bad joanns online

So I recently had an unpleasant experience. I ordered a blocking wire kit from joanns. I used their 50% off coupon. After a couple days my kit arrived. I opened it to find that only half the kit was there. The kit was suppose to include 12 of one size wire and 2 of the other. I had 6 of one and 1 of the other. I called customer service to report the problem and to hopefully get the rest of my kit. The lady I talked to was very rude with me. and all she would tell me was that she'd notify the warehouse. Not that they'd fix this problem as soon as possible, not that the rest of my kit would be mailed. Just that she'd notify the warehouse. That's all she told me. A week later I got another something in the mail from joanns. Its very rattly. I open it. Its the rest of the blocking kit (well at least my missing parts. Only they are packaged horribly. The kit comes in a tub. for storage, its to help keep your wires from getting damaged and stuff. When the first half of my kit arrived the tub had become opened in shipping but nothing had fallen out of the tub because the box it ships in is only a couple inches bigger than the tub and the wires are also the size of the tub. In the second shipment (the other half of my kit) the wires were not in the tub at all. They did include a tub but failed to put the wires in it. I'm 100% certain the wires were never in the tub because again the box they shipped in wouldn't have allowed the wires to have fallen out if they'd been in there to start with regardless of whether the tub caps came off or not.

~Jessica

stupid knitpicks

KnitPicks hates me. Its been several months that they've hated me. I'm not sure exactly how long ago this started its been at least the past 9 months that they've hated me. They refuse to let me order anything online. I sometimes manage to squeeze an order in. Usually I have to do it via the phone instead of the internet. Or if the internet does let me order I end up having to call and change things because the internet order got screwed up. The last time I ordered I had Amie order it for me. Because it just wouldn't let me order at all. Today I tried to order Cat Bordhi's new book "New Pathways for Sock knitters". But it wouldn't let me. I guess its not the worst thing since I dont really need to spend the money. But I want the book and I have the $20 to pay for the book. I should be able to get the book, right? sigh.

Maybe I'll break down and call.

~Jessica

admitting it is the first step.

so i've come to what is to me a horrifying conclusion. i'm becoming a yarn snob.

now, don't get me wrong. i have nothing against acrylic. 300+ yards of worsted weight for $2?! what a fantastic deal! and it's machine washable, too! and it's...just not very soft.

well, certain kinds aren't. simply soft...that's one of my top 3 yarn choices. love the stuff. i'm wearing a hat made of it right now and it's so comfy i keep forgetting i've got it on.

but right now i'm also knitting a stocking with red heart. not so very long ago i wouldn't have thought anything about this, but now...wow. i can barely knit a row without taking a break. there's superwash merino in my bag, calling to me! but it's for a self-designed gift, and the stocking is a paid commission. i. must. finish.

i'm giving myself a deadline. this stocking has to be finished in a week. which shouldn't be that hard, the thing's half-done already and it's just a normal stocking...oh sure, it's got some colorwork, but just a christmas tree...all of 2 colors and a simple shape. and i'm more than halfway through the tree anyway. but man, i have to talk myself into working on it. it's not that i don't enjoy the knitting. i do. i just don't enjoy the yarn. not at all. i never realized just how uncomfortable it is until now. of course, i haven't really worked with any red heart since, oh, i don't know...i discovered simply soft.

if only i could knit these stockings in simply soft...sadly, the colors are limited. plus these are reproductions of a 20-year-old stocking which was knit with, you guessed it, the same old scratchy yarn that gives acrylic a bad name.

i'm not a yarn snob. i'm not. this is not denial. i have nothing against the yarn i find at walmart. i have a huge stash of it, and i refuse to get rid of any of it in case i need it some time. (came in handy for this project, let me tell you...for 3 stockings, using two shades of green, red, white, peach, dark peach, black and 5 random ornament colors, i spent maybe $10 on yarn. the rest is from my stash.

anyway. sorry. just had to complain. plus i finished a row and had to take a break.

this really isn't great yarn. i know, it has its uses, but wow. scratchy. i've even begun to notice that the one red heart hat i have irritates my forehead. i never really thought about it before. maybe THAT was the real denial...

and for this stocking, it probably doesn't help that the tree green is double-stranded...i could only find a suitable color in sport weight.

for what it's worth, the stocking is looking rather nice, despite crappy yarn. i'd post a picture if i could, but, ya know, i'm on the work computer. i'm kind of amazed i even get to write this post. granted, it's not posted yet, so maybe this is all in vain.

Pea Pod Sweater

Since I finished Lynette's socks this morning I needed something else to cast on (avoiding Rogue... although I have no real reason to). So I finally cast on for the baby sweater for Justin's cousin. I ordered the yarn ages ago. I cast on and got pretty far in the sweater today. If nothing comes up I hope to finish the knitting part of it tomorrow. Not sure if I'll get it sewn together that fast tho. Just wanted to share. I'm proud of myself.

Its the pea pod baby sweater from interweaves (available as a free pdf download). Knit Picks swish dk in the asparagus color on us size 5 needles. I'm also doing the smallest size (3 month... so dont be overly impressed that I got that much knit today. its a tiny sweater).

~Jessica

Finished Lynette's socks.

Start date: november 1st (pretty late that night)
finished: november 6 (before noon)

will get them in the mail as soon as I can (maybe today... if not then definately tomorrow). Hopefully Lynette will love them and they will fit her perfectly and she can get a picture back to me for posting.

started with 100g ball of yarn. i have 43g leftover! wow right. I thought so too. the socks are 7" to the heel then 7.5" until the toe. and they come very very close to fitting me. I'm pretty amazed.

~Jessica

Lynette's Socks

Basic sock. k3p1 ribbing with a short row heel and toe. Knit over 60's stitches on size 2mm needles.



This is me wearing the sock. The sock is actually knit for a smaller foot so if you look closely you will see that the heel doesn't match up to mine properly. I put it on my own foot to prove that you should never underestimate the stretching power of ribbing. Although when not stretched out the sock looks small its actually a pretty decent sized sock.

The yarn is Knit Picks bare essentials (superwash wool/nylon fingering weight) that Lynette herself dyed when she came down and visited me this summer (Amie made a post about us dying our yarn that included pictures, I'd try to link to that post in this one but I dont know how). I've used all the knitpicks bare sock yarn and the superwash is by far the softest. And definately soaked up the color much nicer than the regular merino (non superwash) did.

~Jessica