Sunday, May 29, 2011

Say Something Sunday -Good Customer Service.

Hello my lovelies,
I hope you have a had a good week. I have had a better one. But, I am afraid there aren't any pictures as I haven't got around to taking any. The house is filled by the scent of lilies from my gorgeous bouquet of flowers. There is no better smell it always lifts the spirits. I am still not well but, I am better than I was which is good! The knitting needles have been busy and I have produced quite a lot of knitting this week. Mainly because it is a sedentary activity which is pretty much all I have been capable of. I have started and finished a couple of things which I will show you when I have the energy for modelling and photos. Both purple! One of which was the gorgeous purple madelinetosh yarn cake of last week. I still have a skein and half left of that which is a bonus! So still thinking what to make with it. if you have any suggestions I would love to hear them.
Anyway being tied to the house I have spent quite a bit of time Internet shopping. It seems to me that shops( both Internet and otherwise) seem to fall into two categories; those who make their customers feel special and those who think their customers are a meal ticket. I still haven't had a response back from a certain crochet company about a pattern and I am assuming now I won't get one. So I have decided that if I get good customer service I am going to tell you about it. That way hopefully giving back a bit of the ahh feeling to the shops that I got when my stuff arrived. Anyway, my interweaveknits magazine came through the door and although it didn't have anything I wanted to make in it there was an advert for laura Chau's valentines cardigan if you are interested you can find a picture here. Now I am only stash busting at the moment but I really like this and decided that I would buy the pattern. There is only one shop in the whole of England that sells spud and chloe so I thought I would check them out first. £4.80 was the price for the pattern from them, I thought it was a little steep but, I figured that I was used to ravelry patterns that are very competitive. Then I looked at the postage - £3.80! For a pattern??? Daylight robbery! I love to be able to support the local LYS or at least the ones on this side of the pond but I have to say I bought the pattern from Jimmy Beans the price and postage costs were cheaper in dollars than I would have paid in pounds. It was here within a couple of days - fantastic service Mr Beans I will definitely use you again.
Next I went looking for buttons. I needed buttons for all of the yarn cakes, something unusual, something that wasn't too much money. Textile Garden, wow what can I say a fantastic selection of buttons, buckles and pins and fastenings all really reasonably priced and nothing like what I would get at my local shop. I ordered a selection on Thursday afternoon and they arrived Friday morning beautifully wrapped in deep pink tissue paper that match the lilies. Lovely it felt like a present.
Anyway this coming week is half term, the kids are planning a baking fest. They made chocolate cake yesterday which I am assured was delicious but, it was all gone by this morning. The next cake I will get a photo of even if I don't get a taste!
Hope you have a great week
Arianwen xx

Monday, May 23, 2011

Feeling Fragile

Knitting, sewing, life are all taking a back seat at the moment.

Flowers in May
Luckily I have friends,family, flowers and yarn cakes to lift my spirits!

Flowers in May

Flowers in May

Flowers in May

Special yarn

Yarn cake

So what is lifting your spirits this week?

Sunday, May 15, 2011

well so much is going on what should I tell you first.

Hello my lovelies,
yet again time has slipped through my fingers and so much is going on that I feel a bit overfaced with it all. First of all please excuse the state of the photos in this post I am not sure if it is the camera giving up the ghost or greasy fingers on the lens either way all of them seem a little blurry!
Over the last few weeks there has as always been lots of knitting.


Elenya turned 15 and requested a version of liesl. It was yellow cotton from stash( I am all about the stash at the moment). It was kind of strange to think that I bought this pattern several years ago for me when Elenya was a little girl and now not only is she big enough to wear it but, she carries it off with more panache than I would have ever managed.



Next is my second version of Audrey again from stash but easily identifiable as Rowan wool cotton. I probably should have gone down a size as it is a little baggy in the arms which I think makes it look a little old fashioned. I changed the lace pattern on it and I think that it is a pretty change. So although I don't think it will ever be a favourite it will be a useful addition to my work wardrobe.
Next up is Miette now this was a real slog to knit.

The Nautical cotton by Louisa Harding was really hard on the hands and I don't think I will ever use it again.


However I love the cardigan! It was top down and I think the bust darts are really stylish. I could just do with some summer to go with it.

Last on the knitting front I have cast on shimmer from Kim Hargreaves Misty. yet another green from stash.


On the Crochet front I have made this.




I saw a similar version by Sarah London loved it and thought it would make a perfect Birthday present for a very dear friend so bought the pattern. Unfortunately she didn't send it,even though I sent several emails. So I made it up. Then the day after it was finished and sent off. She deigned to send the pattern. I wrote back and asked if I could change it for another pattern as it was too late - that was several weeks back and I haven't had an answer. Great customer service? I think not! I have learnt something though, I really don't need to buy crochet motifs again.

Then there is my Heart Quilt.



The top is finally finished Yeah! I can't wait to finish this though I know that is going to be a long time as my hand quilting is quite slow. BlueTortoise is really cracking on with hers, if you want to see how it should look, take a peek here.



Tomorrow my babies are a decade old. It doesn't seem possible. But I guess time flies when you are having fun. We have spent the weekend with a houseful of children, sleeping bags and extra tooth brushes! A good time was had by all.

Well that is my catch up for this Sunday. Hope you have a very good week see you next Sunday

xx

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