Friday, October 26, 2007

So I dreamed I went to Rhinebeck...

That's a little sad, isn't it? M was a little taken aback when I told him I'd dreamed of a 'going to a yarn show' (his dream was a much more impressive affair of post-apocalyptic spain or something)

Rhinebeck was quite nice in my dream, though replete with odd spectacles like a lan-party full of high schoolers throwing pink balloons, and tossing second cuts over the crowd like confetti that I doubt were accurate representations of the festivities.

Really, though, Rhinebeck wasn't something I gave much thought to, it's a long way away, we're busy now, and I'm much more in a 'finishing' groove now than a 'stashing/starting/buying' one, and have only been to one fiber-fest-type ever before now. The only reason I even knew about it was everyone blogging about their exploits. So I'm a bit surprised it was on my mind enough to feature full dream.

Apparently though, I want some brooks farm yarn, as this featured prominently. Honestly, I can't believe how accurate my dream memory of this was when I looked it up this morning. I both dreamed an actual yarn company, remembered their lines (though I did transpose the fiber content of some) and had a valid reason for wanting to buy it at a festival. (I'm sensitive to mohair, and wanted to know if it was soft enough).

The way my dreams normally go, I would be fruitlessly searching for the special parrot-feather-and-rum yarn from scurvy pete's yarn booty or something equally outrageous (see lan-party with balloons, above)

Friday, October 12, 2007

in which I fail (again) at ordering yarn.

So, remember back last winter when I thought I ordered from webs, but hadn't?

Well, I recently tried again at online ordering. First, I forgot that while I entered my new married name at the yarn site, they used paypal for payment, and my account there still had my maiden name - imagine what a mess that could have been. But apparently my credit card remembered who I used to be, and took the payment anyway. Phew. Disaster averted.

But then! I get an email from them: the USPS says your address doesn't exist, but we noticed you listed something different on the paypal. Should we resend it there? Ohmygosh. Back in the day when I registered on that site, I entered my then college dorm address (apparently partial/incorrect - who gets mail at a dorm anyway?). Somehow. I neglected to update that when I decided to place an order and told them to ship it there.

Note that this company is in the uk. So in order for the post office to tell them I'd entered some monkey poo instead of a real address, it presumably had to cross the Atlantic - twice!
I cannot believe that by this point someone hadn't thrown the darn thing in the trash as said to heck with this person who can't figure out her own order! I would have.

I've ordered on the internet before! I swear I have! I don't know why I fail at doing it now. But I think I should be banned or something. Only allowed to do so under strict supervision.

But in any case. If you're thinking of ordering from colourmart. Know that their customer service is *phenomenal*.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Wearing shawls in public

I wore my fps to a concert the other night (and yes, I wore more under it than I did in the first pictures - a black camisole to be precise)

It was wonderful. It was light and warm-but-not-too-warm and really really perfect. I was astounded, and honestly, I didn't figure on it being too terribly practical, despite what I've heard from everyone else. Because really, it didn't *look* practical.

I ended up sort of crossing the ends over one shoulder without actually tying them, since tying looked a little frumpy. It was a *little* short for this to work quite perfectly. I'm not sure whether a shawl pin would help, or be to heavy and ruin the effect. It would be worth looking for a lightweight one at least.

Or I could trying using a bamboo dpn ;)

I tried to wash it afterwards and just push it into shape rather than going all out with wires and pins. We're in a strange in-between state with living and washing arrangements currently - not much space to stick pins in, and I don't even know where my wires are. I do not think it was a success. Too bad. Blocking takes so darn long I was hoping I wouldn't have to do that step every time I wore it. But I worry more about ruining it if I don't wash it every time, since it was next to my bare skin, and I don't want the oils to sit on it and cause it to deteriorate or discolor. Would this really happen, or am I worrying too much?

So moral of the story: I do like wearing shawls. I must make more shawls. The shawls must be larger. Blocking is a bear.