I bought Yarn today!!!

So Elann.com sells yarn as discounted prices, I'm not sure how it gets all the yarns it does. I think they are often discontinued lines or colours, or the last balls of a die lot.  Elann also has their own line, which I don't think I've used actually, but it is also really well priced.

Anyway, point is, I was looking at the Elann.com speak peak, that tells you what they are going to get into stock in the next few days, this past weekend, and they had the prettiest purple merino.  Oh my goodness.  And a name that I know is good stuff!  I've touched it in the store, so I know it's soft.  I've read knitters reviews and know it's good quality. Research is important when you're going to buy enough yarn to make a sweater! Especially since you have to wear it at the end!

It went on sale today at noon.  I just looked at 1pm, and they only had 30 balls of the colour I wanted left!!  And how many did I figure out I'd need to make me the sweater I wanted with it?  30 balls!!  I'd just checked in time!

So, this is the yarn I bought, Berroco Merino Heathers in Elderberry Wine:

And this is the sweater I want to make with it (in my considerably larger size):

It's a free pattern! Yay!  I don't like how they did the neck though. I mean, I LOVE the look, that's exactly what I want, but I don't like their technique.  Using google, for once my google-fu was with me, I found another knitters blog and she made an adorable cardigan for a little girl with ruffles just like that. And bless her, she totally explained exactly how she did it! :D  So now I can do it myself!   I'll likely also be using Elizabeth Zimmerman to help me figure out the increasing in the neck, or decreasing, I haven't decided if I want to make it from the top down or from the bottom up yet. doh.

**Excited!!**  So very excited!  But first I promised my husband(squee! husband) some mittens for christmas.  I also really need to work on my NaNo story or I'll never get to 50,000 words. *sigh*  At least the yarn purchase takes a little of the stress off!  Though, at the rate I knit, I'll have a lovely warm sweater just in time for summer! LOL.  But, if we have a cool June, I just may need it! ha.

A Complaint Sent to Addition-Elle Headquaters

For some reason I feel the desire to share this...

Hi,

I'm a pretty loyal Addition-elle customer. I've been shopping at your store since I was about 15-16 years old. I'm now 31.

Like all larger woman, I've gone up and down in size over the years. Due to health reasons, I've sadly gone up again. I'm now a size XX(I'm so not sharing this with the internet!), sometimes tall, sometimes regular length, depending on the style.

A few weekends ago I went into your Toronto store looking to buy a new pair of pants. I desperately needed a pair that fit. I'd looked on your website, and you had LOTS of styles that went up to my size, so I was in high hopes I'd find something.

I looked at EVERY SINGE PAIR of pants in your Toronto 'flagship' store, and found ZERO, that's right, ZERO pairs of pants in my size and length. There was ONE pair of XX size Tall jeans, but they were about two inches too long for me. 85% of the pants in the store were size 18 and under. There were only a handful of pants above that. I felt so dejected. I mean, if I can't find pants at a store that claims to be for plus size women, where the hell am I going to find clothes to fit me?! If Addittion-elle is telling me that 14-18 is plus size, what the heck am I? I felt so alone and alienated, and betrayed really. Addition-elle, over the years, has been the only store where I didn't feel like a freak for being so large, and now to learn your Toronto store no longer stocks my size?? Heartbreaking! I nearly cried.

Also, I need to say, I spent about an hour in your store searching the racks, and NOT ONE SINGE EMPLOYEE came up to me and asked me if I needed help. I stood in front of the dressing rooms for 15 minutes waiting to be let in to try on the pants that were one size down from my size (all I could find) that I'd picked out in desperation, and NO ONE even looked my way. I ended up letting myself in!

I, thankfully, grew up in Hamilton and knew about your Addition-elle/Penningtons superstore on Queenston road - my all time favourite store to shop in. I went all the way to Hamilton, a two hour trip one way to the store for me, thank you very much, to find pants. There I found MANY pairs of pants in my size. I found helpful employees that asked if I needed help, started me a room, checked up on me, and encouraged me to tell you my story. I ended up buying a whole outfit, that looks great, and made me feel good about myself again. More of your stores should be like the Queenston Rd Store! They have a wonderful selection of sizes, and employees that genuinely care about  their customers and the good name of your store/brand.

Sincerely,

Melissa Hazelton

I has Wedding Shoes!!

I knew from the start what I wanted in wedding shoes. Part of me would really love to buy a cute pair of kitten heeled pumps, or even some kind of girlie flats, but I have broken feet, so it just isn't going to happen. My feet are a mess. If I'm not wearing my orthotics, my feet hurt. I'm okay for little stints, but a whole day? I'd be in tears by the end of it. This is not what I want for my wedding day!

