more yarn problems

Saturday night I was working on my Swallowtail shawl for the HPKCHC (House Cup game on Ravelry). It's an "OWL" project, so I plan to use 800+ yards -at least 2 of the 4 skeins I have of a certain fingering weight yarn - to make an extra-large Swallowtail. Anyways, I was working a wrongside row - purling across - not pulling hard on the yarn at all - and the yarn just broke on me:



Note that aside from a slight puffiness on the ends, there is nothing remarkable about this spot in the skein that should cause it to break.
- It wasn't an especially thin spot in the yarn
- I was exerting unsually little pressure on the yarn, since I was just purling across by rote & not doing fiddly lace
- there are no knots or anything in that area of the skein

The yarn just broke in the middle of my purl stitch. I had to tink (is it lrup if you are un-purling?) back a few stitches to make sure the end didn't unravel.

I'm up to repeat 9 of the Budding Lace Repeat of the Swallowtail, and am reluctant to continue this project - it's much too much work to knit an 800+ yard shawl if it's going to fall apart on me at the slightest provocation!

Gryffinitter gave me some good advice via email, and I plan to show the shawl to her and to Rachel at Panera tonight, to see what they advise. Most likely I will be restarting in a plied yarn, as Gryffinitter told me that plied yarns are stronger. However I think the deadline for making changes to OWL projects was 10/15, but maybe they can make an exception for me? Sigh.

My poor shawl:

special orders

Back at the end of May, my LYS placed an order for me with my favorite Indy Dyer. I remember that it was the end of May, because it was the week after the Israel Day Parade and that was on 5/23. They were ordering yarn anyways, and asked if I would like a certain color. I asked for 5 skeins of a certain colorway, let's call it Colorway, which I'd seen online and in 1 brick-and-mortar shop as a very pretty copper-colored yarn with blue highlights.

My LYSOs are super nice to me, and even though I offered to pay half upfront, which is their policy on special orders, they said I didn't need to. I really love my LYSOs and the LYS.

It's now the end of October, and we have no yarn. My LYS hasn't received their shipment of yarn, and obviously my special order isn't there yet. Here are my problems with this:
- Five months is a very long time to wait for someone to fill an order. Even if I have the timing a little bit wrong, four months is also a very long time to wait. Does anyone know what the "industry standard" is?
- From yarn I've seen at other LYS and ONS, I think that my beautiful Copper-and-Blue Colorway has changed (!!) and is now Chocolate-Brown-and-Blue. I do NOT want chocolate brown yarn, I hate brown and even Copper was a stretch of my color palette. This dyer has changed some of their colorways lately, and I'm worried that Colorway will arrive in this new version that I will hate.
- Another LYS in my area has placed, and received, many orders from this same dyer. They are very clearly not filling orders as they arrive, and that makes me angry.

Checking with my LYS about the order status isn't terribly effective. My LYS has been expecting a shipment of yarn from this Dyer - not necessarily the base that I ordered, mind you, but a shipment - for weeks now, and that's all I know. I don't want to push it and be That Annoying Customer, you know?

To sum up my situation/frustration, I have $100 of yarn that will arrive eventually, in a color that I might hate, and even if they do send me the pretty Copper color I loved tomorrow, the season to wear such colors only lasts until about Thanksgiving, and even I don't knit that fast. So I couldn't wear the cardigan I'd like to make until next Fall. Gah!

I think I might need a new favorite Indy Dyer.

rhinebeck the third

So, the Rhinebeck recap:

I was supposed to go to Rhinebeck with my friend cre8ivgramom from my Monday night knitting group, but last Tuesday she backed out on me :( I was really bummed, but a friend from the Madelinetosh Lovers group (handdyer fanclub) had arranged for me to give her friend Christina a lift, plus there's really no excuse to miss Rhinebeck, so I was going anyways. Thursday night I spoke to Christina and she asked if I had room in the car for her friend Leslie. Shabbos lunch at Chavi's, I realized that Rochel's a crocheter, and even though she's not crazy into yarn like some people, I thought she might like to go. The enthusiastic "Yes!", even after I explained I'd be picking her up at 6:20 am, was awesome :)

Despite my strict "I am not picking anybody up, you need to come to Rego Park" rule, I left at 6am to pick up Rochel at 6:20 & then Christina & Leslie from Christina's in Astoria at 6:45. It was a beautiful drive through fall foliage and some incredibly picturesque fog


(Don't worry, Rochel took all the photos while I was driving)

