EJ of the 21st Century! Thanks MC Wireless!

Ok, final post for the night..

My personal cellphone stopped working last week. Not sure what happened, it just stopped. Perhaps it decided that since it was destine for the Museum of Technology anyway, why not go ahead and take early retirement. So it just hung out at the bottom of my purse until Saturday.

Anyway, on Saturday afternoon, after I took Kobe for walkies, I went to get something out of the car. Kobe jumped in and decided it was time for us to take a ride. So I figured I would go to MC Wireless, the new AT&T Store in the Knollwood Mall in St. Louis Park, to find out what is wrong with my phone. Since it was a short trip and the temp was moderate, Kobe waited in the car.

I had the nicest sales person, Tom White, who kindly informed me that my phone was old. It was so old it was almost laughable. (Tom didn't laugh at me, I am engaging in a bit of hyperbole here.)

Anyway, after looking into what upgrades I would qualify for (all of them) Tom showed me several phones that had the features I was looking for (touchscreen, an actual phone, Internet, etc). What impressed me most about him was that he didn't try to sell me the most expensive phone. He sold me an LG Vu, which has the features that I was looking for and would use, nothing more. And it is super cute! Check it out! I also got a bluetooth thingy so I can talk on the phone and still do important things like drive, knit, work, etc.

Now I know this is not a state-of-the-art phone, but it is cool enough for me. And I appreciate Tom understanding that.

Tom was also extremely kind and professional. He was such a low pressure sales person that it made it easy to buy from him. I mean, I went to this store on a whim, with no intentions to buy anything and I left with a new phone, a headset, and upgrades to my plan. (Now anyone who knows me knows that, except for yarn, I dislike spending money). But I felt good about my purchase, because Tom didn't try to sell me more than I wanted or would use.

I love good customer service and I am loyal to the places where I know I can get honest, good information about a product that will cost me money. In short, I will go back to Tom at MC Wireless for my communications technology. If you have a chance, stop by and check it out. Kobe thought it was a good idea.

Ta,

Eryka

Random Info: I bought something pretty

I bought a new bedding set and I love it!! I got new comforter, shams, bed skirt, everything. It is in this fabulous shade of green and has these little applique flowers on it in a nest of embroidered flowers. I also got some feather throw pillows in a darker green that I think adds the perfect accent.

However, since I have a dog who likes to shed on things, I covered the new comforter with an older one to preserve it. And as predicted, here is Kobe snuggled up with a good book.


Ta,

Eryka

Fight with my Best Friend (Wenlan Chia, WTF??)

Imagine it. You secured a bundle of the hottest yarn, (Twinkle Soft Chunky) with the cutest pattern (Wenlan Chia's Best Friend Sweater) and you are all set. Like a good knitter, you read the pattern before you start. Good thing really, because the directions are spread all over the place! Check it out...One really had to pay attention because these directions are... well, different.

Ok, lets see, to complete a round, one must follow instructions from column A, column B on page 1 and another one from column A on page 2. Ok, this one will be a dozy! knit, knit, knit, knit, knit...

Wait a minute. this looks nothing like a sweater. What the hell is going on here? This doesn't look ANYTHING like the pattern.

In short, I got about halfway through the project and realized something was terribly wrong. No disrespect to Wenlan Chia, I love her yarn, but I am not a fan of her patterns. Now I know that thousands of people have worked her patterns with great success, and perhaps my skills as a knitter are not as tight as I thought they were, but I just could not figure out what she was talking about.

So I ripped it out.

I searched desperately for another pattern that would accommodate this unusually beautiful yarn. Unfortunately all the patterns were actually by Chia so that didn't do me much good. Until I remembered the French Girl Knits book. The Wrenna pattern uses Twinkle Soft Chunky and it was NOT written by Wenlan Chia. So, I am working on that sweater now and I hope I have better success with that one than I did with the Best Friend.

Has anyone else had this experience with a Chia pattern? And what is the deal with her models? None of them have "curves." So how can we gauge how the pattern will look on actual women?

Sorry for the Knitting Rant, but I had to get that off my needles!

The Results are In! (Purse Contest)

Many thanks to all of you who participated in the contest and to those of you who visited. As promised here are the answers to what is in the picture:

1. What is left of a Dollar Bill that Kobe tried to eat

2. The only piece of the brand-new #2 Pencil that survived the assault (yes, Kobe ATE!!! the rest of the pencil.)

3. A hair Scrunchie that was forced to play *babies* with Kobie during his late night purse raid.

4. And finally, the sad remains of my little leather Blackberry case. This is the little plastic bit that reinforces the inside.

What Happened

One night, around midnight or so, Kobe was feeling bored/mad/anxious/cheeky and he was looking for something to do. I had recently switched purses, so obviously, the rules expired when the bag shape and color changed. So, striking while the iron was hot, he nosed through my purse in the bedroom and took the goodies he discovered to his favorite spot on the rug in the living room.

When I woke up the next morning, I had discovered the contents of my purse spread out on the floor in the bedroom. As I was walking toward the kitchen to feed Kobe, I saw a little nest of things, including my Blackberry, lying on the living room floor.

