It has been since I last bought yarn!

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Hat Sunday and the Tilted Duster


Yup. More hats. You should have expected this. The cute little checkered hat is the one I completed last week and the two others were actually knit on Saturday, instead of Sunday but I've decided that it still counts. That brings the hat total up to 13! And, if that wasn't enough, my friend who's a doctor at Peter Lougheed is going to let me know if they want baby hats too. I'm a MACHINE I tell ya!

So much has happened in the last few days, I don't even know where to begin.

I guess I'll tell ya- I got my yarn.


Yes, it's lovely, and maybe slightly brighter than I thought I was ordering. (I will admit that I am rethinking the red over grey, but have decided to surge forward and see if I surprise myself with how much I like the red in the end.)

While I'm pleased with the yarn, I'm a little bummed about the company. Here's the thing: I love WEBS with my whole heart. When I lived in New Haven they were an hour and a half away, and any order I made they sent almost over night to me, it would arrive so quickly. The staff is unbelievably nice and friendly, (witnessed first hand at the Harlot event they held), and in general I believe it's a wonderful company. Sadly, I don't think I can order from them anymore. They are great and wonderful to order from if you live in the US, but I was a little less happy with them when ordering from Canada. Not only did I end up paying $20 in shipping for my three skeins of wool but I also got dinged $8 GST charges from customs (not WEBS fault might I add.) With the savings I had ordering from their company, I completely lost on shipping and tax. In fact in general, I ended up spending $15 more than I would have buying it from a yarn store here. (Not that anyone actually carried it in Calgary, but in general, I over-paid.)

I'm frustrated and a little sad about this loss. I love WEBS. I love their products. I really love their prices. I love that they're good at what they do... in the US. But, being in Canada, it's just not economical for me anymore to order from them. I will continue to order if I know I'm going to be in the US and send it to the location I'm staying at, but in general, there probably won't be any Canandian orders anymore... it's just too expensive. That really makes me sad, because, well, I like to support businesses I like. I just wish the shipping hadn't been so astronomical.

In happier news, now that I have the yarn, I can finally start the project I have been obsessing about ever since I bought the fall issue of Interweave Knits: the Tilted Duster. Oh my goodness I have been DYING to begin this project. Yesterday, after a successful gauge swatch, I finally got down to making the back. (Which I'm almost done!) So far the wool is knitting up nicely and everything is working out lovely- I'm sure there will be much discussion as I continue.
Given that is going to my last week of freedom to knit for awhile, (surprise! I got a job!), I'm also casting on the Alphabet Blanket pattern by the very creative Debbie Bliss. While I will not be using Miss Bliss' yarn, (one cannot buy the yarn in good conscience when one is unemployed... hopefully this will now change), I will be using the Bernat Baby Soft. (While I may be a yarn snob now, I still prefer this stuff to knit Baby Blankets... it's just soft and pretty and knits up nicely and I'm not going to defend it anymore!)

September has started with a bunch of new! exciting! projects!, and surprisingly, no socks. I just need a little sock break for a bit. (But not to worry.... neither of the two new projects are very portable, so there will be a new sock soon.) Either way, I'm really happy to be sinking my teeth into something new. Must dash.... the Tilted Duster is calling me.....

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the link - It's such a great pattern. Make sure you get the errata from her website - there's a couple of problems with a few letters! Good luck and look forward to seeing your progress. Cheers, Kirsty.