All the Pretty Words

That’s the sound of my stuff disappearing! Don’t worry, I wasn’t burglarized. I haven’t been able to sell most of my furniture, so today I gave up on trying and posted everything on Freecycle instead. Everything was spoken for within a couple of hours of posting–it was pretty impressive, if a bit dizzying. I ended up having to make a list of everything I was offering, who wanted to take what, and when they wanted to come to get it. People even came out to get things today–my entertainment center, bed, some bathroom stuff, and a few other assorted items were all picked up today.

I would have liked to have been able to sell everything, of course, but it’s liberating to just give things away. It certainly has made me much less stressed about moving–now I don’t have to worry about what to do with the rest of my furniture and other unwanted things!

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I got a Palm Leaf Tote when we were in Victoria, BC this January and have loved it ever since. It’s a great size for a knitting bag, especially for traveling, since I can throw all kinds of maps, a project, a book, my Nintendo DS, and even a water bottle in there. I’ve used it almost daily since I got it, but disaster struck a couple of weeks ago…a row of palm leaves snapped in half and I’ve no idea what caused it. I sent an email to Lantern Moon asking whether I could have it repaired or replaced, and today I got an email from them saying that they’re going to send me a new one. Sweet!

I’m also making (slow) progress with the Log Cabin blanket. I dearly love the thing, but the gauge and garter stitch are making it a bit mind-numbing, so I posted about it here on Mason-Dixon Knitting’s slogalong. It’s like a knitalong, but for projects that seemingly never end. You know the sort–single-color plain sweaters for 6′6″ men, gigantic afghans, stockinette stitch shawls, and the like. I’ve never done a knitalong before, but I’ve received all sorts of positive comments and encouragement on this one, so I’d really like to join another one sometime.

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The sock yarn log cabin blanket is growing! The purple next to the orange makes me a wee bit nervous, as does the dark blue, but I think they’ll look better once I have some more strips along the outsides to balance them out. I’ve used almost all of my colors, so I’m debating whether to continue in the order I began with or choosing colors near-randomly as I’ve been doing so far. We’ll see…

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This is a warning to anyone who ships (or might do so in the future) things to Canada. Do not use UPS. Just don’t. I sent seven boxes of my things to Bryan’s mom, and UPS wants $48 CAD per box for taxes and brokerage fees for six of the boxes. She wasn’t charged for the seventh box because the driver didn’t think it made sense. This means $288 CAD ($257 USD) in fees that I was not told about when I shipped my boxes. We are not happy campers. I’m going to call UPS tomorrow to see if they can explain themselves, and I might have a word with Staples as well, since I shipped the boxes at one of their shipping centers and they seemingly did not train their staff sufficiently about these fees, which I would think any other UPS employee or affiliated shipping center employee would know about.

Anyway, sorry about the rant. I will be shipping the rest of my boxes via USPS, which, if Google is correct, will not charge any fees or taxes if my declared value is less than $20 CAD.

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These were my first toe-up socks, and I believe I might be hooked. I really liked being able to try them on as I made them (although I’ve managed to do the same with cuff-down socks, it’s easier with this style), and the fit is perfect. I used Vesper Sock Yarn in the Muddy Waters colorway, which stripes up in these lovely shades of blue, green, and brown. The yarn is well worth its constant elusiveness–cushy, colorful, and soft. I would like it to be a little thicker, but that’s my own obsession with thick sock yarns and not the fault of the spinner. Since this was my first toe-up sock, I used Knitty’s Universal Toe-Up Sock Formula, which made short-row heels and toes finally click into place for me–yay!

Next up is a return to the sock yarn log-cabin blanket, which will be interrupted by knitting up a shirt for my cousin’s impending baby boy and caving in to my sister’s cats’ demands for new knitted toys. The beestes truly have me under their paws–they don’t even have to be mine for me to give in!

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