Tag Archives: wool peddler’s shawl

Ups and Downs of a Thursday

Posted on by
Reply

Scooter
This morning I was doing my best impression of an unhappy camper. “Why?” you ask. Well, I got up, picked out a decent outfit, and spent 15 minutes putting on make-up (I only wear make-up for special occasions and when I know there’ll be pictures). I looked pretty cute, too. Then, I pulled up the DMV website to get directions to the branch I was going to… only to discover that they’re all closed today for Caesar Chavez Day. *GAH!* Between the wasted time getting ready and the paper cut I got under a fingernail when I was checking to make sure my checkbook was in my purse, I was not happy. I wanted to scream… I cried instead… stupid hormones. So, tomorrow morning I get to do it all again for the pleasure of trying to get my motorcycle permit. That means another day of nervous waiting. I know I should be nervous, the majority of the questions are ridiculously easy (the only ones I might have problems with are that ones that specifically refer to motocycle things like clutches and gears). No what I’m nervous about is absoluately stupid… I’m afraid I’m going to be made to take the auto written test and not pass it. See? Stupid. But these are the kinds of things that get stuck in my head and continue to rattle around. This is why I started knitting in the first place.

Bookbookbook
I have canceled my order with amazon. It still hadn’t shipped and I kind of doubt it would have shipped tomorrow. A call was placed to a local Barnes & Noble, where a very nice bookseller has put my name on a copy, and it is currently waiting for me to go and pick it up. Guess what my first stop on my way home from work will be… go on guess. *grin* If all goes well, I will be in possession of the bookbookbook by this evening. (It shouldn’t be this difficult to get a newly released book.)

Wool Peddler’s Shawl
I finally say down a couple nights ago to try and figure out what was going on with the Wool Peddler’s Shawl. I frogged back to the setup row, and I thought I figured out the problem when I found a dropped stitch about 6 rows down (the nice thing about the Peace Fleece is the stitches don’t run if you drop them). I used a crochet hook to bring it up, recounted my stitches, 231 the correct number according to the pattern. Start the lace again. Row 1 no problems, everything appeared to fall where it belonged. Row 2 had the same exact issue as before… the pattern wasn’t lining up correctly. It’s a 10 st lace pattern… I have 10 sts… I try to knit Row 2’s 10 sts (K1, P9) and it’s off by a stitch… I recounted 10 sts at least 5 times.. I even looked at the chart. Have I lost all capacity to count? That would be hard luck on a knitter, I think. I have no idea what it is I’m doing wrong. I might give it another go tonight… but if I’m still not getting it, it’s definitely going to the LYS on Saturday.

The Waiting Game

Posted on by
Reply

At Knit’s End
It seems that it pays to get indignant.

I had emailed Amazon at the beginning of the month when my package did not ship on time, and the shipping estimate did not change. I thought the book I had special ordered was causing the wait, but it was At Knit’s End, and they didn’t know when it was actually going to be released. They happily sent my order on to me sans At Knit’s End. I emailed Stephanie to ask if she knew of anything that was preventing her book from getting into my eagerly waiting hands. She herself was eagerly waiting on her author’s copy.

Then, Stephanie got her copy, and a few days ago others began to talk of getting their copy. Where was mine? I had ordered it a month in advance… Amazon usually gets the package to you the day of the release. Yesterday I went to Amazon’s website to discover that the book is now listed as shipping in 2 to 3 days, but my shipping estimate still said I would see the book somewhere between March 7 and May 13. Thus, an indignant email was sent to Amazon asking why my copy had not shipped and would it indeed not get to me until May 13. I just received their apologetic email (though not apologetic enough in my opinion) saying it should ship by the end of the month (so much for ships in 2 to 3 days, eh?), and that if I do not receive a shipping email by Apr 1, I am to email them again. The email also informed me that there was a software problem that was causing the shipping estimate to say Mar 7 – May 13 and they’ve got someone working on it.

So, now I get to wait to see if they can actually ship it by next Friday… *gah* Can someone please explain to me why I am waiting a week for a book that is supposed to ship in 2 to 3 days?! Maybe I’ll just check my LYS tomorrow… if they have it I’m going to just buy it there and cancel my order with Amazon. Meanwhile, I will have to bid my time turning green with envy of those who already have their copy.

