Now that, my friends, is customer freaking service.
Let me tell you, Gussie, I feel like I'm hosting an angel in the parlor. It's so light, and the color is so delicate it's almost not there. I just want to sit on a floor cushion and contemplate it* from a respectful distance.
There's no time, though because tomorrow I leave for the next 1,000 Knitters shoot at The Knitting Nest in Austin, Texas. I haven't been to Austin for years, which is far too long to stay away. Often when I travel I worry about being too weird for wherever I'm going. Austin's one of the few places where I worry about not being weird enough.
Of course, seeing as I'm traveling with Dolores, who has decided this would be a great opportunity to stir up Fibertarian loyalties in the president's home state, maybe my fears are unfounded.
*By the way, in case you're wondering, the cone is perched on an antique, traditional Norwegian yarn adoration pedestal, or garnaädøratpedystöl. Usually they're terribly expensive and impossible to find outside museum collections, but I picked mine up for a song at a flea market in Little Oslo from a woman named Oonehoode Olsen who says during the Golden Age no knitter in Norway would have been caught dead without one. No, seriously! That's what she said!
44 comments:
That is gorgeous! I'd be scared to knit with it for fear of breaking it.
I wish I could make the six hour drive to Austin tomorrow to check out the project, as I am not only a long time knitter, but a student fine arts photographer as well. Please let us all know if there's ever a mailing list with updates on when and where we can see the finished work! Seriously. I'd buy a plane ticket and brave O'Nightmare to see that.
Btw, first! (Couldn't resist!)
I was amazed by how quickly Heirloom Knitting got here -- they warned me to expect six to eight weeks, and when I've ordered things from overseas before, that's how long it took.
But it took them one week. I was amazed.
Fear not, Franklin. You're weird enough for Austin (thank God!) See you Saturday
Yay! I can't wait to actually meet you. I told Stacy that when I joke with you I'll feel like I'm at a battle of wits unarmed. :P
The pedestal is lovely (as well as the cobweb), but it looks like an upside-down vase to me.
Joan in WA
Sorry, Franklin, but I suspect your Norske connection could actually be Svenske - or worse!
Some of those characters are not Norwegian alphabet letters, but I'll give you a gold star for effort.
A charming prop and photo regardless of origin.
I am glad you are doing your part to keep Austin weird. I am going to dallas this summer, but long for a visit to Austin! Have fun.
Beauuuutiful! :) I'm sure I'd shatter it though.
Ah, you've obviously spent time in Austin! We Texans call it little Cal - you'll understand why. But, that said, weird people are often the most interesting so I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time.
which leg are you pulling on the pedestal?
See, my first thought was "lava lamp."
The yarn looks impossibly thin. Like it's the thought of yarn instead of a reality. It will be a real wedding ring shawl and probably slide through the ring with room to spare.
"Yarn adoration device"?
oooh I love that whateveryoucallit!
Will you marry me?
I fear that I have no romance in my soul at all! I thought it was an upside down vase. The yarn too intimidating, the pedestal too confounding...
Austin will appreciate any weirdness you might bring it's way. I find it quite normal and homey myself. Is that weird?
I see it as a right side up ice cream soda glass, only it's more ceramic.
Either somebody's monitor is upside down, or they're doing yoga headstands while reading the net.
Will "Weird Enough for Austin" be the next t-shirt?
I feel like Dorothy from the Golden Girls and you're Rose telling us a story about St. Olaf. If I recall correctly, that was fictitious too!
Actually, I change my mind, I want to be Blanche. She got more action.
Yarn's out of sight!
Ohh, I miss Austin sometimes, too. The place where only a weirdo wouldn't feel like being a little weird.....
I'm fascinated by the garnaädøratpedystöl (which doesn't look like a vase *at all*) and I'm already lusting for one of my own.
Have you been able to discover any more about their history? Were they only ever used for cones? Was there a different style for balls or skeins?
A Norwegian yarn adoration pedastal? Yeah, right. And you're married to Morgan Fairchild, too, right?
It's telling that the word verification is efibcdm.
ummm ... does the cone just "sit" on top of the pedestal or is there something in the middle or ... and how does it work? LOL
I look forward to meeting you Saturday. Your contribution of personal off-beatness is more than welcome in the campaign to Keep Austin Weird. We're losing our edge.
I can hardly wait to hear what the Fibertarian party gets up to in Austin... If we hear on the news about a sheep-induced riot, we'll know who was involved!!
