Sunday, May 28, 2006

Knitty Media Mail

In the past week my mailbox has been full of new and new-to-me knitty things to read and look at.

These should surprise no one:

They are both fantastically beautiful books. You really should make an effort to get your hands on them, if only to give them a peek.




And this is an eBay* score:

Of course, I didn't pay 50 cents. I paid a lot more than that, but oh well, others have paid a lot more than I did. It's the coveted Winter 01/02 Interweave Knits (and a gratuitous shot of the Persian Violet plant my sister sent me for Easter -- it's still alive!)

In late 2001 I was knitting, but not as much as I do now. I didn't live in a place with a LYS and I must have never perused the newsstand, because I didn't even know IK existed. So, it's new to me, and even though it may be old to you, I'm going to review it anyway.

Upper left: the sweater that made me want this magazine in the first place. I saw it about a year ago when Eileen made it, and it looked so good on her. Look, I even found a picture of it for you.
Upper right: the Perfect-Fit Pullover, which is accompanied by a lot of helpful information for customizing a pattern to accommodate your waist or lack-thereof.

Lower left: This sweater was shown in a later IK, and I didn't know it was in this issue. It's called Spiderweb, and I think it's really cool.
Lower right: I think this sweater has an interesting construction; if I were to make it I would surely leave off the fringe.

I also enjoyed the articles and the old advertisements. Some things never change, apparently. It was also interesting to read the "from the Editor" page because Melanie Falick wrote it less than a week after Sept. 11, 2001, and she talks about how that affected her work on the magazine.

And finally, a progress shot of "Stripes Go Round" from a different issue of IK; I'm down to 259 stitches per round. Yes, I said down to. I'm pretty sure this is going to take a lifetime and a half to finish. At least that's how it feels right now. Like it's
never
going
to
end.



* Do you think it's unreasonable to expect at least a confirmation of payment received? I won the auction, paid with PayPal, and then hadn't heard or seen anything for a week. I sent an e-mail to the seller inquiring about the payment and estimated shipment date, and she never responded. At all. Ever. Is that too much to ask? I don't think so. I think it's common courtesy and the price of doing business on eBay. I haven't left any "neutral" feedback, but I feel I could.

4 comments:

Rachel said...
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Rachel said...
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Rachel said...

I don't know what happened to the formatting on my last two comments, so I deleted them. They look fine inthe preview, and then whammo! Sorry! Here is what I wanted to say (without the HTML):

Knitting Nature is a beautiful book, but beware of errors.Grumperina had some issues, as well as Cmeknit. There is a Knitting Nature Knit-along, too, that should have some good tips.

As far as confirmation emails go, Paypal should have sent you a payment confirmation, but I've rarely had a seller reply with a payment confirmation or a shipping date. She should have certainly responded to your emails, though. I say leave a positive rating because of the quick shipment, but mention the non-responsiveness in your comment.

Earin Marybird said...

It's a beautiful sweater. Congratulations on finishing it! Stripes do go round and round and I see as I type this that your wallpaper is also striped in the red/pink/purple hue. Hmmm, she must like stripes...

I've only done one EBay buy, a lovely used 2003 Husqvarna Lily 535 sewing machine. Paypal sent me a confimation notice and the seller sent me an email right away saying he had shipped and the tracking information. It seems like good business to do so. Good luck.