Blame this post on the Wine

Here we are, Friday night, nearly midnight doing nothing. I really hate to have a pity party on my blog because I'm sure no one wants to hear it, but you know what...if I can't cry here, where the hell can I?

I just feel so lonely and sad. Like I lost my family. And that family, they sure haven't acted like it's bothering them any. This great group that I thought I had an amazing bond with, I feel like the last year was one big lie. Did they go home and complain about me? Did they groan when they saw me walking in? I know it doesn't really matter either way...And sure there's a good chance the answers are no, but right now, at this very moment, I feel like the answers are yes. And it really hurts.

Sorry for being so cryptic...I do plan on filling you in on what happened at some point. I'm hoping that writing about it will help me move on and forget about it. I just don't feel up to it just yet.

Ummm...Some quick knitting stuff.

Salina is finished. I have to do some sleeve shortening surgery, and then she'll make her debut. I started my sockapalooza socks, nice and bright. Pictures soon. I need to find something for 'F' for the ABC-along. I was going to use Friendship, but I guess there's no need to explain why that's not going to work now.

I did some fun work today....Two coats of primer in the bathroom. Tomorrow, I'm going to buy some paint (I'm thinking yellow) and a new shower curtain and other things for the bathroom. I'll be painting tomorrow night. Next week, I start on the Master bath. (We've been in the house 29 months, and it's still not started). I'm calling this: Operation Too Busy To Think About It. How's that sound?

And finally, thanks for all the compliments on the haircut. You guys sure know how to make a girl blush. I also noticed a few new people commenting...I hope this pity post doesn't scare you away. rest assure, this is not a common occurance around here.

Have a great week-end!

Been a while....

Yes this is a knitting blog. Yes, I have been knitting. I just haven't been posting any in-progress details.

Up first...felted bag. the pattern is called Vertical Stripes by Pick Up Sticks. It was quick and oh so easy. I started out on the recommended needle size and it was really small so I went up two sizes. Of course, now the bag is bigger than the pattern, but I actually prefer it this way. I used Patons classic wool. 3 skein of grey and 1 skein of red.

Before:


After: (not the best picture, but you can get the gist of it) I want to line it but can't find any fabric I like. Partly because I have to buy it online now :) I want a white fabric with red paisley on it. Know where I can find it?



I'm sure you've heard of Comfort Jef.... I have to admit, this is my first ever "charity knitting". When I read about Christine's brother I cried so hard. And to be honest, I don't think it was so much because of what they were going through. (That sounds bad, but of course that was part of it.) I cried more because she obviously has a very close relationship with her brother. Something I always wanted with my brother and never had.



And now for the surprise finale. You remember that great Christmas present I received? And all the time spent knitting it? I never really went into details as to why it ended up in the bad pile. And it's been sitting there for weeks silently mocking me. Well I woke up this past Wednesday and decided I was going to seam this bitch up....NO matter what. And I'm pleased to say, I did it. There was some fudging involved, but it worked out. The only complaint I have...The sleeves are too snug to wear a long sleeve shirt underneath. Not a bad thing, except that the yarn made me itch quite a bit. Other than that, the fit is perfect. In the picture, it looks too short, but it falls below my belly button. Oh...And my facial expression...I had a really bad night before the pictures were taken and I was really pissed off. And yet, I still had the hubby take pictures for the blog. Clearly, I have issues ;)



I like the picture of the back better. No goofy face, and it looks longer.




I took my Mom to get her haircut two weeks ago...And I couldn't resist going under the scissors as well. Those of you who know me, know that I don't just get a trim. It's all or nothing.

Before:



After:


Again, not the best picture. But you can tell I chopped off a lot. And I LOVE it! No blow dryer anymore...No curling (not that I did that before). Heck, after a shower, I don't even need a comb. I towel dry, run my fingers through it, and I'm all set. Totally Love it!

Phew! I think I've just about caught you up on what's been going on here. There are some not so great things going on with my Knitting group, but I don't think I want to post about it just yet. It really is a sad situtation, and I've pretty much decided not to be a part of the group anymore. I feel like I lost my family. Some might say I chose to give it up, but I feel like it's the best thing for me....Either way you look at it, it just plain sucks. So excuse me for a moment while I throw myself a pity party or two.

I'm off to knit...And veg out. And enjoy life.

It's all about the GREEN

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!!

I might not be a full blooded Irish...but there's plenty of it in my blood. We don't do too much to celebrate St. Patty's day. No corned beef (yuck!), no partying at the bar. But I still have my share of green around here...

Green carnations.

Green Cookies...Yummy too!

My very own Leprechaun. The shirt says, "Kiss me I'm Irish."

Our very own Green Beer! Not that I drink it, but that's o.k.

But the most important green is this.....

What is that you ask? It's my Salina sweater, happily blocking away. Front, back and both sleeves are pinned out and slowly drying. The only knitting left is the collar, after assembly. And two cuffs for the sleeves. I'm going to venture out and say I should have a genuine FO by Monday, if not sooner. Hopefully the pieces will be dry in the morning so I can get seaming...Yay!

Hope you had a fun filled Saint Patrick's day!

D, E and why I will never shop at JoAnn's again

Not only am I behind on my blog, but also for the Abc along. I don't have much for 'D' and 'E' but I did come up with something I haven't seen yet, boring or not. So I give you....


