Crack a la Mode

I know I have about a thousand projects on the needles. But I went to class last night and I just HAD to cast on for my new love.

Innishmore from the Alice Starmore book Fishermen Sweaters. It's a saddle shoulder, not a drop shoulder. The first one I was looking at doing (Innishman) is a drop shoulder, but not this one.

I was a little concerned about the whole "convert the pattern to a raglan" thing (okay, white knuckled) but then Lovely Instructor Josie brought one of her sweaters that's a saddle shoulder and let me try it on. Everyone in class was so gracious and said "Oooh!! that fits perfectly! Ooh!! It's lovely!" and such. And they were right. Saddle is significantly better than drop shoulder.

So, I had to choose between Oatmeal and Natural. Oatmeal was very pretty, but too close to my hair color I would have looked like I was all one color (except for my pink face).

I chose (at the behest of my classmates) the Natural color which looked more flattering.

Here's how much I've done so far....

I also thought you should know that Webs (that amazing place) does, in fact, take special orders and you still get the 25% off. The limitations are you must order complete bags (e.g. 10 balls) and there are no returns, which is pretty standard for an LYS, anyway. I traded emails with them and they told me to call it in.

So, first thing this morning, sitting at my desk in my Corporate Job I made the call. I felt like I was doing a drug deal at work. Here's the image:

Jen hunched over her phone with her back turned to the wall where the next cube connects.

ring ring

"Good morning, Webs!?" says the bright and chipper voice at the other end.

"Hi, my name is Jennifer X, I'd like to make a Special Order. I've been trading emails with umm... I can't remember his name."(says I, all soto voce)

"Oh yes, I saw that. What would you like?"

"Jaeger Extra Fine Merino in "Natural"" like I'm ordering raw crack cocaine.

"Okay, let me see, would you like the Industrial Strength or the Minor League?" (this, Kind Readers, was actually, "Aran weight or DK "?)

"Domestic Krack weight, please." so softly my voice cracks.

"Alright and how much would you like?"

"Two bags. That's 20 kilos (balls). I'll get the volume discount right?"

"Yep."

Cool, the shipping details are worked out and the total is significantly cheaper than it would have been to purchase it at my LYS. Don't get me wrong, I heart my LYS, but $8.95 a ball was silly when I could get it for $6.90 US shipping included. $194 with tax vs. $138 = $56 dollars I can spend on a lovely dinner with my DH this weekend instead of supporting my crack habit.

Have a lovely weekend!