A present

I was given a beautiful gift.
It is 24/4, 154 yards.
I don't know what to make.

An Afgan Update

Here is a flash of my progress.. on my "White Throw".

Parenthetically, I'd like to say, I can't stand the term "Afghan". It takes something with a potential to be so beautiful, and hearkens to acrylic horrors of yester-year
Let's agree to call it a 'blanket' instead. Or a "throw".

Yarn in the City

There is a real old fashion dime store in San Francisco. And they have a section of yarn. I thought I would share some of the selections.

One should either laugh, or cry at the sight of it.

Avert your eyes

Really, look the other way if you cannot stand the gore. There is some ripping out that is of the graphic nature. Small children should look away. Above is "the sweater". (gasp)


Note if you will the difference in length, when the sides are folded over.
Oh, it's about 2 inches of extra on one side.
Believe me when I tell you I tried gentle stretching, and long discussions of "blocking". No.
I have followed the directions incorrectly. And now the question is: where?

Do you hear it? The wailing? That's me, pulling out MILES of knitting off size 3 needles. Sniff.

(I'll show you "after" pictures. I will. But my camera is not waterproof.)

breathtaking

I am starting a project! A knitting project even!
Its a Colinette Absolutely Fabulous Throw Kit. 8 skeins of yarn that turn into a beautiful blanket. It took me a long time to commit to white. Colinette is known for it's hand dyed yarns in exquisite colors. But this kit is a combination of textures. And when you take away the color, you are left with the contrast of the fibers. Cotton, Mohair, wool...
I'll show you how it comes along.

Retail

My life is in retail. And all the risk and rewards that come with that. I feel like I live on my street, in my shop. I have gotten to know the other merchants. We share our small pieces of information, and support, and help. The street is charming, like a 'proper High Street' in an English Village, only, we're in San Francisco. There are still boutiques mixed in with the chains. Customers are happy to see the mix. One of the shops on the street is Starbucks. And I know that while Starbucks as a chain may incite an emotional response in some people, it is certainly a part of our street, and this little neighborhood.
I stepped in this morning and was planning to go "way off the grid" with a fancy-pants coffee that takes 3 sentences to order. That makes it a super special morning. I went in, and stepped up to start my long and involved recipe, and the gal started winching apologetically to me. "Oh, I'm sorry" she shook her head "we are out of Dulce flavor." She paused. I acted all mock horrified, as if 'what was the world going to come to'. It's not like there are not 20 other things I could order. "We're also almost out of cups." I smiled. She had Super Size cups, and dixie shot glass size cups, and that was it. She was still wincing in pain, politely. And then she added "and today we are listening to Paul McCartney, all day." Then she smiled genuinely. And really what eles could she do? Starbucks has its own collection of CD's for sale. For heaven sake, put a different one in the system. Oh, no, she explained that the Paul McCartney thing was a promotion. So those gals were going to have to listen to the same 5 songs all day.
Ahhh.
I ordered a 3 word drink, and shared my sympathy with the charming Baristia.
And I left with my simple drink, and went to my shop.
I am somehow relieved to know that those kinds of things happen to big players. I would have thought that they had some sort of global atomic sensor that detected when they were out of cups, and just did a molecular adjustment, and produced more cups. Or, really, couldn't a manager just drive to one of the other 1495 Starbucks locations in the city and borrow some cups?
The staff was charming, and chipper despite their near torture conditions that they were faced with for the rest of the day.
It's a good reflection that for me that the corporate giants are still refining their game. Just as I will continue to refine mine.

Working from the Spread Sheet

A fine ritual, taking pen to paper, and crafting snail mail thank you's for the unbelievable gifts that we were given. Each one carefully noted on the spreadsheet. The gifts were just another layer of the love we were shown. This whole event far out stripped our expectations on so many levels.