Friday, August 26, 2016

TARGET on line subscription

THIS IS A COMPLAINT BLOG TODAY!

Have you had any dealings with Target on line?  I never had until recently.  I saw they had my favorite coffee so signed up for a subscription where they deliver it every month at a discounted price.

Guess what!  They didn't have what I ordered. They shipped a different kind. So I called and complained and told them to cancel the subscription and the account. I would be nice and keep the coffee but didn't want any more.

Then wrote them a message.

Then went on line to cancel.  Did you know they won't let you cancel on line?  BEWARE!!!   It is like they have you in handcuffs once you open an account and subscribe to an ongoing delivery.

So - I went on line to chat (again) and called the customer service (again).  Oh, it's cancelled for sure!

 NOPE.

Received an email to confirm the upcoming shipment of the next subscription. Called again, and again I spoke to a supervisor who said not to worry, it was all cancelled and to ignore that silly little email I received saying that my upcoming order would be shipped.

NOPE.  

I now receive another email saying that it HAS shipped.  So I go on line and talk with the Chat people - again.  This is the third time.

She tells me she can't do anything (after 20 minutes) and to call the customer service line (same one I spoke to before - that was Tom, the supervisor).  Today I spoke with Daniel, the supervisor.  He could not help me.

He passed me on to Jaime, the BIG supervisor (who sounded like he was 15).  Jaime says that he will make sure (Ahem! ever hear that before Cat???) that the account is cancelled, that the subscription is cancelled and that I won't be bothered again.  Of course, that is the something I had expected, but now don't.

We shall see.

In either case I am going to dispute the charge and refuse the shipment.

UPDATE

It took another two rounds of talks to finally get to a nice and intelligent woman who was able to cancel my subscription. Wrote to CEO to explain my frustration. An  "associate" called me to apologize and say to please come back to Target.  She said she would send me a $25 gift certificate to make me happy, and would email it.

Guess what.

She didn't.  So my bottom line still stands.

BOTTOM LINE 

DO NOT BUY ANYTHING ON SUBSCRIPTION ON TARGET'S SITE!

Monday, August 15, 2016

The Kitchen Hand Towel



I posted a photo of this in FB.  It is one of the Southwestern kitchen towels that my beautiful niece sent me one Christmas while I was in AZ.  I think the bright colors perk this place up.  Although not too much rain (about 15" a year), it is often overcast.  While overcast in most area's means purely dreary days, here it is still fairly bright.  The clouds are not as thick since they go around the Olympic Mountains and the come back together - often not at all - very hight up, somewhere above me or out further in the ocean (Juan de Fuca Straight really).  By the way, Juan was a Greek - that is the Spanish translation of his name and it stuck for some reason.  Otherwise it would be called the Ioannis Phokás Straight!

 Back to the towel.

She placed a potholder in the middle and sewed it straight across while the towel is gathered.  On the other side of the potholder she put a button.  Not only do you have a potholder should you need it but you can also hang it on the oven door easily and it is facing the correct direction, or you can, as I did, put it on a door handle and let the back of the potholder hang down.

I am closing in on finishing the blue sweater for Alice, but the wrist is acting up again.  Anything wth twisted stitches seems to aggravate the bursitis.  I have been thinking about making myself something for years and always end up only making a scarf for myself.

I have my eye on a pattern that is similar to a short sleeved jacket that I love.  Mine is navy, crocheted, and in a "Fish Net" pattern of sorts.  The one I want to make is the Blue Skies Jacket (why do people always name their designs after the color they use?)  It is from the 2008 Crochet! magazine, and designed by Tammy Hildebrand.  The yarn is discontinued (of course) so will sub it with one of the bulky yarns I have on hand (actually recently purchased!). I might re-adjust the pattern to meet the needs of a DK weight instead!


What have you made for yourself lately?  

 getting ready for Christmas, slowly but surely, by adding expected projects to my Ravelry page, purchasing yarns I will need if I don't have what is required, and hopefully will give myself the above jacket for my reward!!




Sunday, August 14, 2016

The Blue Sparkle Sweater

The Blue Sweater is coming along nicely.  The pattern is Sophie's Cardigan.

This is the yoke which seemed to need some decreases as the back became a bit too "full" - sort of balloonist.  Hopefully the tab she has you make with take care of it.


