Monday 23 March 2009

Its not yarn, its an experience!

Never in my life have I really been taken in by some thing "popular", I was never really a omg must have that right now this second. Yes I might get it months and months later after the popularity has died down, but never at its peak.
Now when I started knitting, little did I know some thing like this was brewing, almost 2 years a go, some one mentioned this yarn site, we all had a look and thought oh nice yarns, pity none is in stock, I don't any of us quite realised what it was.
That site, of course, was Wollmeise. Since then the popularity of this yarn has grown and grown and is now almost a must have in your stash. Naturally I was curious, I loved the colours, and as time went by and more and more people talked about it, the more I wanted a look in.
Egged on by my good friend Tinks, I started stalking the site for updates (which happen once a week, with a limited stock going up for sale, as Claudia is a one woman show!) and trying desperately to bag some.
The first week I failed, I had so many in my cart to jump out before I could check out, I got so close! But ultimately, I failed. Disheartened, but thought well first week, couldn't expect miracles. I tried not to think much of it, but then the following week, Tinks sent me a text early that morning, saying it looked like there was going to be an update (screen goes grey) but nothing happened. All day we refreshed the site, but nothing happened, later that day, I had to restart my laptop (common occurance, its always losing my net connection!) and as firefox came back to life, I checked on the site, found it was back, clicked instock to find the yarn was there! I pretty much flew in to a blind panic, I wasn't logged on to the site, the update was well underway, I had to move fast. I saw a colourway I knew I liked the look of, put it in my cart, flew thru logging in and I was so lucky, the site only timed out once and as the final screen came up, I'd done it, I'd actually managed to buy some! 7th Heaven doesn't even come close!
I was still all happy the next day when I found out there was an easter egg hunt going on, random yarn is put up, and doesn't show on the instock page, you've just got to find it. Some one on the Wollmeise Ravelry group said there was one in stock and gave the name. Not expecting any thing, I went to see, it was still there, I put it in my cart, it was still there, I didn't rush, I didn't panic, I did all the steps and in the end, it didn't go any where, fate! I couldn't believe it! Twice in one weekend? Didn't seem possible, but it was!
Over a week has past, I've been stalking my postman almost every day, only to find bills and junk mail..until today!

Huge knock on my front door, nearly frightend the life out of me, Martin answered and took delivery of...


It was here! Carefully composed, I opened up my packages..


Very pretty, neat bags, covered in a knitting motif and german to english knitting terms, very neat (and useful too!) The next bit was the best..


Totally and utterly gorgeous, I can't explain how nice it is in real life, the colours are so vibrant and deep, and the yarn its self feels so nice and the smell is very unique (yes I'm a yarn sniffer!) It is totally worth the hype! If the yarn wasn't enough there is also a leaflet with more german to english knitting terms, and a pack of gummy bears!

Its all very unreal, its here on the couch next to me and I still can't believe its mine! Def going to earn pride of place on my shelf thats for sure.

Wednesday 11 March 2009

Persona Non Grata

Well thats what it feels like at times! Both with my knitting and people. I try and come over as nice, I really do, but some thing must get lost in translation some where, maybe its my spelling letting me down some where…  Please, if I do offend you in some way, please tell me! Its not intentional!

And my knitting too!  I’ve knitted next to nothing recently, just lacking in inspiration, I’m not tempted by my current projects enough (no matter how much I like them and want to keep doing them) and I’m not seeing much that makes me sit up and think yes, thats what I want to do! *sigh* Its tough some times lol

Any way, what is getting me happy is my spinning, I feel like I’ve really come on lately, spinning some thing that really does come across as yarn. My most latest offering I did for my self, was some hand dyed fibre that I dyed my self with some koolaid, and then spun up on Sorsha

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I named it tropics as it reminded me of a tropical fruit punch of some description, don’t ask me what weight it is, but its a single ply (as I liked the way it looked!)  but came to roughly 322 yards and I’ve just remembered I’ve not weighed yet!

I’ve also had to do some spinning for a swap, which meant *gulp* some one else had to see my spinning! I chose a colourway that my swap person had stated a preference for, but it spun up a bit lighter in colour than expected. Overall I was happy with my ultra very best attempt to make some thing nice for some one!

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I did get a gorgeous package back from my swap friend, along with a lovely spun up skein, that I’ve now got to attempt to match (I don’t have to but I want to!) Its all split and ready to go on my couch, but I’ve not been brave enough to start yet!

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And, if that wasn’t enough to get on with, I was tempted in to buying some fibre with the name First and Last and Always, which those in the know will, well know its a Sisters of Mercy song/album. How exactly was I supposed to not buy it? If, and this is a big if, I can pin down my skills, I’m going to spin this up for a project, I see gloves, most certainly with a gothic feel! Its gorgeous stuff, of shades of purple and a touch of crimson (must piccy it!) uber soft, if I do it right, its going to look great! (and I’ve got enough to cope with a huge margin of error, which is never a bad thing!)

 

Right I’d better get back to being the person people avoid!