So I knew, going in, my shoes had to fit my othotics, they had to be comfy, and they had to be flat - FH and I are the same height, I do not want to be towering over him on our wedding day. It was easy really. The idea popped into my head from the start, and would not be shaken, no matter how many cute girlie shoes I have looked at (none of which fit me anyway). I wanted red, suede sneakers. It was perfect; it is perfect. No one is going to see them under my dress anyway. But if they do, red suede toes peeking out suits me just fine!

I spent the day looking all over downtown Toronto for what I wanted last week. I visited every single shoe store between Yonge and Spadina on Queen, to no avail. I had to resort to shopping at a US website. And I'm glad I did!

Here are my red suede sneakers!! :D

And here there are on my feet (the colour in the picture above is way more accurate!):



They fit,they're the perfect red and they're suede, just like I wanted! Yay!!

Now I just have to decide if I want to use the white or black laces they came with, or pick up a pair of red laces. I'm sitting here wearing them, and I actually think I might pick up black laces, as the ones they came with are really too short. I've got them tied tighter than I'd like, and they barely tie at all. So strange!

Anyway, I love them! They are just want I wanted. :D :D

Yay comfy wedding shoes I don't have to "break in"!!

Old Navy fits, even at my size!

It's true I can't fit into Old Navy's pants - except for stretchy pj pants, but their tops, and now their bathing suits, oh yes. And so cheap!! I mean, for a fat girl, a t-shirt for $17 that fits and is actually long enough is just amazing. It's like giving them away! Even on sale my t-shirts are always over $20!

Anyway, I needed a bathing suit. I decided to give Old Navy another try. I've been in there once, but everything I tired on was either too short in the torso, or was way too low in the back for someone my size. Back fat! Hello!

But this time I had much better luck! And I bought this yesterday:


I could not be happier! It's actually slimming! Like, I look good in it! Do you know how long it's been since I thought I looked good in a bathing suit?! Years! Decades! Maybe never! And all for under $25 - with tax!!

Woohoo!

It's everything I wanted in a bathing suit! Halter top, high back, and you know, fits. I had an easy going list for once, but with bathing suits, no matter your size, it's always a struggle to find one you like. At least, that's been my experience. Trying on the first one and loving it? Nothing short of a miracle! It sure made not finding wedding shoes easier to bear.

Exotic Flowers

So, even though the weather today has been amazing, sunshine and 14˚C, I've been feeling not only grumpy/angry but also like I was hit by a mack truck. Fucking fibro.

So I decided, I needed to get out. I had no desire to go do something productive, like get a steamer, so not fun. I had to get out, so to convince myself, I thought, why not do something to cheer myself up? So I decided to get myself flowers. Flowers was something I'd totally leave the house for. So I did. :D



Aren't they pretty?? They barely all fit in my vase! Ha. I think I might need a bigger vase. So lovely. And worth every penny of the $30 I spent on them! $30 of flowers for immeasurable happiness? Oh yeah, so very worth it. I love, love love them.



I just can't get over the colours! So bright. Exotic flowers rock. I threw in some easter lily's too, 'cause well, I wanted to add some white and they work perfectly.

Overdue Update

Update your blog! my boyfriend told me this morning as he went through the blogs he follows, finding mine still yet un-updated. You know, I hadn't realised it'd been two weeks. Oops!  So as recompense, a picture-full entry.

First, a foggy Toronto skyline. This was my view waiting for the GO bus earlier this month. I'm a sucker for the fog, what can I say.


Second, my current Work In Progress. Mr Greenjeans from Knitty in a lovely mauve of Debbie Bliss' cotton/angora blend yarn. Wonderfully soft yarn, but messy. I'm hoping blocking and perhaps time will limit it's messy factor, as it curretnly fluffs everywhere.

Here it is, the body half done and fitting delightfully well. I had previously gotten it to this point on the trip to Montreal, but had to frog it as it was just huge. A tent! This is actually the large size! I in no way a large, but somehow it fits?


And here is it as of this morning, about 60% done. I'm not 100% sure I will have enough yarn to do full sleeves and the length I want, so I started one sleeve. That's one ball of yarn on that sleeve, so I'm pretty confident I will finish the sleeve with under two balls - a very good thing.


Third, my very first Lush purchase! I actually got the King of Mods hair gel and the Body Butter tin free. Over $20 of free stuff is pretty damn cool I think. I even got a little vile of Charity Pot, a new body lotion coming out next week, the proceeds of which will go to a local charity listed on the container. And my Chris was ever so sweet to go with me and be so patient while I meandered around to make my decisions.