Joined the under arms and started the body.


Progress!  



I bought several buttons as she said she wanted 'fancy' ones….



She settled on the glass ones that "look like diamonds" to her.

I have one 'short sleeve' finished and am hoping that she wants it that way rather than long sleeve (bad G'ma!).  The length is finished (and a bit long so she can wear it for a couple of years). 

I'm pretty sure she will love it simply because it is blue and is sparkly!


The  yarn is the Downton Abbey yarn collection,  Lady Mary in Cobalt Twinkle by Premier Yarns.  It is a DK weight, and I am using an H hook.  

Somewhere in the middle of the body I picked up a Clover hook but had been using a Dreamz hook.  It turns out that the Clover is really a tad larger than the Dreams, so it is a little on the puffier side where I have used the Clover that it would have already been.  It's okay, but think I will try to perfect the look of the sweater when I block it out.

I also saw that another person who had used this pattern kept the top yoke pattern going throughout the sweater all the way to the end.  I started to do the pattern at the bottom but only did one row when I realized I was already at my last row for her size!

Saturday, August 13, 2016

Hook, Hooky, Hookie!

I have had a renewed interest in hooks….larger hooks.  Years ago when I first stared crocheting a lot I found a MoEZ group that crocheted Tunisian (generally) graphs with large hooks which were supposed to make your project go faster.

  

I purchased quite a few of them (note long hook on the left with red end).  It is about a 13mm.  They are very very smooth and very light. Even much lighter that bamboo.

The top two are size R - 17mm, and Q - 15.75mm and are ChiaoGoo hooks. The brown one is a Dreamz hook which is a 12mm hook.  The one under that is a 11mm hook from a company called Twin Birch out of North Carolina, a family business.  Their hooks are very pointy, so I just order them and then take an emery board and soft the end to where I feel comfy.  I tend to poke myself all the time! It's a lovely family business and you will enjoy working with them.

The bottom green one is an interchangeable hook from Dreamz in size N, 10mm.  I love the feel of the Dreamz hooks because they are polished to the nth degree, and come in lovely colors. However, when working with anything under an I hook I'd rather use a Clover if it is regular crochet.  Tunisian, I'll take a Dreamz or one of the LionBrand plastic hooks which have no thumb indentation and are PERFECT for Tunisian. A larger project will be made with the interchangeable hooks with the cables.


Lately there have been quite a few garments being made with bulky yarns and using large hooks, both regular crochet and Tunisian.  I was about ready to make my granddaughter a lovely sweater in bulky yarn but could not find any that was appropriate for her.  That was a bummer.  Instead, I ended up using the sparkly blue yarn for her sweater.

I bought some of the new Malabrigo yarn from The Loopy Ewe (my FAVORITE on line store!) which is sort of like a tie dyed roving wrapped in a nylon hair net cover!  I have one in each color. They ARE lovely!

I hope that since it is so thick I will be able to make a nice scarf/cowl/something with each one.  don't remember exactly but think it is 90 yards.


This yarn went FAST!  I went on line right when they loaded it up and in the process of looking they started disappearing!!  

Enjoy whatever project you are in the process of making, or thinking about making!

Friday, August 12, 2016

Red Infinity Scarf


While working on the headbands I thought about the scarf I started earlier this year and never finished.  I had work did in a front post/back post design and it ended up being part of the reason my wrist swells so much, so ditched it.  However, I still wanted one.

I decided to try it in just the Tunisian Knit Stitch with a larger hook, and it seems to be just fine for the wrist, and is turning into a nice snuggly scarf.



It is only 19" long right now, but is working up nicely.  Even with a K hook, the yarn is sock weight so takes a little longer to get finished.  I think I'm going to be happy with this one.

Thursday, August 11, 2016

August Mood Scarf - Cat's Crochet Corner on Ravelry


Along with the other smaller projects, I am working on a Mood Scarf which is an A-long that my BFF Bev started in the group on Ravelry.  I chose two colors originally - a light grey for my not so great days and a medium steel blue for my happier days. Here in WA state there are quite a few overcast days so thought the colors would be appropriate to the moods!

I am using a P hook and Vanna's Choice with one color in Waverly.  The stitch is the Tunisian Knit Stitch, and I think 13 stitches across, there about.


