It's Really Too Bad

 that I've sworn off buying Aerosoles because of horrible service.  Because I just got a new catelog in the mail and there are some fabulous shoes!  I might break that. 

Black Cherry - love the red.

 Plush or Minus - love the purple.  and the stripe on the heel.

Teashop - tons of great colors, but the pink if my favorite.

Ticker Tape - I adore these and would want the pink.  Must add more pink to my wardrobe.

Winners Circle - this is a very interesting shoe and I can't decide if I love it or not. 



Oh - and right now through the end of April?  20% off any order and free shipping when you spend $75 - which isn't hard.  They have a ton of adorable ballet flats as well as fabulous wedges. 

Madrona

The Madrona Fiber Arts Festival is really the only fiber festival in my backyard.  On Saturday two of my girlfriends and I got together and went shopping.  Some year we're going to sign up, take classes and stay there!

I knit 27 pairs of socks last year and did not replenish all that yarn.  I did a fair job restocking the stash on Saturday.  I got 3 hanks of Socks that Rock - 2 lightweight and 1 medium weight to make a pair of socks for JB.  Some Koigu - which I love and is getting hard to find around here.  And 3 other hanks of hand dyed yarns from indys that I had never heard of.  That's enough for 7 pairs of socks.

My new plan - buy good yarn now when I can afford it but don't have tons of time to knit it up.  But I'll have to good stuff to use when I finally retire someday and have the time, but not the money to afford it.  Let's just hope my eyesight holds out and I can still knit socks at the gauge I love. 

Customer Service

Slip Jig from the Ravelry Pattern Page :: Love

Have you noticed that customer service seems to be a lost art these days?  Why?  Is it so hard to be nice and polite to people in your shop?  I've recently had experiences on both ends of the customer service spectrum and thought I'd share and see if anyone understands why it's so hard?

Last weekend, my daughters and I went into a LYS to shop for yarn.  I was looking for a specific yarn that I knew they carried.  They had one hank of the yarn in the color I was looking for - I needed 2.  When I walked up to the counter to ask if they had any more - the woman working there barked at me that all they had was on the shelve.  Not - how many do you need?  We are expecting an order any day?  Or can we order it and call you.  Oh - and she didn't bother to look at me while barking her response.  Needless to say I walked out without buying anything.



Next - my husband, one daughter and I went to a different yarn store.  Immediately upon entering we were asked if we needed help.  Were given guidance without the sales people being pushy.   They looked up a pattern on Ravelry for me so everyone knew what I was making and could give opinions - which they did on the color matching.  They helped The Princess get new needles for the socks she was making and made sure the cable was long enough and even showed her how small the needles could go.  Wonderful experience and I'll go back to Fiber Gallery again.

My second amazing customer service was with Blue Moon Fiber Arts online sales.  I had been looking at the Slip Jig pattern for a long time.  It was finally available outside of the sock club and my paypal account was flush so I ordered it.  I got an email saying it shipped - but no link to a downloadable pattern and no way to log into my account to check the status.  I waited about 10 days and then contacted customer service.  I got a response within 24 saying they had been having some problems with their computers but to try resetting my password again and to be aware it was case sensitive.  I reset my password but still couldn't see my pattern.  I replied to customer service again, saying I got into my account, but still couldn't find the pattern.  The next email I got was a notice that my paypal payment had been refunded.  I was a bit crushed because I wanted the pattern.  Within seconds, I got another email from BMFA's customer service with a link to download my pattern.  They had refunded my money because of the issues in trying to get the pattern.  I will shop with them again - as well. 

So tell - do you put your dollars where the service is good?  Or do you shop someplace with less than stellar customer service because it's convenient?

g

Not Much Sewing

There hasn't been much sewing lately. 

After having a bang up Labor Day weekend in the studio - I lost my mojo.  I did alter a dress for a friend, but that's about it.

I have been shopping - however.  I've bought 6 new pieces of knit fabrics.  The past 2 issues of My Image and the Dickens Bag from ShoeDazzle.

I loved this bag when I got the email and had purchasd it within about 30 minutes of getting the email on Sunday.  The bag shipped on Monday and was on my porch by Friday. 

While it's a bit deeper than I would like - I like it and will use it for awhile. 

What have you been up to?

Slippery Slope

I blame Carolyn. I have never shopped at Fabric Mart.  No matter how many times she has linked to them or shown her beautiful treasures.

I try to buy most of my fabric locally just to support and keep my local brick and mortars in business.  And - regular readers know that just about all natural fibers, with the exception of cotton - sc

are me.  I'm not sure how to handle them or what to do.