We got there at 9:05, because someone (I won't name names here) had told me that Rhinebeck opens at 9am and I didn't double-check :( :( Some booths were open to early shoppers, so I introduced Christina & Leslie to Holiday Yarns and the awesomeness of the Tsock Tsarina sock kits. Of course I name-dropped and told Jen I'm friends with Rachel. Nobody bought anything - I need to finish last year's Oktoberfest kit before I get another - but Leslie & Christina went back later & Leslie got the Golden West sock kit. We then went to building B for The Fold & Socks That Rock, and found out that Rhinebeck opens at 10 on Sundays. I still feel terrible about making everyone leave so early, but otoh we browsed buildings A and B in like 20 minutes, so there was an upside :)

I was the first purchase of the day at Spirit Trail Fiberworks. Thank you SO much Moutons for the recommendation, their yarns are gorgeous! I bought 1 skein of Helen in Waikiki:

Rochel got 2 skeins but I don't remember what base. They were a dark blue and also very beautiful. We then backtracked to pick up some STR. Rochel bought a skein of Lightweight in Mesa for a Beret, and I got some Mediumweight in Paula Mae.

Rochel was a really good sport and let me drag her all the way across the fairgrounds, without any sightseeing along the way, so we could hit Sanguine Gryphon next. I kinda fell in love with Painted Desert on Traveler, until two awesome knitters in front of us in line told us where to find the Bugga. I bought 2 skeins in a color called Red Spotted Purple Butterfly:

Their colorways had the most excellent names.

After SG it was almost 11am, so Rochel & I went to Building C to find some Yarn Hoars. KangaNYC had texted me that she was running late, but I was also expecting to meet Fairfield2002 & family. We didn't find them :( but we did have morning snack :) and then continued hunting yarn :) :)

We accidentally scheduled our day in the best way possible, because after the Big Three - Spirit Trail, STR, and Sanguine Gryphon - all other yarn had a lot to live up to. We made it to every building and only got a tiny bit more yarn. We bought a skein each of this weird-but-beautiful mohair yarn, because the booth displayed a beautifully simple, seed-stitch sample scarf (tonguetwister! :) that we just had to try.

I'm halfway through mine :)

I also bought a skein of "Random Grey Mohair" to recreate this:

I think it will go perfectly with a sleeveless mauve dress I sometimes wear to weddings, and needed to find a shrug for. Oh, and I also bought a beautiful print of a pen-and-ink drawing of a moose in the snow. It reminded me of skiing in Montreal :)

At around 1:30, KangaNYC texted me that she was at Rhinebeck, and we met her & her friend Teri (I think - I'm terrible with names!!) at Jennie the Potter's booth. I owe a HUGE thank-you to Andrea for explaining the Yarn Hoars & Madelinetosh stalkers to Rochel with me - Rochel probably still thinks I'm crazy, but now knows I am not alone in my insanity and that some people are much worse....

We followed Kanga back to Building B for some STR. I think Teri got something. Then Rochel & I went next door to Brooks Farm, where I talked her into a skein of yarn by promising to knit her some fingerless mitts. What hardship - I get to enable her, and play with the pretty yarn, and contribute to her continued crocheting. It was basically a triple win for me! I bought a pattern at Brooks (Counterspell Shawl). We hit Maple Creek Farm but weren't into the colors they had left.

For the first time (in three tries), I actually made it to every building and barn. We saw lots of adorable sheep and goat.
This sheep was getting a haircut prior to entering the show ring. Adorable!


Did this sheep use a hairdryer or what?


CUTEST SHEEP EVER:


Camouflage sheep blended into his environment:


Last stop of the day:


Continuing the tradition started last year with T & S, Rochel & I stopped at Pita Hot on the way home for post-Rhinebeck Shwarma :)

ready

I think I'm ready to buy some new shoes:

I just hope these don't fall apart before I get home tonight....

the nyc yarn crawl

The NYC yarn crawl was/is this weekend (I'm working today so it's hard to remember it's still the Columbus day "Holiday Weekend"). I Crawled yesterday, but I don't think I'll be doing it again.

a) Too close to Rhinebeck! I can't get my knitting friends excited about going on a yarn crawl with me when we're all going to Rhinebeck next week. We can just as easily yarn crawl by ourselves another weekend when there's less going on.

b) The hours kinda sucked. Yesterday, stores opened as early as 11 am and closed as late as 7pm, but most were open 12-5. When you only have 1 day, 5 hours isn't very much time to really check out a new LYS, or a shop as chock-full of yarn as Knitty City.

I started out at The Yarn Company on Broadway at 82nd St. It was my first visit to the shop, and I didn't realize that they are "The Yarn Girls", so that was cool. It's a pretty shop, they had a few sample garments that I wouldn't mind knitting sometime. One scarf was knit lengthwise using 4 colors of yarn. I think they just did seed stitch using a different color each row, but the effect was really pretty. Then there was a beautiful grey scarf, it looked like a 6-stitch cable with 6 stitches of purl between them, which were cabled on the reverse side of the scarf. You know I love reversible scarves, and this was so symmetrical too!

