Moderate Gloating

Of course, it was Gloating Day today, so Mom and I headed for the Mall this morning with Gloating in our hearts for our annual celebration. Admittedly, it felt a little odd this year because we're struggling so much with that pesky money thing. (Did I mention that my car gets to live in the garage for a while because, for the time being, my Dad is carless for the first time in my life?) That makes "Gloating" a little less fun than usual, but still, it's still Christmas, right? We got some Peppermint Mochas from Starbucks (courtesy of the gift-card my sister gave Mom yesterday) and prepared to Gloat.

The trick was finding someplace to sit. You can't, of course, Gloat properly if you're standing up. The whole point is to sit, relax, lounge, recline in front of all the harried shoppers. If you're standing, too, it's just not the same. But for whatever reason, this year the Mall decided to hide all the benches. Stashed into corners, or collected behind kiosks or cars-on-display, so that there was no view for proper Gloating. But, we did eventually find a spot--a good one, too--and sat to drink our coffee. I pulled out my knitting, too. At this point, I'm determined to get these socks done this year, and really, all they need is the ribbing for the top, so it SHOULD be possible. If only I weren't suffering from such Sock Ennui.

I didn't show you these lovely gloves I got from my sister yesteday. I saw them in Macy's on my birthday and then immediately regretted not having bought them. Especially since I had a $35 gift card from a return in June burning a hole in my wallet. They're really two pairs of gloves in one--a fine-gauge, burgundy/purple glove with a slightly-green, tweedy kind of stranded-work gauntlet over the top. They can be worn together or apart, and even though I suppose I could technically have made something like them for myself, I can't knit at that tight a gauge. (Twelve or so stitches per inch? For heaven's sake, my SOCKS only have 44 stitches for the foot on size 0 needles--I can't imagine what I'd need to use to get a gauge like this (grin).) I love these colors, too--they're hard to photograph but look fabulous together. I'm so happy to have them!

Now, I've told you about my discontent with my current skein-winding tools, and right around the time I finished my STR yarn--in fact, mostly because of the amount of yardage on that bobbin--I decided that my yarn-handling tools were insufficient, and that what I really wanted was one of those free-standing, Will Taylor skein winders (despite the fact that I don't know where I'll put it). I justified it for myself by promising that, when I had it, I would sell one or both of the other skein winders I have. Because, really, the Knitting Notions swift is beautiful, works great as a swift, and would probably work fine as a skein winder if I didn't have to kneel in front of it on the floor to use it--it's a fine tool, it just doesn't meet my needs. And, well, that Majacraft winder--we get along okay if I can wind yarn on with no tension, but otherwise... not so much. So, I promised myself that I would allow myself to buy the Will Taylor winder if I sold one or both of the others.

The problem is that . . . it's still not here. The website for Carolina Homespun says to call to place the order. I did, but they didn't have any of the free-standing ones in stock. The woman on the phone said she would call Will Taylor and find out if he had any he could send and would get back to me--but in the meantime, would I like to leave my name, credit card number, and wood preference? Sure, and I did. And then I waited . . . no word. I sent an e-mail. No response. So a couple weeks ago I called again. I was told that she'd called Mr. Taylor and he hoped to have a couple he could send her by Christmas, and that she would call again to find out for sure, and let me know.

Well, it's December 24th, and . . . it's not here. Now, this was more a Christmas gift for myself than one I was going to give to someone else, and we're talking about a hand-made article here whose manufacturer can only create so many in a given amount of time. I do understand that things aren't always possible. I even understand that for ALL the mail-order business, December is a crazy time of year, and following up with a customer might not be top of the list of priorities. And I really am a patient person. But . . . I'm still disappointed. I've heard bad things about this company's customer service in the past, but figured I'd give it a try anyway, because I'd also heard that the woman who runs the store is a good person who tries her best, and I like to give people the chance. (Not to mention that hers was the only site I could find that sold these, specific skein winders.) But, I'm disappointed. Not so much that, presumably, Will Taylor didn't get any skein winders to her in time to ship to me for Christmas, but that she couldn't find the time to tell me so. Because unless UPS makes another trip through our neighborhood tonight, that skein-winder's just not going to happen in time for Christmas. Sigh.

Maybe I should have sprung for that Cormo Yarn Share from Martha's Vineyard after all.

I did get something pleasant and unexpected in today's mail, though.

Back in March, I sent a donation to the Michael Keenan fund to help pay the medical expenses of a young man who ran into a burning building to save a friend's dog and was badly burned. Sadly, he passed away several months ago. What I did not expect, though, was this--a refund of the portion of my donation that was not used, with a note saying, "After much consideration, it was decided that Michael would have preferred to return as much as possible to those who gave in hopes that they would not hesitate to give again. Please accept the enclosed funds with thanks and do not hesitate to help another person in need."

Is it just me? Or is that a truly gracious thing to have done? I mean, I'm sure there are legal ramifications about keeping donated money when the original cause no longer requires them, but I would have been more than satisfied if they had turned around and donated the money to some other worthy cause. But the fact that they made the effort to return the money to the original donors seems particularly praise-worthy. (And, doesn't saying that make me feel all kinds of jaded and sad for a world  where this kind of thing is unusual.) But, anyway, I'll do as requested and turn around and make a $5 donation to some other worthy cause. That's what the money was for, right?

Hey, did you hear that Kinnear made the NY Times list of buzzwords for 2007? How cool is that? Our Stephanie created her very own verb!

Okay, this is a particularly lengthy blog post for Christmas Eve. Whether you're celebrating Christmas or not, I hope your Christmas is wonderful, everyone!

Comments

[Carol]

Gotta love a good gloat! Almost did it with my sister today, but the weather was not co-operating. so I stayed home and made cupcakes :)

[Chris]

Wow, very cool about "kinnear"! Those are such lovely socks. :) Wow, that is pretty amazing about the refund.

Have a Merry Christmas tomorrow!

[Mary]

May you, your family and Chappy, of course, have a very happy and merry day! All the anticipation for the new winder will just make it sweeter for when it does arrive--it will be Christmas in Jan? Feb? July?!