I was grateful that he had at least taken my BB out before he decided to eat the case. I was also extremely appreciative that he did not eat my checks, driver's license, or any other legal document I would need to spend hours replacing!

The Winners

Now, to the winners. There were so many great and creative responses I read many of them two and three times! While there is no one winner (we are all winners!), I feel I must honor the great responses! However, since everyone got at least two answers correct, how about this: I will do a drawing and give away two $25 gift cards. instead of one. How does that sound?

Yes? Ok, here are the results of the drawing. I wrote everyone's name down on a piece of paper and drew them at random from a container so it was fair:)

Winner#1: Heide

Winner#2: Ariella24

I will email the winners to find out where to send their prize. Congrats Heide and Ariella!

Regards,

Eryka

Contest: What ARE these things ???

Hint: they were in my purse this morning.

Please leave a comment listing what you think each item is in numerical order. Then tell me what you think happened to them. The person who gets the most answers right and who can tell me what happened to these items will win a $50 gift card to KnitPicks (or another store if you don't knit...but who doesn't knit???).

Please send your responses by Friday, March 20.

Ta,

Eryka

Opus or Obsession?

A colleague pass this photo on to me. I love it, but would one consider this an opus or a sign of a real knitting obsession? Also, how long do you think it would take to knit this?

This is actually an ad for fabric softer!

Get Felt Up at NeedleWork Unlimited (its a felting contest!)

I stopped into Needlework Unlimited yesterday to pick up stitch markers large enough to slide on #19 needles. A simple purchase, less than six dollars.

Now, does anyone think that I went to my favorite yarn shop, made a six dollar purchase and left? I'll wait....

Ok, now that we all realize that it is not possible to practice restraint in your favorite LYS, I confess that I did purchase a large fish hook for the cables on my sleeveless Best Friend Sweater, a ticket to the Sally Melville lecture in April, a skein of angora/merino blend, and 4 skeins of some Manos del Uruguay yarn in the most fabulous kettle-dyed colors.

This was my first experience with this yarn and I am now a true fan. I found out that this yarn is handspun and kettle-dyed over wood fires by women in the countryside of Uruguay. While no two skeins are exactly alike I did manage to find a couple that are close enough that they look like they are from a similar dye lot.

I am way excited about working with it. I think I shall use it for the enterlac scarf on my list for the year. (speaking of which, I'd better get cracking on that list!)

Needlework Unlimited Felting Contest

Karen at Needlework Unlimited has come up with a wonderful way to brighten up an otherwise dreary month. NU is holding a felting contest! Go into the shop between now and March 22 and vote for your favorite felted piece. The winning entry will receive a $100 gift card. I voted while I was there on Saturday and I must say, there are some true works of art on display. Karen has them mounted on the wall to protect the pieces from being overhandled (hence the "Felt Up!" reference) The shop also has a plethora of books on felting if this inspires you to try your hand at this useful skill.

Project Update (learning to love cables)

I am making progress on my shadow cable scarf. I am at the halfway point now. I started working with the second skein of yarn last week.

The lime wrap is coming along as well. I am adding a burgundy embellishment but still trying to figure out exactly how to do what I see in my head.

I decided to start the Twinkle Best Friend sweater as well. That of course is out of necessity. I picked up the winter issue of Vogue Knitting this past Saturday to read while I ran my errands. I fell in love with fabulous lush wrap featured in the cover story on knitting with bulky yarn. I rushed over to Needlework Unlimited and bought four skeins of Twinkle in a soft gray color. I figured that would be enough for a long scarf. I was so excited, I couldn't wait to go home a start.When I finally sat down to start working on it, I read the pattern more carefully. In doing so, I realized that the pattern called for 20, yes TWENTY skeins of yarn! There was no way I was going back to the store to buy that much yarn for a scarf, so I figured I would use the four skeins I had to make a sweater. I was stunned that they would even suggest a project like that. Can you image! What would you do with more than $300 worth of yarn?

My Dog Woke me up this Morning at 2:45 a.m.

"What is it Kobe, do you need something? Water? Ok. On the way back to the bedroom, Kobe grabs his toy barbell and starts tossing it in the air, walking backwards out of the room. He wants to play and he would like my support in this endeavor.

Ok, we play babies for a few minutes. Back to bed. No?








What can I get you now? Ohh, interpretive doggy dance! Let me see, [tappity tappity tap tap tap, triple spin, bow, intense stare, tap combo, double spin, grab toy and shake, spin, stare!]. Ah, you want to eat. Then, let's feed the baby...Alright, it is almost 3:30 now and you have water, we played and you ate. Ready to go back to sleep? You need to go potty now? Out you go. Ok, you have water, we played, you ate, and you went potty. Ready to go back to sleep now? Yes! Great. Good night Kobe." Fortunately, Kobe didn't have to go to work this morning, so he slept in.

I think at this point Kobe is getting a bit of cabin fever. He is being more rambuncious than usual. I love my pup though. He is the only being who could wake me up that early and not make me mad. I can't wait for winter to be over. We can go for more regular walks and he will get more exercise.