General topics.

Yes GA the man cave stores are busy. I was in Home Depot today. Great sales on tools and household stuff. But know what? There were as many women as men in the place it seemed. I bought stuff for several projects around our new/old house but my standup/bend over parts quit on me today. Going to chiro doc tomorrow.

I like to have the thing I’m buying in my hands also but must admit that online shopping is great for some stuff like getting my folks a dryer or a new phone sent over when I’m 600 miles away.

I love having an actual book in my hands, the sound of the pages being turned etc.

Christmas shopping isn't fun anymore. People look deranged. Jostling each other. The single men who have never entered a mall walking around with that seven- mile stare.
My Mom and I used to get all our shopping done early and then go to the mall, sit at a coffee shop and laugh at everyone. Oh, and just in case somebody reading this gets offended by that remark, it was good-natured laughter, not cruel. I feel like I have to mind my P's and Q's these days cause of the small army of Gershun haters out there.

I know you guys are cool though. Garden Artist, CM, Frequent Flyer, CWillie, Luckylu, Send, just to name a few. :)

GardenArtist, imagine UPS or FedEx delivering 2x4's :)

I raise my hand also for wanting to be up close and personal with whatever I am buying. Borders use to be my favorite place just to roam around, great calendar selections. But a few years ago our local Borders moved out. So did Books A Million, and then Walden Books. I want to flip the pages before I buy.   Now my local Staples is moving out... NOOOOOOOOOO, I loved that place. 

I use to shop in the stores for clothing but I got to a point where I hated clothes shopping. And helping my parents for many years didn't give me the free time to hop off to the Mall. So it's been catalog shopping, and narrowing down which are the best ones to buy from. I do like the reviews from other shoppers, that's been a great help. It's just finding catalogs where the clothes will last more than one year... LL Bean slacks and blue jeans I can have for years and years :)

CWillie, the "bargain basement" description just brought back a flood of memories of the magnificent multi story Hudson's in downtown Detroit. The basement was ALL sale items. It was a shopper's paradise!

That Hudson's was the flagship store of the Hudson's line; it was the most diverse store I've ever seen, not because of wealth or high end goods, but because it was so appealing, so diverse, and was literally a little city unto itself.

I'm a bargain basement shopper GA, I found mom's sheets at walmart, and they were very nice ones too!

LuckyLu, I too need to examine things before I buy them. I've thought of ordering food, but then the thought of getting food that's expired, or produce that's less than fresh, have deterred me.

One time I was so disgusted with a local store selling outdated sinus meds that I took all the expired pacakages off the shelf, rolled my cart to the customer service area, put them on the counter and suggested politely (since those folks weren't responsible) they contact the manager to find out why the store was selling expired meds. (And that wasn't the first time this happened at that store).

If I bought something and the store delivered outdated merchandise, I wonder if they would send someone out to retrieve it and replace it?

Remember when shopping used to be fun? There were new items, lovely displays, and so much energy and activity at shopping malls or special stores. I still enjoy Joann Fabrics and Michaels for those reasons.

And there were lovely or exciting restaurants when one could rest after an exhausting several hours of checking out all the sales during special seasons.

Borders was still my favorite store. One holiday season during a good sale the crowd was so long (close to 100 feet) that the staff walked along the line of patiently waiting customers and provided little cups of free hot chocolate. I miss that kind of service and atmosphere.

Going to a mall now is more like going to a collection of abandoned buildings in a dilapidated part of town. It's depressing.

But at least the Man Caves are still busy; there's always someone buying something at HD and Lowes.

Pam, that neighbor who shot your cat is a real scoundrel (I would use a stronger term if this wasn't a public site). That's animal cruelty, and probably a felony in your area. If he can't see well enough to distinguish a cat from a groundhog, he shouldn't be allowed to have any kind of firearm. GRRRR!

CM, I wasn't familiar with birching, looked it up and agree it would be a good alternative punishment if legal action wasn't taken.

And I thought MY neighbors were bad!


CM, I think I already have that 1030 stitch book by Mon Tricot. I remember buying literally everything published by it, and the "1030" just rang a bell with me. Fortunately, all those knitting and crocheting books and magazines are behind a big pile of "stuff" that needs to be sorted and donated, or I'd be getting out the book and planning all sorts of projects that I probably wouldn't finish during the caregiving days, or even during a blizzard which is a good time for sorting.

I still have a project on knitting needs; I think I started it at least 20 years ago!


I had forgotten that the UK has VAT taxes. Certainly makes the price of American goods less competitive in the UK.

Ah, CWillie, another person who's not enamoured of Internet shopping! I too must examine goods before I buy them, especially fabric. Some of the flannel and corduroy that came from a certain country in Asia was so thin and cheap it was more suitable for rags.

I meant to ask you...sometime back I mentioned the wonderful velour fleece sheets I bought for my father. What company, or store, do you buy them from? I've asked our local store if it will be ordering them again but have yet to receive an answer. I did track down the importer in NY, but haven't called them and expect that if I ask about distribution to local stores, I'll be told to search online.

I have just wasted ten minutes on the phone arguing with the Border Force - Border Force indeed! I ask you! This is a nifty little knitter's aide, it's not an international terrorist cell - and HM Revenue & Customs and Royal Mail about transparency in international trade charges.

Well, I say wasted. Actually I vented quite a lot of spleen at them and feel better for it. And the yarn holders are *beautiful* - heavy for their size so they won't skitter about the table and perfectly finished. Clever Mr. Shepherd!

