WTF Did I Just Order?

Heads are going to roll for this one......

Farrow Ribbed Scarf

with the supposed "Orchid" Yarn

I'll start by saying that I drank the koolaid and bought into the whole Stitch n' Bitch Empire. My first book was Stitch 'n Bitch: The Knitters Handbook, which got me excited to learn how to knit. After I learned how to knit, at a decent level, I decided to add crochet into the mix and ended up purchasing The Happy Hooker and started chaining away.... For some reason I took to knitting much faster than Crochet. In fact, I'm still learning how to make things that aren't granny squarish.... So when I found out Debbie Stoller would have her own brand of Yarn, of course I was going to buy it.

Strike One: The Color was All Wrong!

Exhibit A

Alpaca Love in Orchid

via Red Heart

After not being able to find it locally, I found myself 5 skeins deep in Alpaca Love from Red Heart's Site. All the colors were Uh-Mazing and when it arrived I was uber excited to work with it.... That was, until I opened the box expecting Bright Purple Yarn (Exhibit A) and instead was confronted with this:

Now granted, these things happen; what with screen resolution and what not... but this yarn was seriously not the Orchid I was expecting. (Not even in natural light!)

Strike Two: Then I noticed these long prickly fiber ends sticking out.

Exhibit B

Long prickly fiber ends

(which are not very visible in the Orchid 

pictured on their site)

Not too crazy about that, but considering the yarn's price point I decided to over look it and soldiered on.

Strike Three: You get what you pay for!

Seriously, I was excited to be getting an alpaca/wool yarn at a great price.... 4.99 a skein @ 5 skeins came out to 25$ plus S&H. It didn't break the  bank, but I could have easily upgraded gotten myself a few skeins less of a better product elsewhere. That being said, buy this yarn for all of your Mindless Knits or if you're a beginner. When I first started to knit I used a ton of lion brand and super saver, which was a money saver big time. This line would be good to learn on, for those that actually want to wear their items. ( I knit my first scarf on Red Heart Super Saver and it was not very warm and seriously itchy ) Alpaca love is hand wash only, but there is a superwash available called Washable Ewe. I may try that out next time. Maybe....

Hindsight is 20/20 my friends:

-I don't think I'll be buying yarn online for quite sometime, this whole color thing has soured my Internet experience. I guess I'm just a touchy feely kinda girl..... in store is best for those who absolutely need to know what they are buying and yarn is no exception!

-Use this particular yarn on the the random gift for a coworker or a scarf for your not so best friend..... but for a true heirloom knit, a good yarn it does not make. ((Again, it was 4.99 sooo, yeah.))

One Alpaca Love scarf will be made... but who will wear it? That is the question.

Hey Girl: Buy My Book

The man knows his needle crafts!

Ryan Gosling is a ridiculously good looking film star....but did you know he has an alter ego? Duh! It's save to say that almost everyone is well aware of Feminist Ryan Gosling by now. What started as a way for blogger Danielle Henderson and her classmates to keep track of feminist theorists they were learning about in class, quickly went viral. Now Ryan is synonymous with pictures featuring "Hey girl" in the corner and some sort of feminist or, in this case, crafty quip.

You can't buy happiness, but you can buy Feminist Ryan Gosling In Book Form; which is kinda the same thing.....

Just look at that face....
((insert Ooooh's and Ahhhh's here))

Random Zombie-Ness

Zombies and Horror

(Jack Wallen Interview)

Zombie Crossing

Zombie Gnomes

(Gnombies)

Wine Corks

Cookie Jar

 

Just some light reading: Pattern Books

This is what happens after a trip to the Local Library!

Crochet Master Class
By Jean Leinhauser and
Rita Weiss

Afghan Design Workbook
By Go Crochet

Knitting Workshop
By Knit Simple

Cowl Girls
By Cathy Carron

I just love pattern books. They inspire me to keep pushing myself to learn new things....

Adventures in Knitting: Rebecca Danger

Rebecca Danger is no ordinary knitter. She is Mom by day….. Monster Knitter Extraordinaire by night!

Gangsta Grannies

Saw this floating around in cyber space and thought I’d share it. These are two of the most gangsta grannies I ever saw! There are numerous items available for purchase featuring these two lovely ladies, this happens to be the poster.

via Banksy at Amazon