Horrible Customer Service Experience

On my way home from my knitting class at Personal Threads yesterday afternoon, I've decided to pass by the other knitting store, String of Purls. I purchased the "50 Baby Booties to Knit" book and asked a question about a pattern in the Debbie Bliss book that I bought from that store 2 weekends ago.

I was assisted by a very nice woman named Nancy, who also offered to help me figure out what was so confusing about the pattern. A few minutes later, Robyn, another woman manning the store, approached us and in a strong tone asked me "Did you happen to buy that at Personal Threads?". Nancy and I immediately replied that I bought the book from their store. Robyn walked away.

Nancy and I went on discussing our different interpretations of the pattern. She even helped count the number of stitches on my knitted piece to figure out how long the sleeves of the baby's bath robe should be. She was really nice and helpful. But another few minutes later, Robyn approached us again and in a crude manner asked "Would you like to just sign up for a private lesson? Nancy needs to go and we have other customers who just came in." WHAT?!?!?!?! I paused, told her I'm not interested to sign up. I was so freaking angry but I managed to maintain my composure, thanked Nancy properly and left.

When I got home I told my husband all about it. He thinks I should have returned the book that I bought before I left. I can't believe I was just treated that way. I can't forget about it. Robyn has ruined my afternoon. Mark said I should write a letter of complaint. But guess what I found out from their website? Robyn is a part-owner of the store. Great. So writing a letter would be pointless. You would think that part-owners would go far and beyond to provide excellent customer service. Well this woman did just the opposite. I am now officially their ex-customer. Never going back to their store again.

News Update

My apologies for not having posted anything for 3 weeks. For those who don't really know me personally, my husband and I are getting ready to move to our new house a week from tomorrow. Half of our stuff at home has already been packed in boxes, including most of my knitting stuff. So packing compounded with my usual chores and running errands are what's keeping me utterly busy lately. My husband is actually quite surprised that there are days when I fail to knit. He knows knitting is my daily "vitamins"... he now probably thinks that I might start getting sick. Ha, ha!

Anyway, let's back track what happened to me, knitwise, these past 3 weeks...

Remember the baby sweater? I already gave it to our friends' baby (Jonathan) a few weeks ago. To be honest, I feel bad that the baby sweater seems so "amateur" --- it being my first intarsia and first sweater project ---- BUT our friends liked it, so I'm glad. Another thing I feel bad about is timing. I gave it away when it's a few weeks before the end of winter. But then again, at least I finished it and gave it to Jonathan as intended! :) So anyway, to compensate for my sweater's being "amateur" and late, I also gave him a couple of cute tiny hats that I made: the multi-colored striped one that I posted on my last article, and this hat shown on the right.

News #2 is that I got "in" on the Saturday class at Personal Threads. Wooooohoooo!!! I seriously wanted that slot as I would like to get back to working again soon. But Lydia (my instructor) can only take 5 students per class and if not for one of her students who backed out, I seriously wouldn't have gotten in. I swear, I'm not going to let go of this slot --- EVER! Haha.

So what is my current class project? My Grandma's request: a poncho. Well, the truth is, she asked me for a shawl... but she's my grandma... I don't want her to be hassled by putting together both ends of the shawl everytime she wears it... so I decided to make her a poncho instead. I got the pattern off my One-Skein Wonders book and I'm using Cashsoft DK in Savannah and Donkey, and Ritratto Stacey Charles #94. It looks sooooo pretty... my "classmates" are even saying that I might change my mind about giving it away. Ha, ha! Don't worry Grandma, that will never, ever happen. :) (Picture will be shown on my next post!)

Lastly, I don't know what happened to my signing up for Secret Pal 10. I went to their site to register and posted on my blog the answered questionnaire as early as February 11... but I got no email from them and my blog site isn't on their list of participants. Sniff, sniff. I was really looking forward to that :(

Hats, hats and more hats!

I swapped knitting books for a week with my knitting 'classmate', Tiffany. She's got my Adorable Knits for Tots while I have her Itty Bitty Hats... OMG! I am now obsessed with her book... and making lots of adorable baby hats!

The patterns in the hat book call for just DK yarns... but I needed LOTS of colors. So instead of spending so much on Rowan and Manos del Uruguay yarns, I went to Hobby Lobby and bought Caron Soft yarns in different colors.

The first pattern that caught my eye was the Rainbow Marley. I wasn't really crazy over the I-cord toppings but I know I can make just a plain striped hat and still make it look adorable! Unfortunately though, I've ended up mixing the stitches with my first hat coz I knitted while having a Grey's Anatomy marathon with my husband... but again, the colors looked soooo adorable and the hat nevertheless turned out cute and girlie.

My favorite color is turquoise so of course, the second hat I made, which I'm planning to make for a boy, still has turquoise on it. Check out this picture on the left.







The third hat, which I just finished knitting a few minutes ago, is my favorite. It's a birthday hat! The pattern actually calls for white as the main color and for the frosting to either be baby blue or baby pink. But I like chocolate cakes in white icing. So this is how it turned out. I used violet for the candle so that either a girl or a boy can wear it. Cute eh? Makes me crave for some chocolate cake...

I am going to make an upside down daisy this afternoon --- another adorable pattern in the book. So watch out for my next post!

