March 2011 – That Crafty Cara

After days of mulling over which pattern to choose, Carly finally decided to go with the Echo Flowers Shawl. I enjoyed the moment of decision but briefly, as I was now face with a new matter to decide: Which yarn?

Now, to all you non-knitters out there, your choice in yarn dramatically affects how your project will turn out. It’s more than just choosing a color, it’s also choosing what type of fiber is in your yarn. After asking Carly a few questions about how she wanted the finished product to look and feel (she wanted glossy and smooth), I made the decision to go with a blend of wool and silk–wool for warmth, silk for shine and smooth strength.

I briefly flirted with the idea of going full-out luxurious with a blend of cashmere and silk (ooh la la), but the $65 price tag per skein doused that fire very quickly. (Sorry Carls, but my babies have got to eat.)

It wasn’t hard to decide on Jaggerspun’s Zephyr Wool-Silk, a lovely yarn that contains 50% merino wool and 50% tussah silk. I had bought some a couple of years ago to use in my granny’s Peacock Feathers Stole and absolutely loved knitting with it. (And no, the Peacock Stole is not finished…or even technically started.)

Alright, you ready for the drama? (‘Cuz there’s drama!)

Carly made her pattern decision on Saturday morning, and I quickly headed off to the closest yarn shop to me, Heindselman’s, to go looking for the yarn. Not surprisingly, Heindselman’s did not have it, because they rarely carry any kind of yarn that I want. (I was, however, surprised that their lace-weight selection has increased since my last visit. Yay! But I was not looking for mohair, so it was of no help at this time.)

I went to the internet on Monday. Zephyr is available in a lot of places in the $11-14 range, but I stumbled across a site that was offering it for only $9.25 per skein with free shipping. I was out of money until Thursday, but when Thursday rolled around and my new allotment of cash was automatically deposited into my account I fired up the ol’ computer and click, click, ordered! Woo hoo! It was going to take a week to arrive, but I figured it was worth it for the awesome price of only $18.50.

As luck would have it, I fulfilled a weight loss goal that rewarded me with a trip to my favorite yarn store, Blazing Needles, up in Salt Lake City that Saturday. I oohed and aahed at all the lovely yarn offerings, and stopped in my tracks when I came face-to-face with shelves of Zephyr for $11.75 per skein. AUGH! I resisted the urge to just buy what I needed then because I had already ordered the yarn from the online store. I departed with some other yarn for a different project and a lovely book of mitten patterns.

The suspense was killing me. I raided my yarn stash for some lace-weight yarn and cast on for a Percy Shawl in order to satisfy my urge to knit lace. Whenever I’d start getting worked up over how long it was taking for the Zephyr to arrive, I’d pull out my Pink Percy and start knitting. It helped immensely.

That Tuesday, I received an email after the children went to bed. It informed me that the online store was out of stock of the black Zephyr and that it would take two weeks for them to receive it and then another two weeks for them to ship it to me. Yeah, count that, it would take a whole month until I’d receive my yarn.

I phoned Michael and vented all my frustrations over this yarn and asked him for a logical, rational decision as how to pursue because I knew I was starting to become a little nutty over this whole yarn situation. He suggested that I call the shop, cancel the order and then phone my beloved Blazing Needles and ask if they could ship some of their Zephyr to me. So I followed his advice and happily found out that, for only $5 in shipping, Blazing Needles could indeed ship yarn to me. With tax and shipping, their yarn ended up costing around $30. Ouch.

The pain was significantly lessened when the yarn arrived just two days later on Thursday. I was all smiles as I walked back to my house, and some neighbors who were taking a walk noticed my happy demeanor and asked why I was so cheerful, to which I responded with, “I’VE GOT YARN!” I don’t think they understood the significance of my declaration, due to the puzzled looks they displayed. I didn’t care; I just skipped up the sidewalk to my front door and enthusiasticaly exclaimed, “IT’S HERE!” when I walked into my house. Husband and children came running to view my glee.

I updated my Facebook status with “They yarn has finally arrived!” and then hurriedly re-posted with “Too excited, can’t type correctly. THE yarn has finally arrived! Cost twice as much this way, but totally worth it!“

It was suggested that I bring the coveted skeins to Knitting Night that night, but after taking so much effort to get it into my house, I was literally afraid to take it outside of my house. So the yarn stayed home, patiently waiting for me start working with it.

Twenty four hours later my Facebook status read “A moment of silence, please. I’m about to cast on for Carly’s Wedding Shawl.“