I found, however that if I had two happy days or two yucky days, it was making the pattern too Dr. Who like…which would be okay if that is what I wanted, which I didn't.

I added a darker grey and a lighter blue.  I decided on three rows for yucky days and five rows for nicer mood days - giving it more blue if I have my way. Not showing up that way yet.


I think I need to also make a judgment call and use the darker yarn next to the light yarn.  You can see in the scarf that in two of the last three color rows I have light blue next to light grey and it rather melts into each other making it hard to tell where one starts and one ends.

So many rules for such a simple scarf idea!  I will be happy to have it though - for someone who never work scarves or carried umbrellas, I have come a long way to being a scarf collector!  I still don't do umbrellas though.




Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Metamorphosis Mobius


This is the start…and it wasn't a roaring success.  After the first row, the instructions were a tad muddy.  It said to "crochet left" which I can't do.  After several rounds I finally figured out it meant to slip stitch a couple of stitches to the left and then turn your work.  Seemed to leave all that out.

SO - the pattern wasn't followed - and part of that wasn't the pattern's fault. It was my mind wandering.  

I improvised for a few rows trying to figure how to get back to the original pattern.


It took about four or five rounds (not rows by the time I finished the first go round) to get them to a place where I could continue in pattern.


None of these are "in pattern"!!!  The two rounds I finished are not photographed.  Those photos will be posted when I have more finished.  It is to be 18" wide so I have quite a ways to go!


This pattern is found in the magazine Interweave Crochet Accessories 2014.  The pattern is by Hannah Cuviello.


Monday, August 8, 2016

Headbands


The above headband was made with a L Tunisian hook in the Tunisian Knit Stitch.  I put a band on the back and sewed up one side leaving the other side for my DSIL to finish up since I didn't know how it would fit.  This is made with Vanna's Choice in Oatmeal.  I started out with about six stitches and then increased each side every row for the first four or five inches, giving enough fabric to fold over.


This one is my favorite. I made it basically the same way using an H Tunisian hook using the Malabrigo Arroyo.  Just love Malabrigo!



The green one is the first I made. I used a DK weight yarn with an H hook, I think.  I made a lot of mistakes on this one, but sent it anyway as it can be used if not perfect.  I made a place for three buttons to be placed if she actually wanted to use it.

I think that the last two were not quite as wide as they should have been….and she did finish up and put on the first one right off, so I'm glad of that!



Sunday, August 7, 2016

Blue Sparkle for Alice


My granddaughter has always loved blue.  When she was five and younger her favorite above all else was Jack Skellington, and he was her "best friend" as far as she was concerned.  It was almost like he was real.  Not until Frozen came out did she start to like things more girly.  

It was just the opposite for the older granddaughter, so Alice is now easier to find things she would like.  If it is blue and it sparkles, I'm in!  

This is a Premier yarn similar to the Red Heart Shimmer.  However, it is DK weight.  I was going to do a bulky sweater for her but it would have taken about 8 skeins at one time and my poor hook and hands could not handle that!  

I decided on making one called Sophie's Cardigan which you can find on Etsy with this link, or on Ravelry.  Her designs are ALL outstanding and I plan on making some for my nieces in MA.  Sizing is always an issue for me because I don't live near them.

The cardigan I am making is quite similar to one I actually made up so know she will like it.  She wore that one until she could not get it on any longer, and it was teal blue sparkly cardigan made with Shimmer. I guess I made one for Amy Jo in purple but don't remember it so much.  I don't think it fit well, so made another one in the same blue, which was good for Alice as she graduated from the smaller one to the larger one.





Friday, August 5, 2016

Torin's Afghan



I have a new nephew named Torin. He's a month or two old, so am finishing up on his afghan and

will get it sent off soon.

I ran out of the yarn, which is discontinued, so had to shop around on Ravelry to find people willing to sell theirs.  I have one more package coming that will give me enough yarn to finish up the border.

Window Box Afghan finished!





I'd love to say I'm happy about this but I am not.  Every time I picked it up to work up the rows my wrist would swell and it made my whole arm hurt if I continued for any length of time.  I finally threw in the towel and sent it anyway.  It is now a Lapghan rather than a full sized Afghan.  So sorry.

I told my nephew if they had no use for it as a lapghan then to give it to their new grandson and I'd replace it with a full afghan (but NO post stitches!).

I think the back is as pretty as the front!