Friday, February 07, 2003:

Speaking of the prayer shawls--I've got this enormous, heavy scarf that I knit with Homespun. It's wonderful and soft, but for some reason I knit it twice as wide as one would normally, so I could double it, but that would make it almost impossible to wear, I think. So I'm thinking I might just rip it out and knit a shawl out of it. I think I will.


[ Posted by Willa at 10:36 AM ] link me




I received my order from SoF last night--I ordered it sometime Monday afternoon and it was there in my mailbox on Thursday. Everything I ordered, even the variegated Chinchilla -- do most people even know there is variegated Chinchilla?

They gave me the discount, too. I'm just very impressed with their service. I continue to wait on my Patternworks order from a month ago . . .


[ Posted by Willa at 10:32 AM ] link me




Lion Brand's recent catalog mentioned the Shawl Ministry, a project which is taking place in various guises around the world. Women (and men, too, I'm sure) knit shawls with intention, i.e., holding prayerful thoughts as they knit. Lion Brand has a simple pattern (pdf format) posted at their site--a rectangular shawl knit on large needles with their Homespun brand yarn.

As I knit the scarves I'm making for next year's Christmas gifts, I'm holding the recipient in my thoughts as I knit, with the intention of knitting good thoughts and prayers into them, knitting love into each stitch. I'm sure that most knitters do the same, whether they're making a gift for a new baby, socks for a spouse, or a hat for themselves. I would venture to say that handknitting is a labor of love in almost every case.


[ Posted by Willa at 10:30 AM ] link me


Wednesday, February 05, 2003:

A bunch of Free Knit Scarf Patterns in Crystal Palace Yarns.


[ Posted by Willa at 4:16 PM ] link me




And this, from my Cat-a-Day calendar for January 6:

This cat looks just like Pyewacket. I bet she'd wear a sweater, too, if Bob put it on her.

The caption says: "Neither sleet nor snow stops Basil the Bengal from accompanying his owner, Laurence Bridge, on their daily rounds in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. Decked out in his best red sweater, he walks proudly on his leash or occasionally rides on his owner’s shoulder."



[ Posted by Willa at 9:38 AM ] link me




Check out Get Fuzzy today. Bucky's giving a tour of his "crib:"

Yo.



[ Posted by Willa at 7:46 AM ] link me


Tuesday, February 04, 2003:

I filled out a feedback form at the Showers of Flowers website suggesting that they change the way the subscription/discount offer appears, and I got an email back this morning from their webmaster saying that he will put a subscription box up on the front page. It's nice to hear from a company that not only reads feedback, but actually acts on it.


[ Posted by Willa at 12:22 PM ] link me


Monday, February 03, 2003:

If you go to the Showers of Flowers website, and then leave the site, you get a pop-up window inviting you to subscribe to their newsletter, and you'll then get a code for a 10% discount on your first order.

I looked around on the site, but can't find any link to that page, and it only comes up when you leave the site, which seems kind of backward to me (and caused me to miss out since I placed an order on my first visit), but oh well. Just a heads up.


[ Posted by Willa at 7:59 PM ] link me




I was searching around on the web today for another source for--you guessed it--Chinchilla. I have ordered from Patternworks before, but they have failed to add the new colors, and they show the variegated colors, but have no way to add them to the cart.

So I took a chance and ordered from someplace I'd never seen before: Showers Of Flowers, a brick-and-mortar store in Lakewood, Colorado. I was frankly just a little uneasy about ordering from someplace that I knew nothing about, but I placed the order mid-afternoon today, and I just checked the order status online, and they've already shipped it!

Of course, I haven't received it yet, but I thought I'd give them a plug, since it seems like exceptional service. Maybe it makes sense to order from the smaller places rather than the big ones--the rest of my order from Patternworks won't even ship for over two weeks.


[ Posted by Willa at 7:52 PM ] link me




I messed around with Berroco Glacé and some Charm last night, seeing if I could make a cool scarf, but I decided I didn't like it, and ripped it out. I think I'm finished with experimenting with ribbon and novelty yarns. I like the idea of them, but something is lacking in the execution. I guess I feel like a scarf should be warm. I'm not the type to wear decorative scarves, and most of the people I would be knitting for aren't, either.

I did check "Knitting with Novelty Yarns" out of the library over the weekend, so maybe I can learn something from that. I haven't decided if I like the Milano Mosaico scarf, either, or, rather, if my niece would like it. I haven't started anything with the two additional balls I bought, and I'm thinking I might exchange them for something else. I guess I just like the Chinchilla so much that nothing really comes close.


[ Posted by Willa at 9:58 AM ] link me


Sunday, February 02, 2003:

I suppose I should have taken the time to weave in the ends before I took the picture:

I'm almost finished with the plum one; I spent most of yesterday either watching the news or listening to the radio, and knitting. This scarf will be forever entwined with the Columbia disaster, I'm afraid, although I won't tell the person it's meant for that.



[ Posted by Willa at 1:29 PM ] link me