The only thing I can think of that has caused all this waiting for everyone is that it is so popular they didn’t print enough to meet the demand.

Cappuccino Socks
Not much to show because I have yet to take a picture of the finished first sock. The second sock is under way; I’ve got about 2 inches done so far.

Wool Peddler’s Shawl
I’m going to take a look at it tonight to make sure I didn’t mkae a mistake, like missing a yarn over or something. I was tired and had a couple glasses of wine in me when I ran into problems. If I can’t find any mistakes, it’ll go to the LYS with me tomorrow; someone else might be able to see something I can’t.

Readers’ Comments
Julie doesn’t think she’d know a guard hair if she saw it. Trust me, you’d know a guard hair… it’s longer and sticks out of the yarn… where the alpaca is usually soft and bouncy, the guard hairs are rougher and pokey. I don’t think they’re too much of a problem, but some people may find that they make the yarn feel a bit more scratchy than alpaca without guard hairs.

Natalie, Deb, and Heidi all made comments about the shrapnel I picked up in some war zone (it was Stanford University actually). I giggled when I read these. 🙂 They are very close to what I thought when the tire dude dropped them onto the counter in front of me. (Of course, he then showed me a inch thick bolt they pulled out of someone else’s tire recently. He also told me that the worst thing they’ve ever seen in at tire at that location was a drill bit that’s used for cuttting door knob holes.) The screws were in a plastic bag like you would get to assemble something. They probably came from the constuction site I drove by on my way to the visitor parking lot.

At least I knew I had picked something up… the last time I got a screw stuck in a tire it went all the way in, flush with the tire and only let the air leak out slowly. I had to put air in the tire every few days until it dawned on me something was wrong that I should get checked.

Blah

Posted on by
Reply

I don’t know what’s wrong with me today… I just feel so blah… apathy up the wazoo. *gah* I’m having a hideous time trying to concentrate on work. All I can keep thinking about is if the printed book project I turned in today is good enough (you can see it at: (sorry, taken down))
… I’m starting to doubt myself… is this what the teacher even wanted. *ugh* Then there’s the midterm next Monday…. with no study time before hand. Obligations on Saturday that were made before it was known there was going to be a midterm that Monday, and my in-laws are visiting from Canada and want to see us on the Sunday… all day, and for dinner. Maybe I’m just in shock (or working on that website for class killed off the last viable brain cells I had).

On the knitting front, the Wool Peddler’s Shawl has stalled. I finished the garter stitch section (111 rows), did the set up row (no problem), did the first row of lace (slightly confused), got half way through the second row of the lace pattern (completely stumped). What is really confusing at this point is what is going on at the center stitch area. Most of the directions are very clear about where the 4 stitch markers go… except for the stitch marker to (on row 2) the left of the center stitch. tHe directions say something like follow pattern to the last stitch befor the next marker (the marker to the right of the center stitch), k1, knit center stitch, continue… um, what about the other marker… i’m not so sure it’s supposed to go right next to the center stitch cause on the 2nd pattern row it says to purl “everything between the markers.” It’s making my head hurt…

Maybe I’ll put it down until I get a chance to go to my LYS… socks… I’ll start socks in the meantime.

Remember this?

Posted on by
Reply

I’d be amazed if you do… I started it in Oct. Here’s a sort of updated picture…


All but one side and arm stitched up. Well, it’s been finished since I took this picture a couple days ago, but I haven’t been able to get a picture of the finished product yet. Since Le Bete Noir has been finished, I casted on this…

The Wool Peddler’s Shawl


Mmm… red

Posted on by
Reply

Six skeins of Sheplova Mushroom arrived via UPS this morning….

It’s such a yummy color… I love deep reds, I just look funny wearing them… my pale skin (I’m a blonde) reflects it and I look like a beet. *pout* This is, of course, why deep reds are my favorite colors.

This particular batch of skeins are destined to become the Wool Peddler’s Shawl from Folk Shawls for a friend of mine. She has a gypsy heritage, and it shows in her coloring. When I saw this color I knew it would be perfect for her… and reading the description of the Wool Peddler’s Shawl, it is also an appropriate color… apparently wool peddler’s wore red shawls so they could be found in a crowded market place.