So yesterday when Carolyn started talking about the Rayon Challis on sale for $2.50 a yard, well I clicked over and I looked at the lovely prints and I added some to a cart and then I clicked away.  I mean really - what would I do with them?  I asked as much in Carolyn's comments and being the lovely lady that she is, she replied that I would make a dress.

So today with the frustration of having spent the entire month of July working on a single, simple button front skirt - that's still not finished! - I clicked through again and bought 2 of the challis.  Both in a large enough quantity to make a dress.  I mean at that price - if I ruin it, well who cares, right?

I also added a lovely midnight blue windowpane checked cotton - this is right in my comfort zone and I see it being a dress.  I can't decide if it wants to be a slim dress or a dress with a full skirt but I hope it decides before it gets here.

Finally I added another cotton print.  It too wants to be a dress.  This one really wants to be a button front shirt dress. 

I'm happy that in Western Washington I can get 3 seasons of wear from lightweight cottons.  They will easily go from Spring right into the Fall.  And since it's never excessively hot here, they are fine in the summer too.  The midnight blue might go better from Fall through Spring being dark it might like tights and a cardi and be a winter dress.

But the title of this post?  Well I got enough fabric today, plus shipping, for  6 dresses for under $60.  That doesn't include any notions that I might need like buttons, zippers, thread, interfacing, but those are things I have on hand and they don't really count.  If I actually start making sewing progress - I can see this being a bad, bad place to be buying from.  I know first hand that Carolyn knows of what she speaks when she talks about fabric quality.  And I really don't need a fabulous source of quality fabric to add to my stash.  My friend Miss D. threatened to stage an intervention when she saw my fabric on the cutting table when we were doing the floors. 

Catching Up

Almost 2 weeks ago now, a group of girls ("The Knitting Girls") loaded into my car and we went on a trip.  I am very lucky to be a knitter living in Western Washington.  There are more independent yarn stores up and down the I-5 corridore than there are in some states.  If you don't believe me - check out the Local Yarn Store Tour Website.

<---- That's everything I got.  Seriously.  And I have plans for most of it - either specific or vague - like socks.

The one thing I was on the look out for was the Valentine Cardigan by Spud and Chloe which I was so happy to find at the first shop we stopped in that I squeeled and scared the poor gal who was working.  I have some lovely yellow yarn that Mary sent me that is destined to be this sweater and soon.

The last photo today is a hank of Noro laceweight in pink, cream and brown.  I'm not a fan or noro but I love this colorway.  This yarn came from the last shop of the day - Beach Basket Yarns.    We only made it to 5 shops this year, but it was lots of fun.  The sun was shining, we laughed, shopped, had a fabulous lunch - what more could a girl want?

Oh - if you have any pattern ideas for the Noro - please share.  I have no idea what I'm going to do with it.  Seriously.

Tomorrow I'll share the goodies from the middle 3 shops. 

The Goodies - Part Deux

I didn't buy a ton of fabric while I was in Portland, but I did buy my share worth.

Our first stop was Mill Ends where they had some pretty fabric, but absolutely nothing that I had to have.  Remember seeing the fabric piled on the cutting table when JB was doing the floors?  Yea - don't need to buy just because it's pretty.

The next stop was Pendleton and I bought two more pieces of wool.  Both were off the $5/yard table and one screamed sheath dress to me.  We'll see.
That fabric?  Up there?  In the top photo?  From out last stop at Fabric Depot.  It was their sale weekend and while the parking lot was packed, you could move around and see stuff.  The brown and pink is a jersey that called my name.  It will be come a fun tee shirt.  Because I need some new fun tees to wear on weekends.  Under it is a length of white denim with a small amount of stretch.  It wants to be a button front pencil with those lovely blue buttons from the Expo.

And finally - this lovely piece of cotton.  I couldn't leave it.  It didn't fit the pattern in my hand.  But I loved it.  I think it wants to be a button front shirt dress.  Will give me practice for lots of things - matching the print, making a shirt dress, yadda yadda.

This weekend is the Spring Retreat in Dumas Bay with the sewing gang.  I'm so not ready.  I don't have anything cut, prepped or packed up.  I think I've decided to work on fitting different items that I want to work on while I have 27 other knowledgable seamstresses in the same room and then just taking things to work on when everyone is busy.  Hope I get something done.....

The Goodies - Part 1

When I am shopping away from home, I tend to look for stuff that meets 2 criteria. 1.) it's local to the area or b.) I can't get it locally.

Our first stop on Friday night was Happy Knits.  First - can I say how surprised I was that of the 3 yarn shops I looked up in Rav - 2 were open until 8 or later and the 3rd had pub knitting on the Friday we were in town.  Unfortunately - it didn't say where, so we couldn't join up. 