D is for Delivery and E is for E-commerce. Oh what money I would save if I didn't have the internet. All I do is buy more yarn. Not as much as some people, but still quite a bit.

This is the latest haul. It's been trickling in for two weeks. From the left we have three skeins of Socks that rock (Hot Flash and Lover's Leap), two skeins of Zephyr lace (turquoise), 14 skeins of Takhi cotton (bayberry), 8 skeins of Dale baby Ull, and two skeins of Regia sock yarn (color #5343) The pattern you see goes with the Tahki cotton, it's called the Rockstar Jacket. Sooo can not wait to start on it. All that baby Ull is for argyle socks, just as soon as Eunny gets her pattern together. Yeah, I bought the yarn a tad bit too soon. But I wanted to be ready for when the pattern does come. Now if only I could decide which two colors to use. There's 6 or 7 different combinations to chose from. And my copy of A Gathering Of Lace came today too.

So yes....Thank God for Delivery and E-commerce. It's just too easy and way fun!

And now for the ranting and raving. JoAnns Fabric is on my shitlist big time. This might get long so I suggest you get a drink and go pee before you start reading.

I have four skeins of some TLC yarn that I bought a while back. I don't remember exactly when, but it was way before Christmas. I decided I didn't want it so I would return it. Of course, I don't have my receipt anymore. But I had an old receipt and the printed return policy without a receipt says, "refunds or exchanges will be given at the item's lowest promotional price within the last 30 days, in the form of an in-store gift card or a mail check." OK...No big deal. Not like I won't use the store credit.
So I give the cashier the yarn, she does the refund and tells me, "You know without a receipt is's automatically a 50% refund?" Ummm...that is not what your policy says. It was actually quite funny because I asked for a manager and said to her I knew she wasn't one. And then I found out she is a manager. Oops. So I ask for another manager. She tells me that's their policy because they always have a 50% off coupon, and that is their posted policy. See my problem is simple. You can't print one policy and say another. And I'm sorry but "lowest promotional price" is not the same thing as "coupon discount". Not good enough for me.
Now before I had talked to the manager did two things. 1) Sent a nasty e-mail through the JoAnns website complaining and 2)Called the JoAnns 1-800 number. It was an interesting call. I talked to a woman named Donna. I told her my situation and her exact words were, "That is absolutely not right. We do not do things like that in our stores. And we will be contacting the store about it." In the meantime, she finds out I used my debit card for the purchase. That's a good thing, because now she can look it up and re-print my receipt for me. She tells me it will be sent to the store and I can get a full refund that way. Cool. Until I find out my receipt is over the 90 day limit.
At this point...I will keep the damn yarn. I'm working on principal now. So I get a reply to my e-mail from the district manager. Here's what he wrote:

Dear Elizabeth
When we don't have a receipt it becomes very difficult to determine what you paid for the product. I know just how you feel. In our company we run an mailer just about every two weeks. In every mailer we have a 40%-to 50% coupon off on item at regular price. It's a shame we have so many people that buy at 50% off with the coupon and want to return at regular price without the receipt. To keep that under control we had to put lowest sales price which really could be 60,70,75,90% off, but we just go with 50%. Please hold on your receipts and it will be so much easier to your return. We really want to give you what you paid for the item. We are not trying to cheat anyone. If you do find your receipt please bring it in and we would be more than happy to credit you the difference...Thanks Jim Moffat District manager.

Here's my reply. Not very eloquent but I was really worked up and my thoughts were all over the place and hard to put down.

HI Jim,
It's an unfortunate thing that because some people may try and and cheat you out of money, I have to to pay for it. Your coupons are most often for 40% off and correct me if I'm wrong here, but the coupons are good for one item, not the entire total. So I have four balls of yarn that I bought together, but because I can't prove it, I have to eat the difference. I'm going to be blunt and say that policy sucks. I suggest you change the wording in your policy that is printed in the store because it is very misleading.
My other issue is that fact that when I called Joann Etc, directly, the woman I talked to said, and I quote "We do not simply say you get 50% back. That is absolutely wrong, and our stores should not be doing that. We will be contacting the store." Perhaps she is wrong, but now I am getting two different stories.
One final thing, if I do find my receipt and is past the 90 day mark, does that mean I'm stuck with the products now?

And his reply, again:

Elizabeth I would be more than happy to refund one at 50% off and 3at 40% off if you like. It would be received in gift card format. Let me know and I can call the store manager. I will also need to know which JOANN you were shopping in. Thanks JIm Moffat

Oh HELL no! I didn't reply to this one yet. I'm going to call the CS number again and see what they say based on this. He didn't answer my question about the receipt being past the 90 mark. He didn't comment on the fact that I've been told two different things now. And he is still assuming I used 4 coupons on four balls of yarn. But you know what really gets me? Is he so stupid that he doesn't know they can re-print my receipt? Or is he just trying to pull one over on me? At this point, I don't want a refund. But I'm not dropping this either. I sure as hell ain't the first person to try and return something without receipt. I won't be the last. It's very simple. If you have a specific policy, print it that way. Period. And I'll never go back there again. Even if it means either ordering my sewing good online or driving 45 minutes to Richmond to Hancocks fabric. As for the cheap yarn that I sometimes buy...That's a no brainer. I'll park my car at JoAnns, walk two shops down to Michael's and buy my yarn. And I know they're return policy without a receipt. Store credit for full price, unless the item is on sale. Imagine that.

And that's why I'll never shop at JoAnn's again. Cheers!