New Books, Future Projects

My mother-in-law and I visited a close-out retailer store 2 weekends ago. I've heard about it but haven't been to one 'til then. Well, guess what?? I found knitting books for sale at only 30-33% of it's retail price!!! I got the Hollywood Knits by Suss Cousins and All Stitched Up by Jane Crowfoot. I couldn't help but buy it even though my husband just bought me the One-Skein book on eBay a few days prior. Gosh! Where else can I get such great deals?? Nowhere!

So anyway, I was still in a daze for the next 3 days. I couldn't help researching for other branches of this close-out store coz I was hoping to find more knitting books. Unfortunately, the 2nd store didn't have any... but the one on 84th St. has Hollywood Knits Style also by Suss Cousins. Yey!!!! I've almost completed all the Suss Design books that I have on my Amazon Wishlist! (I wonder if they'll have Home Knits too someday...)

So anyway, just last Sunday afternoon, I also found the book Adorable Knits for Tots --- omg! the patterns are soooo adorable! Makes me want to knit all of it for my future kids! Btw, I got it at Michael's with my 50% off coupon. =D

Yeah I know. I have so many knitting books now. That's it for me. Promise. No more books. (Unless I find Home Knits at 73% discount!) I think I have enough patterns to last me a decade. :P

Below are some of the patterns that I am itching to knit after my current projects are done. I can hardly wait to make those beautiful throw pillows for our new family room! Oh! The baby bonnet and the girls' daisy dresses... They are so adorable!!!!

Finished and Unfinished

It is not true that I have procrastinated from working on my projects.... only from blogging! In between running errands and my usual chores at home, I still found the time to knit and was able to finish and send off (to CA) my cousin's baby afghan. It's a 29" x 29" square and is very pretty. I actually want a lavander one for myself! (without the hood of course!) I also sent the cream beret hat to my friend Anne and the ribbed hat in roanoke gold to her twin, Grace. Anyway, they all should have gotten it already by yesterday and I really hope they liked it.

Here is where I am now with the baby sweater. I know I am taking such a long time to finish it... but it's my first sweater --- and my first time to do intarsia. It's fun to knit but kinda difficult. I have already sewn together the sides of the sleeves and the body... I just need my instructor to help me sew the 3 pcs together and to teach me how to do the neckline. I sure hope I'll be able to give this to our friend's baby before winter is over! haha!

I found some nice Lion's wool at the Hobby Lobby last week and tried to make the beautiful cabled clutch bag which I found in my One-Skein Wonders book. Unfortunately, until now, I couldn't find the right bamboo sticks to use as handle. I've seen some round and square plastic (bag) handles at Michael's and Hobby Lobby... but found no bamboo sticks. Oh well. I just have to keep searching, I guess. If anyone knows where I can find a pair, I'd appreciate it if you'll let me know. :)


Last week, I re-organized my knitting baskets and found more unfinished projects. If there is such a thing as a Second Sock Syndrome (SSS), I have the SMS ---- Second Mitten Syndrome. Sucks. I could've made a pair already by now if I just used the same kind of yarn! :P

Sweater Update

I finally learned to sew together the sides of the baby sweater. I'm currently working on the sleeves and should have it ready for my next class on Thursday so my instructor (Lydia) can teach me how to sew it to the body of the sweater. Everybody in class loved it and one of the ladies, Tiffany, plans to make one for her 2-year old boy too. Oh yeah... another thing about the class last Thursday was that my "classmates", who are all English knitters, got interested in learning continental knitting. They all think it's more efficient than dropping off the needles in making every stitch. Cool.

Project Update

I would say that for now, I have given up on the UGG-style baby booties. I found a berroco at Personal Threads last week though... so we'll see. Maybe I'll have interest in doing those booties again after I finish knitting my baby boy sweater.

Speaking of which, here is where I am now with my class project. Hopefully I'll be able to finish the sleeves before I go to class tomorrow so my instructor can already teach me how to sew it together.

In the midst of making the sweater, I got inspired to make a baby afghan for my preggy cousin, Rio. She's due to give birth to a baby girl by mid next month so I am trying to finish this project as fast as I can. Oh I'm so excited for her!! She'll be decorating her baby's room with pastels pink and green so this baby pink afghan would be perfect! I'm making it with Bernat Baby Coordinates (Sport Weight) using 2 strands together throughout the whole project. I like that it has some shiny element in the yarn, which unfortunately, you won't see it in this pic. (Sorry for the ugly shot) It's veeeeeery soft and pretty!! I can't wait to finish it!

My First Class Project

I've totally changed my mind about my first project for my knitting class coz I found this beautiful baby boy sweater from the book Total Baby Knits by Candi Jensen. I don't have any kids who could wear it yet, but I swear, this pattern blew my mind when I first saw it. I just gotta knit it. The pattern is called Fair Isle Friend and below is what the sweater should look like:


Pretty eh?? The pattern calls for Cascade Pastazas... but Personal Threads don't carry that yarn so I bought Gallaway yarns as an alternative. The main color that I am using is Gallaway Heather #711 and the 2 contrasting colors for the fair isle stitches are solid colors #152 and #83. Basically, it's the same palette as on the picture above.


It was a bit of a struggle knitting with 3 different colors at the same time but my instructor, Lydia, taught me ways on how to carry the yarns with my fingers. I started with the back piece and I am now at that part where I shape the armpit section. My target is to finish all parts of the sweater before next Thursday so Lydia can teach me how to sew the ends together.