The first yarn meets the 'can't get it locally' criteria.  I bought 2 hanks of Tosh Lace in the colorway Corsage to make a Featherweight Cardigan as part of my year of the cardigan project - which I'm behind on, but who's paying attention really?

Next stop?  Twisted.  This was an absolutely lovely store and I focused on Portland Yarn Dyers.  I might have gone a wee bit crazy (greedy) while in the shop.  Thankfully JB supports this craziness and realizes that I'm just stocking up for our retirement when I can't afford to buy yarn and probably won't be able to see well enough to knit anyway - but we don't talk about that part.

The first yarn I saw and loved was Black Trillium fibre studio in the colorway Marguaux.  It's destined to be socks.  Yes - more socks. But sock yarn is so much easier to purchase on vacation than a sweaters amount.  Just sayin'.

Next - I went local to Seattle because I can't get it locally.  I picked up Hazel Knits Lime Granita which is the color of really good mint chocolate chip ice cream.  The only thing it's missing is the brown flecks - but that's okay.  It's a lovely soft color and will most likely become socks with some sort of leafy pattern.

My last local purchase was Pico Accuardi in the colorway chocolate covered raspberries.  I knew I was so very close to finishing up both pairs of socks that I had brought with me on Friday night, so the girls working at Twisted that night, not only wound the hank up for me, but they also grabbed their trusty gram scale and divided the cake for me so I could knit in my favorite method.

I pulled the yarn and some US0s out of my bag on Sunday morning before checking out of the hotel and started a variation on the Cotty.  I got pretty far on the drive home, eh? 

Found Them!

For some reason earlier this season I decided I wanted a pair of grey boots.

Fairly basic boots, with a round toe and a small heel - not suede, because I live in Seattle and I actually wear my boots into the office rather than schlep them.  Not too high, not stiletto heels, not wedges, not over the knee - just a basic, run of the mill, pair of grey boots. 

Oh yea - they need to have a zipper because otherwise it's hard to put them on or get them off. 

Saturday we were at the mall.  I decided to make the boots my mission.  I finally stopped into a shoe store that frankly I don't remember the name of the store.  They just happened to be having a sale - buy one pair, get one pair free.  Honestly free!

So I grabbed some trendy black boots too. And the best part - both pairs were less than $50 so even if they don't last past this Winter - no harm no foul!   

Orange Box Jewelry

My friend Anna, has a friend, Krissy who makes jewelry.

When I got the current issue of Vogue Knitting, it was not a knitting pattern that caught my attention, but rather the necklace shown on page 87.  I loved it, I wanted it from the first glance.  But this mag is about knitting - not fashion accessories, so how would I get it?

Well - I took the mag to Krissy and told her I wanted it.  She looked at me, looked at where the necklace fell and said it will be ready next week.

The next Saturday I went back to the Edmonds Market to see Krissy.  She handed me a little box and inside was my new favorite necklace.  It's fabulous.  Identical to the one in the magazine.  It is one necklace and there is a little key on the back closure as well.  I didn't hang the necklace on Lou very well, but normally all the strands hange more twisted together.  Each chain is different and there are even several different chains on the single chain side.

I love it.  You can have one too - if you contact Krissy.  This is my second piece of orange box jewelry - the first is made of vintage pieces.  Neither was horribly expensive.

Love :)

Fitzwell

I want these badly.  fitzwell wide calf brown boots.  I love everything about them.
laces?  love!
heels?  yep.
lovely round toe?  perfect.
color - heavenly!

Will I order them while they are still available?  hmmm

I forgot!

This is the fabric that I bought in Mexico. I keep forgetting to show y'all. It's destined to become my favorite KS skirt - you know the 5 panel skirt that I can make in my sleep? Ya that one. This fabric is a mid-weight home dec weight - but I loved it when I first saw it. so much so, that I went back to buy some. I'm thinking that I want to somehow accent the green in it - so I'm still thinking on it.

It's Not My Fault!

Seriously! It's so not my fault. I know some of your eyes will be glazing over - but I'm rather excited. See - I've been sewing for years. Finally - I've reached a point where my clothing doesn't scream "Hey you - look over here - I made this myself." 80% of what I wear, I made. I was at my new job for 6 weeks before either of the girls knew that. Sew - who's fault is it you ask? Carolyn's. Yep - see, I've been reading her blog since day 1. I love her style, the way she sees something and just goes for it. She's not afraid of anything - at least not when it comes to sewing. So, I've been working on perfecting my skirt pattern. Getting a better fit and changing the pattern up to make it different. But I stick to what I consider "safe" fabrics, cotton, denim, twill. All very comfortable, easy to sew and forgiving. Wool scares the beejeezus out of me. Earlier this week or at the end of last week - Carolyn posted about fabric.com having a sale. I just got 7 pieces of wool for $80! There enough to make 5 skirts and 2 sheath dresses - or 7 skirts! I love that plaid wool suiting that I used as the photo for this post. So - do you think I can actually sew wool? Wish me luck.