Can't wait to see what you produce... with the lace weight... and in Austin. Perhaps Dolores and Scott MacClellan can have a pint.
garnaädøratpedystöl
Hee, hee, hee, hee, hee! I LOVE it! (BTW one of my friends is specializing in medieval Norwegian manuscripts, she'll love it too.)
I'll watch what happens next with more than ordinary interest. When I tried to knit the Princess Shawl in silk, the result was very like your (http://the-panopticon.blogspot.com/2006/03/journey-of-thousand-miles.html) attempt with cotton. Good luck.
Don't the Millers have great customer service?
I'm working on the Pink Puzzle Wrap at the moment.
Hi Franklin
I hope you have fun tomorrow with Stacy at the Knitting Nest. she was my Sockapalooza Pal last year and I designed her a pair of socks especially for a Texan gal. When it was first anounced you were going there, I did seriously investigate making my way to Austin, as I read about her career change with interest as I was knitting her socks, but there was no way I could be back in the UK before work on Monday morning and teaching just isn't the kind of job that allows you to leave the work piling up on the desk!
I hope it's brilliant and that Dolores doesn't cause too much of a riot! Don't let her scare Mr Hank, he's only a young impressionable pup...
Wow, what a cool pedestal! Never seen anything like it, but it is lovely. The cobweb ain't too shabby either...
I am so impressed! Of course, I know I will be more impressed with the final picture of your project. I was asked to stay out of Austin, and I had to sign a confidentiality agreement, so my lips are sealed! Have fun!
I'm knitting my WRS in HK's gossamer silk and it's absolutely luscious. It does break easily though, as I discovered once while trying to get too-tightly-knit stitches up over the filament join and back onto the needle. Luckily it was early on in the start up rows so I just tore out and began again...with a slightly looser tension! :-)
Good luck with the silk -- I am certain your work will be beautiful.
garnaädøratpedystöl ? Are you sure? To me, it looks like a Winstonware re-usable ice-cream cone from the depression . A family that had one of these could send the kids in, one at a time, for just a scoop of ice cream and save enough on cone expenses to treat the whole tribe once a week.
That cone of yarn doesn't look anything like a shawl. It's hard to believe there is so much potential in it.
I look forward to seeing you work your magic.
My immediate reaction was Van Briggle pottery from Colorado Springs. Beautiful worship device. I am so jealous of you going to Austin. I have only been to Tx once and felt like I was home. Don't quite know why, maybe I was a Texan in a former life.
Not jealous of the lace at all, knitting lace makes me want to stick a needle in my eye.
by the by
my verification word is 'suhkh' I gather Delores was working today??
Warm regards,
Katrina
I received the Melanie shawl pattern and yarn card yesterday. It is worthy of worship.
that yarn scares me! are you sure you can, gulp, knit with that? I can see the thread cuts, the blood, the amputated fingertips... you are a brave, brave man.
Now, the garnaädøratpedystöl, that looks nice and sturdy. I can deal with that.
I can't wait to see it finished!
Now there's a yarn that will suit your pattern. It's going to be beautiful.
"yarn adoration pedestal"
Almost makes up for losing Harvey Korman yesterday. sniffle
I ordered the Princess Shawl pattern from them and got it quickly. Then, I got another one. When I asked them what to do, they just said find a good home for it! So nice about it all, too. I love the yarn you got. I'm going to get the cashmere/silk gossamer weight for the PS. Sometime during the insanely long labor I went through, my husband (feeling horrible for me) said I could have anything I wanted.... I asked for that yarn.
I Love LOVE the whole yarn pedestal idea. It has inspired me to finish spinning up the glowing wool I have on my wheel at the moment and just ADORE it for awhile...off to St. Vinnies to find a "Yarn Pedestal"....
I don't know which is better;
The incredible service...
The incredible cobweb weight...
or
The incredible yarn adoration stool.
I think I'm going to go with the yarn adoration plinth/stool.
The Heirloom Knitting people are just fantastic, aren't they? I ordered blocking wires from them and they arrived in 3 days. I even got an email to ask if everything was ok.
You just don't get service like that any more!
McCoy? Van Briggle?
Listen Mr... you think you can pull the wool over knitters eyes??? (hee hee wool- knitters..) Yarn adoration pedestal...call me skeptic... but I'm not thinking so....;)
But, then- I only THINK I know everything.
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