Sadly, I never learned where to find the pattern for the grey scarf. I asked about the price of the kit for the multicolor scarf and was told, "It's $100. It's cashmere." As if I don't understand that there are more- and less-expensive fibers out there.

I purchased a pattern booklet at 1/2 price, to make #3 the crochet cardigan, and #7, the felted handbags. I also found a knitting tool I'd had my eye on for a reasonable price, and then for spending $25 I got a free Yarn Girls book. Still, I don't plan to return to The Yarn Company. The Upper West Side is the most inconvenient part of Manhattan to reach via subway from Queens, and none of their products warrant a special trip since I can find most of them at other LYS that are closer to my home or work.

After TYC I walked to Knitty City. I'm an idiot, because even though I've been to Knitty City a few times before, and I emailed myself the address of all the LYS I was planning to visit, I walked all the way down to 72nd Street before realizing that KC is up on 79th St. Sigh. I had purchased an unlimited metrocard and was kinda tired of walking, so I took a bus up Amsterdam to 76th. Don't judge me. The bus was kind of full and I'd accidentally started a conversation with either a homeless man or an unusually unkempt non-homeless man, and either way getting off the bus ASAP was worth walking a couple of extra blocks.

Knitty City was as excellent as always. First someone said hi to me & I had no clue who she was, but then I figured out she's a Tuesday Knitter from Knit in Roslyn. Still have no idea what her name is, but I faked it well enough, I think. Then I found Tofutsies in the sale bin, and it was 1/2 price. I know I'm supposed to be boycotting STWC, and I am doing very well resisting, but I figure helping clear out a closeout isn't supporting them much. The KC staff couldn't find the skein of Madelinetosh DK in Tart that I'd reserved last week, but they found me another skein so it was cool :) They tried to find me some DK in Baltic but didn't have enough in stock for my project, which is just as well with Rhinebeck approaching. I appreciated them trying, ya know? And everything was 10% off, but that's not huge, so I didn't mind waiting to buy it later. And then I ran into with Moutons & her friend Diane (of the Madtosh Meetup cookies), which was really nice. To sum up: friendly staff, found the yarn I wanted and a good deal, and ran into some knitting friends too - all of my favorite things to do at an LYS :)

Last stop for me was Lion Brand Yarn Studio. Their Yarn Crawl sale was 10% off bags, the LB collection yarns, and some other stuff, and a free tote with purchase of yarn. The tote is HUGE - like 2 feet tall huge, seriously. Beth & I got some at Maker Faire a couple of weeks ago. I was determined to buy some yarn so I could get another, but on the other hand, Rhinebeck is next week, and they have a special where you get a certain percentage off on your birthday week, which in my case is 1 month away.

I ended up getting a skein of Wool Ease (15% off this month) to make a chemo cap for Cody's collection. Did I ever mention that? Cody is Teri's son, and back in March he got really sick and didn't have health insurance, so the doctors and hospitals wouldn't treat him properly until he got seriously ill, so they kept *sending him home until it would get to that point, treat him a little but not fully, he would get worse and go back to the doctor/hospital, and repeat from *. He still managed to accumulate $16k in medical bills from the very little they did do, so naturally this was cause for panic too. Also, they still hadn't fixed him! Finally in like, July, one of the hospitals gave him a grant to cover all his medical expenses through the end of 2010 - including the $16k and any other treatments he'd already received for this. As a "thank you" for treating Cody, Teri's knitting friends are making Chemo and Premie hats and sending them to Teri for Cody to turn in to the hospital. They've gotten like 200 hats so far, 20 of which are from one of my knitting friends, Marj, who is officially Super Awesome in Teri's book (as well as my own). She's never even met Teri or Cody, just loves knitting chemo and premie hats!

Back to the yarn crawl... LBYS was very busy but they had plenty of staff on hand to help everyone. Other shops should take note ::cough cough:: yarn company ::cough::. I petted their new LB Collection yarn: Angora! I decided that I don't like the texture of Angora, and the colors were Fugly. However, I do love their other LB Collection yarns and colors so overall, very worth a trip if you are in the area.

After LB I was supposed to meet some friends at City Bakery at 5 for coffee, however J ran late and arrived at 5:45 and they close at 6 on Sundays. So we went out for dinner to a Thai restaurant instead. I had a bad Thai food experience before so I have been resistant to going back, but for Jackie I'd try it again. I got a spicy fried rice dish that was yummy, so now I don't dislike Thai food, just their strangely squishy noodles.

To sum up the day, I tried a new LYS, kept stash enhancement to a minimum, and discovered I like a whole new cuisine. That's a good day in my book, but I'm not sure how repeatable it will be next year, so I think one official nyc yarn crawl is sufficient for me :)