How Come You Never Miss

something until you can't have it? Today I had to have some labs done. One involved a fasting blood test. What? You mean I can't have coffee! UGH! Really, I'm okay not eating, I often forget to eat until later in the day - but coffee! I never forgot that. In fact, JB pours my first cup before leaves for work. After donating 8 tubes of blood! I then headed straight to the nearest coffee stand. By now it was 1:30 and I was desperate and headachy! After getting coffee, I stopped by Pacific Fabrics. I'm not sure what I was looking for, but I walked around for awhile, looking at fabric. I found some beautiful wool - but at $25/yard it's too pricey for my skill set :) I'll call Kashi or order from Fabric Mart! Anyway, I was getting ready to leave when this brown print knit caught my eye. It was $10/yard (which still scares the beezeesus out of me) and I brought home 4 yards. I'm thinking wrap dress? and hopefully there's enough for a tee.

When Last We Met

Our fearless heroine had spent the first day of her vacation getting blisters. Day 2 - she wasn't much smarter! We started the day by heading into the City. This time taking the subway to China Town. After an unsuccessful search for a Michael Kohrs purse for The Princess, but successfully purchasing both a Coach and a Kate Spade we headed down to Battery Park. Battery Park was amazing and I swear I will load tons of pics to my flick account when I get home. Anyway - after that, we again boarded the subway, this time heading uptown toward Little Italy and Soho to find purl. After purchasing enough yarn to make two pairs of socks. Of course, this was yarn that I couldn't get at home.

By now, we were all cold (we had been seduced by the weather on Thursday and left our coats at the hotel on Friday), hungry and getting tired. We stopped in Little Italy and ate, then walked through Central Park on our way to turn in early.

It was a good day.

First Day of Vaca

So, Thursday started out being a long day. We took a red-eye flight into New York. I don't do well in small confined spaces. I couldn't sleep, I didn't want to turn the light on because JB was sleeping, so I was fidgety - very, very fidgety. Our plane landed at 6:45 a.m. Eastern Time and we got the hotel (barely alive - no thanks to the New York cabbie who drove us) around 9. Thankfully we were able to check in right away which allowed us to take a nap.

About 12 we headed into the City. We learned how to navigate out way through the subway - really it was one train and it was a straight shot! Anyway . . . after wandering around Times Square for a couple of hours we went to the Wax Museum then went to meet Carolyn at Metro Textiles! W.O.W. We arrived just minutes before Carolyn. Kashi was very gracious and after speaking with me for a few minutes he started setting aside fabrics he thought were 'me.' I knew Carolyn as soon as she walked through the door. She looks exactly like her photo and she was wearing the grey side of her reversible dress from last year's sewing with a plan challenge. I don't believe I have ever seen soo many beautiful fabrics in the same place all at once. I didn't move too far away from the first spot I saw when I walked in. Kashi talked me into that fabulous red and white print he's cutting in the photo and Carolyn suggested a full skirt. Mostly I got cottons, that piece on the top of that stack is a beautiful periwinkle blue linen and I got enough for a skirt and jacket. I also got the softest batiste in both white and black. Carolyn gave me 'permission' to 'go for it' with the white and I told Kashi I'd take 5 yards please - Carolyn just gave me the "mom look" you know, the on that says you've got to be jokin. So, 10 yards of black and 5 yards of the white are currently being shipped to my house. I also got a few other pieces. I promise to show a better picture when I get home. The box should arrive just before I do next week. I'm really looking forward to sewing most of this stuff up and wearing it.

After leaving Metro Textiles, the three of us when to Ruby Tuesdays for dinner - they have the best crab cakes! And no Carolyn, I never did make it to Daytona or M&J. Hopefully, we'll make it back into the City before we head home.

After dinner, Carolyn pointed us in the right direction. We had a few hours to kill before picking up The Princess at Grand Central Station, so we wandered around some more, found the place to get cheap theatre tickets and did more touristy stuff.

I so enjoyed meeting Carolyn. I say, if you get the change to go to New York, look her up! Even without going fabric shopping she's so real and worth meeting!!!

Beau Let the Cat Out of the Bag!

