Jane vs. The Knitting Gremlins

Jane vs. The Knitting Gremlins

Battle One – Operation Colourmart

I ordered some cash-silk blend from Colourmart for the Spring Surprise Shawl KAL. I thought something bright and spring-ish (instead of the usual dark and morbid). I ordered and they shipped out almost immediately (they always do). Days and days go by; I ordered in early December, so I thought it might have gotten mixed up in the holiday shipping madness. But by mid-January, still no yarn. I emailed them – the address was incorrect that they shipped to – but the problem was remedied and more yarn sent out immediately.

Battle Two – Operation Backorder

I had planned to start the last of the Goddess Knits 2007 Mystery Shawl after the holidays, when I would have a little more time (very little) to indulge in a new project. So I ordered the pattern; I didn’t care for the colors in the recommended yarn, so I looked and swatched and swatched and looked for something I liked, and found another Jaggerspun 2/8 that I liked very much. I found a store on the east coast who carried it, so I placed a web order with them – again, early December. I got my email confirmation…and no yarn. Again, I cut plenty o’ slack for the holiday shipping season…but no yarn. So I phone them in mid-January to find out what the holdup was; the woman found my order, but there was no indication of why it wasn’t filled. She promised to investigate and get back to me. Two weeks go by…no yarn, no phone call, no email. So I phone back. The woman who answered the phone checked their supply – they didn’t have any, it was on backorder. It should ship at the end of the following week, she said. The following Friday…no yarn. The Friday after that – victory was mine! Of course, my plans to begin this thing in January are right out the window (receiving the supplies in mid-February will do that, you know).

Battle Three – Operation Royal Mail

Back in July 2007 I ordered “Practical Family Knitting Illustrated” from the UK. Come September 2007, the book had still not arrived. I emailed the bookseller, who checked with the Royal Mail. Whose response was, “It’s in the mail.” Needless to say, I eventually gave up all hope of receiving it, and resigned myself to waiting until I could locate another at a reasonable price (the dollar being worth bupkis these days).

Then, early in January there was a package in my mailbox. I expected it was some yarn that was on backorder…but when I got inside and opened it, I realized it was a book. As I was trying to figure out what book I had recently ordered (but not yet received), I noticed the customs tag on the package. I let out a big “Woo hoo!” because it was my long lost copy of “Practical Family Knitting Illustrated.”

If I can figure out copyright for the UK, I’ll post one of the patterns from it, a circular lace shawl. .