BeatleWear

knitting and the life I almost have around it

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

you can stick your ecru shoes lady

well i find it very exciting when i have a photo so obscure no-one gets it :) but yes Taph, it is blocking on a plate...
and here it is:The Lace Tam by Lois Young from A Gathering of Lace. I knit it out of 1 ball of Grignasco Bambi and didnt use the whole thing. I knit it on 3.25mms because i couldnt get gauge on the 2.75mms the pattern called for. cute or what?

Now ladies, i went into the new Wool Shed store in manuka on monday. it recently changed owners and the shop moved a few stores down, but they still have a good range. i went in because they had called me to say that the new order of the Jo Sharp Alpaca Georgette had arrived and i want to knit a vest out of it.
i found the new yarn on the shelf and was suprised to note that the colours had appeared VERY different in the pattern book. i had myself set on a nice sky blue but it turned out to be grey. completely grey, not even a blue-grey. so i take it up to the counter to ask if maybe there's any from last season left or whatever. and the MOST CONFUSING CONVERSATION ever happened.
the lady behind the counter apologised that she usually worked out the back so she had no real idea about what was going on. i asked to see the alpaca kid lustre which was behind the counter. she called out to another lady. I'll call her tweedledum. i repeated my query to T'dum and she went on into this big anecdote about how she only knits Jo Sharp yarns and the colours are incorrectly labled, how she has a pair of shoes that colour. I blink and say that none of the colours are any good for me because they are all 'dirty' colours and i really need clear ones. T'dum proceeds to tell me that pastels are IN this season (T'dum and T'dee were both wearing bright orange). i repeat that pastels aren't the problem... she starts talking about her ecru shoes again. i ask to see the alpaca kid lustre. they both ignore me.
By now i'm feeling pretty frazzled, half expecting someone to jump out screaming "Gotcha!" but no. Sherpa starts to catch my vibe and comes in to rexcue me. i say, thanks but i guess i'll just have to substitute.
T'dum says "what size is it? it's a five ply".
I say "No, it's a 4-ply".
She says "what size are the needles?"
I say "3.25mm"
she says "2.25. well.. blaa blaa blah"
SHERPA says, firmly "NO, 3.25mm"
T'dum says "oh its three two point five... well thats almost a baby yarn. thats like a 4-ply"
ME - grabs addi turbos and strangles her to death.
or not. but it did cross my mind. i am editing somewhat, but i counted and i asked to see a ball of the alpaca kid lustre EIGHT times and neither of them payed any attention.

and these are the women who patronise me on a regular basis "do you know how to rib dear?"

here is the start of my fiddlesticks peacock shawl. I'm knitting it in my own colourway "Grape Juice" it's a nice pattern. I find charts very... comforting or something. its nice to have a post-it note to tell you you're halfway there.

Off to work. yuck.
The sleepy
Ms Spider xo

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10 Comments:

  • At February 14, 2007 9:43 am, Blogger Denise said…

    I am convinced that Addi Turbos were designed for strangling - that nice long flexible cord...

    Maybe you strayed into Spidey in Wonderland? I'm thinking that could work as a 'working title' for that shop : "Wonderland Wool". You never know what bizarre experience awaits!

     
  • At February 14, 2007 9:45 am, Blogger Denise said…

    Oh, and the beret is simply GORGEOUS of course, and Lulu thinks you're knitting a nice shawl for her now... ;)

     
  • At February 14, 2007 12:13 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Hmm. If I ever make it to Canberra, I'll know which store to avoid!
    If you're after Jo Sharp, theknittery.com.au has it on special right now. Won't help with the colour choices though!

     
  • At February 14, 2007 12:49 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I absolutely love your Peacock shawl colorway. Where did you get the pattern?

     
  • At February 14, 2007 2:03 pm, Blogger Laura.Y said…

    I'd have slingshot the yarns at t'dee and t'dum by then. LOL Love your beret.

     
  • At February 14, 2007 2:14 pm, Blogger Bells said…

    Oh that is too much. when on when are we going to be allowed to have decent yarn store people in Canberra? How long must we suffer like this?

    that hat is to DIE FOR! You are so cute!

    And I'm so glad to see how the grape juice knits up. As you know, I included it in a yarn swap to a friend and I see I made a very good choice!

     
  • At February 14, 2007 2:15 pm, Blogger Bells said…

    sorry that should have read when oh when, not when on when. Duh.

     
  • At February 14, 2007 3:39 pm, Blogger Taphophile said…

    Ooh, you're so Faye Dunaway in Bonnie and Clyde in that tam. It was too much to hope that the new people at Manuka would be any better. SOOOOOO frustrating. The problem is that NONE of our woolshops are any better. Mawson is as hideously staffed and although Cassidy's has a great range, most of the staff aren't knitters.

     
  • At February 14, 2007 5:18 pm, Blogger DrK said…

    i presume that you left empty handed after all that?!

     
  • At February 15, 2007 12:53 am, Blogger AR said…

    Yikes! Twilight Zone indeed!

    Your beret looks great, by the way!

     

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