I'm starting to get very, very excited. As Beau mentioned when he was guest blogging - we are preparing to take a vacation. In our house it's a long vacation. We are flying to New York overnight on the 9th. On the 10th, I get to meet Carolyn who has promised to drag me around the fabric stores in the garment district. Last night JB and I did some (not quite yet) last minute shopping. He needed new shoes - I bought a new pair of danskos just because I could. We then went looking for a new camera bag. We found the one that will most likely be perfect, but being a man he couldn't make the decision - he wants to look one more place first. Today I had the day off. I briefly considered working, then realized all the things I needed to get accomplished before we leave and decided against it. Instead I went shopping - all day! I bought new jeans, new undergarments, stuff for SWAPS packages that need to be sent out. Then I got my hair cut and my nails done. After that it was more shopping - dog store, cosmetics counter, Linens & Things, then yarn. Now I have sewing to get done, boxes to fill and get ready for shipping, suitcases to pack, floors to vacuum and laundry to do - so what am I doing sitting on the couch, updating the blog and having a cup of coffee?

Not An Iron

I didn't bring an iron home with me yesterday. They were the same price as JoAnn's and I can get a 10% discount at JoAnn's. But I found the same iron for $10 less at Linens & Things with a $10 rebate and 20% discount coupon. So I got my regularly priced $180 iron for $109! Woo Hoo! What did come home with me is this really cute dog fabric panel. I know, Miss C, I don't quilt. But I think I can handle making a little wall hanging out of this panel and attempting to do a little free-motion outline quilting around the shapes. (Some day I'll photograph the tops from my brief quilting period and shock you.) Anyway - I also brought home these super cute prints that match the panel. They are all by Loralie Designs and part of the Doggie Delight line. They are super cute! I'm thinking of making an apron from the large print in the center. And how lame is this? I asked JB to get me a clothes line so I could pin up the fabric to take photos to show you? I don't have one yet, so I binder clipped the fabric to the arbor in the yard. I also brought home the current issue of Ottobre Woman. I love it. Can't wait to start tracing and sewing. Off to sit and knit now - the plan is to finish the neckline on the cardigan.

Expo Bound

Today - I am headed down to the Sewing and Stitchery Expo in Puyallup. Big Fun will be had. Originally, I was planning on heading down on Thursday to get a new iron like that one. But I didn't want to drive down by myself, so I worked. It's not like I'm not behind on work. Anyway . . .

I was for sure going down on Saturday because my local chapter of ASG is hosting the After Expo Banquet and I will be attending this year.

So, I'll stop at the Rowenta booth and get some answers about the irons, but they won't have any in stock anymore and I'll have to have it shipped if I get it today. We'll see. I do have a big vacation planned and most likely I'll just come home with more fabric in an attempt to get some new clothing made before visiting New York in a few weeks (okay - it's more like 6, but who's counting?)

A Little Bit of

this and that today. Today my heart is heavy. A friend of mine is having her standard poodle Sadie put down today. Sadie has suffered from Liver problems for years and wasn't expected to live more than 6 months from the original diagnosis. My friend has an awesome vet and they have kept Sadie healthy and happy for almost 4 years since that initial diagnosis. But today she reaches the end. Sadie is the same age as my guys. So, if you are so inclined, please keep Sadie, her sister Tiffany who lives in the same house, their minature poodle sister Penny, and my friend in your thoughts today.

How about something a little bit happier? I have been working on that ---> cardigan for more than a year. It's pieces have all been knit and it's just been laying about waiting for assembly. Last night I sat at the kitchen table and sewed the raglan seams as well as attaching the knit lace to the front. Now looking at it - I've gained enough weight that I think it might be too small!

So, on a happier note, last night I stopped at Hancock Fabric's on my way home. I have wanted to make the Carolyn skirt (S5914) in corduroy to go with the sweater. But, of course there's a but, I couldn't find any corduroy that I liked that was the right color. So, I thought I would take a look at Hancocks. I picked up a light tannish beige twill and will be starting a skirt from the view in the lower right corner tonight.

Of course, I hadn't thought enough ahead and had to look through the pattern books to find the number so I knew how much yardage to get. While looking at the pattern books I spotted New Look 6723 and thought it would make a very cute jumper.

Hancocks had wool. 100% wool on sale for 50%. 60" wide, 100% wool. Now I have never sewn with 100% wool to my knowledge other than the wool flannel which I'm sure wasn't pure. Anyway - the combination of a simple jumper and 50% seemed like as good a time as any to start. I got 2 yards of the darker grey (bottom piece in top photo), 2 yards of the grey print and 4 yards of the light taupe. I figured I needed enough for a jumper and a great skirt. So, after I finish was was cut in January - these are up next! Inspiration baby - regardless of season!