I had some decent sales at Christmas and so decided to spend some on new yarns (emphasis on the new) and then take a chunk of my sales monies and be a responsible adult and use it to reduce some bills. I must say doing that felt real good!
My yarn order *finally* showed up after five (5) weeks and it some how under whelmed me. It all started when I picked up the box at the post office. It was a rather small cube and very light. My heart sank as I thought of more delays straightening it all out.
Later I opened it up and seeing only a few cones, I felt my initial reaction was correct! I quickly went through each item and suddenly it dawned on me that this really was all I ordered! In my mind I had at least seven bulky cones (and seven pounds of weight) coming and it was seven items in total.
So what does 'new' to me yarn mean? Well I ordered two colours of 8/2 tencel that I have never seen before! My old supplier never stocked these colours as they are pastels and most people wanted the full brilliant colours. I also ordered one brighter cone of tencel that I'm low on and know that I need more of.
Amethyst is on the left, with the new almond blossom in the middle (basically a soft pink) and then pale orchid leaf.
Orchid leaf is a very soft lilac. Here's another closer view with a white backdrop:
I really like it and can see a lacy shawl in the future. Okay, so far so good!
Next up is my other 'new yarn' merino tencel blend. Dorothy had used it and her sample she sent me was wonderful! She bought it in a finer weight than I can order it here but I went ahead and ordered it as a 10/2 weight. I guess I was thinking of a 10/2 in normal tencel yarns and what I got was a larger sized yarn than I had in my mind!
There was a variety of colours to choose from and I decided to go with neutrals and ordered black and a steel gray. They would coordinate nicely together at the very least as a colour and weave effect men's scarf.
They are also small cones... they are not one pound cones. Again when I checked, they are 8.8 ounce cones. I somehow missed that point.... oops! (There's that mind of mine again....seeing a trend here?)
I also ordered two lace weight painted skeins that looked like this on my screen:
I could see shades of pinks, mauves, a hint of yellow....and thought I could team it up with my new tencel merino! Yah, that's it!
This is what I got:
This says 'Halloween' to me! Its beautiful yarn and even superwash merino but its going to be a challenge to work out how to use this but it won't be as originally planned and it won't be with the merino tencel blend. *sigh*
So what have we learned? Well, look closer at the information they provide (re: weights), don't be fooled by the pretty screen images as they are fickle! Write down what you ordered and keep it handy as it can be almost two months before you get the order. In my defense, they did say everything was in stock when I hit the order button and they they said "oops, we're sorry!" Hey, that can happen and I understand. I guess I was spoiled by Amazon who will ship your order to you and send the stragglers along later. Its a good thing I wasn't waiting by the loom for this order! I also feel that this demonstrates that supporting your local yarn store is a good idea where you can see, touch and know what you are getting. I'm still a fan of getting bulk orders by mail for cost effectiveness. I also learned my mind is not to be trusted and to lean on the "post it notes" more.
I also received a DVD in the mail quite by surprise from a friend:
I'm really looking forward to watching this one! I'm a big proponent of knowing your loom well and being able to make adjustments to get better function from it. Its a machine with lots of moving parts.... it will have some issues along the way.
Oh, and the friend? It was me. I pre-ordered the set months ago and forgot all about it until it showed up. Between you and me: I'm getting a little worried about my 'friend' :)
I have a line up of material to read and view and I plan to let you know how I find them in the near future. My trouble is time right now as I have two deadlines colliding soon and the weaving takes precedence.
Clearly I can't walk and chew gum now!
10 comments:
Pretty new yarns! Especially the last one as you saw it on your screen. The one you received looks like a completely different yarn! I can imagine your disappointment. Maybe it will grow on you after a while. :-)
Sorry about your disappointment, but glad to hear ' the-feel'n-better-part ', 'cause it'l erase that first-part !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CHEERS-TA-BOTHAY'ALL !!!!!!!!!!!!!
I had a good Christmas season too. But always struggle this time of year as to what yarns to invest in. Good luck with your new projects and your new arrivals are gorgeous!
Hi Susan,
Nice yarns, and yes we can find surprises. I find it best to write down the orders and think about it for a day or two .... then go back. I am anxious to hear what you think of the "Loom Companion". I am "thinking" about ordering it ..... we can always learn something from any new material. I will await your critique. You will make beautiful things with your new yarn, and in the end be pleased that you ordered them. Weaverly yours ... Barbara
Oh my...give yourself a break, you've had a lot on your mind the past few months.
What you describe is what I often experience with mail order. I get all excited at surfing around the net, but the real thing is less exciting when it arrives. Maybe it's the cyber version of "buyer's remorse".
I'm sure you'll come up with some lovely plans for the new stash. Will you review the video for us?
Totally love that orange yarn! Just shows you we all have different tastes, huh? You have definitely had your mind on other things, Susan. Don't beat yourself up over it. And yes, please review the DVD!
Hi Susan - lovely yarns ! I really like Amethyst in tencel it is a stunning colour. The pastel shades will do well for summer scarves, if we ever need them !
the merino tencel is a bit bulky, I found that even with the 16/2 I got. merino silk is less bulky I think.
Not sure about the Halloween Yarn ! Highlights on something black maybe.
Listen to colour challenged me !!
Enjoy !
Dorothy
Oh, it will be fun to see what creations you make with these lovely threads! I'm especially excited to hear what you think of Tom's piece on caring for the several looms. Tom is our 'local' treasure, and there is good reason why he was nominated Handwoven's Teacher of the Year this year. Have fun, Susan! You've certainly earned it over the past several months!
Hi Susan: You are not alone as recently I ordered 4 cones of what I thought was 1# cones of 20/2 merc cotton. When it arrived, all 4# was in this little bag!! Come to find out, it was sold as being on mini-cones weighing 5 ounces each, and I just didn't notice. This made the price per pound quite expensive and I definitely would have looked for another supplier had I noticed this before ordering. It didn't dawn on me to check that I wasn't ordering 1# cones. I'll be smarter next time (I hope). NH June
I sympathise - I have often had that experience buying by post. Recently when I bought yarns in my local mill end shop I tried to get different colours to fill gaps and I was equally shocked when I got home to see what I'd got.
I'm sure you'll find some new and interesting things to weave with them, though, they do look nice. Sometimes it's good to use colours you wouldn't normally go for!
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