and got the state tourism book. We hemmed. We hawed. I took a shower and left him leafing thru the book. Finally, we settled on it-we decided to go to Floresville, drive to the old Polish settlement Panna Maria, the ghost town, a Japanese internment town. All right!
On the way outta town, DH stopped by the ATM. Of course we were behind a sllllowwww person. We saw a long line at the gas pumps, and wheeled around to the one vacant pump. Broken. Figures. Had to stop for a long freight train. I started laughing at DH then, because those things would make him absolutely bananas on any given day!
I didn't realized exactly how "out in the country" we were headed. We were on county roads. The speed limit was 35. I started to apologize for picking a dud route. "No," he said, "this is exactly what I wanted. I didn't want to spend two hours on the interstate."
We turned a corner, and saw Panna Maria. (This name confuses me. Panna cotta is a creamy gelatin dessert. Con Panna is espresso with whipped cream. How did Panna Maria translate into Virgin Mary?) We got out at the church to read the historical marker. Those poor settlers. They walked from Galveston! The sun was shining. It was absolutely still. Too still. "Doesn't this remind you of Children of the Corn?" asked DH. Absolutely, and I hustled back into the truck.
We drove on, thru Helena (not worth going to if the museum isn't open) then farther south. We drove thru Falls City, home of the Fighting Beavers (which prompted some giggling about maces being the weapon of choice), thru Karnes City (not a city, never was. More like a rail depot) and on to Kenedy. We searched and searched for the historic marker that mentions Kenedy as the site of a Japanese internment camp (Japanese men from Peru, but that's another story) but had no luck. Couldn't find it.
So we turned back toward home. I had my "see the world's largest ball of twine" moment, and demanded we eat at Pollack's Sawsage Farm, thinking that it would be good. Oddly, DH's "sawsage" looked and tasted for all the world like meatloaf in casing. His hot German style potato salad was a the saddest potato salad I have ever tasted. I had a reuben (on Texas Toast-yuck) but the kraut was really good.
We had fun. Right down to driving thru the rain. "Bet we got good rain out at the house," declared DH. "No, honey, you watch." The rain in town was pretty heavy in town, and he asked "You wanna reconsider that?" "No." As we drove to our neighborhood, it lightened, then turned into a sprinkle. As we turned up our street, I asked "So, you wanna reconsider that?" The rain turned to random drops.
