Life's a Stitch

I like to shop from my seat and not on my feet. I stole that from my sister’s Pampered Chef website. Yarn, by mail order, is always full of surprises. Colour and texture are a gamble and you have to add in the cost of shipping, both in ordering and returning. You do save on some of the sales tax at times and there is a savings in the convenience. Ordering in Canada is not all that great if the parcel comes from another country. There is a $5 charge for handling most packages unless it is marked as an unsolicited gift with a value under a certain amount, I think it’s $60.

I recently ordered the Autumn Silk Cardigan from Ram Wools in Manitoba. Their costumer service is great and it arrived in seven days. The yarn, Estelle Tussah Silk, was not what I was expecting. It is a "raw" type silk and looked like twine dyed almost black, perfect for casual wear, but not what I wanted for a dressy lace sweater. It was a kit and was supposed to be returned as a kit. I loved the pattern and called to ask for an exception. I really appreciate good customer service, people who can think beyond the basic policies and help you come to a solution that works. Initially I was told, no, I couldn’t keep the pattern. After the woman was willing to listen, she agreed, keep the pattern and we’ll exchange the yarn portion of the kit for something more suitable. I’ll be back at Ram Wools again in the future.  It would have been nice if I had the option to order the yarn and pattern separately at the beginning, but I was willing to give it a try. This is a picture of the Estelle Mystik I ordered. You can see the sheen of the thread that winds around the cotton.

Yesterday we decided on the casino alternative, but added on mailing Christmas packages to the US relatives while we were down there. Trouble is that to cross the border gifts can’t be wrapped. I would have mailed them from Canada, but the US gov’t has declared anything edible as a potential source of terrorism, and they cannot be mailed from Canada unless a preauthorization number is obtained. So, my mini-van turned into a gift wrap station. I brought scissors, wrapping paper, tape, packing tape and mailing envelopes along and spent an hour wrapping and packing in a grocery store parking lot. Chuck went into the store and brought out some eggnog to make it feel more festive. What a sight we must have been in that steamed up car.

The casino was fun, not something we have ever done outside of occasional vacations. How many vices can a woman have? Knitting, gambling… Chuck was up enough to cover our anniversary dinner (at B’Ham’s Pacific Cafe, a favourite of ours for almost 20 years) and a pound and a half of supposedly wonderful coffee from a small place in Lynden, WA. It was a good day and we didn’t even hit any knit shops.