I hope Prince Harry hasn't had to pay import duties on the very lovely Ms Markle. I wouldn't put it past these extortionist rat-bags to try it on...

I'm with you cwillie...I want to see and feel what I'm buying before I buy it and I don't want to have the hassle of sending back something if I don't like it or it doesn't fit.
And the same with Books.I want to hold my book,smell it,"gel" it at my own pace.I wouldn't want my books read to me on a Kindle.

Shipping costs and hidden taxes and duties are some of the things that make me leery of jumping onto the virtual shopping bandwagon. Plus call me old fashioned, but I want to actually see and feel something before I buy it, it was evident even back in the catalogue days that a picture is not necessarily a true representation of quality or what something looks like, and we all should know by now that online reviews can't be trusted either.

Ugh. It's tax, isn't it? Just worked it out.

Goods for export not taxed in US; VAT levied the second they set foot in the UK instead.

Bastards!!!

GA, there's a Mon Tricot stitch directory going on Amazon for $54.98 - cor! Brilliant! "1030 Stitches and Patterns" it's called.

The name rang a bell but it looks as if it, along with others, has gone west alas. I also mourn the loss of Pingouin (there are still a few yarns being made under the brand name but it's a shadow of its former self and nobody's publishing its wonderful patterns) and Jaeger.

I had a ransom note this morning. Yarn holder has been arrested and is in custody at the Post Office's secret dungeon behind the railway station. They are demanding £27.74 with menaces that if I don't pay up within 21 calendar days it will be deported.

Which is a bit much, actually! Humph. I've already paid that much for international postage and at this rate the shipping will cost more than the item. I wonder if someone forgot to stick the right sticker on it in Chicago..?

Birching is still legal in the Isle of Man, Gershun. Pity they don't live there. Words fail me.

A horrible thing happened here. If you are squeamish don't read.

There was this girl getting bullied and her cat went missing. Apparently, the bullies got her cat, gave it a bleach bath among other things, then threw it out their car window.
Then, sent her video of the whole incident.

Miraculously, the cat survived and is being cared for at the vet and they caught the scum that did it and even posted his stupid face on the news. Good! I hope karma bites him in the a**.

Wow Pam! Just Wow!

And our next door neighbor shot one of our cats because he thought it was a groundhog.. after 800$ of vet bills he has not shot anything else ( was shooting towards our house,, illegal) We have since become friends..LOL. His wife did suggest we get pet insurance.. I mentioned I was pretty sure it did not cover your neighbor shooting your pet,,, in the pets own yard..

If I knew this neighbour had a history then I don't think I would mind so much, I keep wondering what I did to cause offence in the first place. And I really can't imagine the previous owner (a man) putting up with having to sweep up grass every 5 days, which I did for THREE years before I mentioned it. (politely, even though I was thoroughly p*ssed)

Oh goodness, the crazy neighbors.. We live in a rural area and our back neighbors have a large farm.. which many hunt on. My hubs had written permission to hunt there for years ( no anti hunting rants please) but a few years ago stopped . He began hunting on another friends farm. The back yard neighbors have a history of "going off the rails" and one other neighbor has listed their home 3 times in the past due to harassment. Well a few years ago the wife one night placed several huge hay rolls along part of our back property line, and posted the trees on our property.. facing Her property. So effectively she posted OUR property, and trespassed to do it! LOL Then as hubs stored his stands in the back,, she called the sheriff.. who had to come but found the entire thing amusing ( and yes,, he knows her and her ways!) We are still allowed to store things on our own property.. In the interest of peace in the valley we moved them,,

Veronica, do you have real estate background? I read surveys and title work with property descriptions written in similar fashions, typically large tracts of land in the West or SW that had never been platted. It was always kind of amusing - it momentarily took me from a busy suburb to a large tract of undeveloped land with 4 legged furry residents being the primary inhabitants.

GA I have had survey with such language as "The south west corner of the property is marked by the big oak tree by the stream" or "Measuring from the Great lot line............."

Send, thanks for the alert on the scam private message.

CWillie, I hate it when neighbors play such juvenile games over property lines. Most of them don't even understand what platted property is or that surveys delineate the property lines. One who fortunately died (he was a junkie and I believe was the one burglarized my house) thought the location of the trees marked property lines.

On the subject of needlework, is anyone crocheting holiday snowflakes? Bells?

Reading back posts, I see you're making a Fair Isle knit. So you're using multiple colors and the device keeps them from tangling? I understand now. I think. At one time I was captivated by Fisherman's knit patterns and made them into sweaters, pillows and a few throws which I can't seem to find now.

Those Fair Isle and Fisherman's knit patterns can be complicated, but they are so lovely.

CM, BTW, do you have access to any of the Mon Tricot knitting patterns? I used to buy them during the 1980s but haven't seen them in years. They had the most stunning patterns.

I'm intrigued as well. I rarely knitted with more than one strand except for multi-colors, but it sounds as if you're making something that's much thicker, maybe something like a double knit? Or do the devices keep 3 strands separate and from twisting while you're knitting a multi-color piece?

I'm puzzled by the wood-turning relationship. What is this object called? I too will hit the search button - I need to find out about this.

Deliveries on Sundays now, expected for the holidays!

This I must see. See you later after I have probed the internet

It is a set of three mini yarn-holders cleverly carved by a chap in Ohio, who appears to be the only person in the world who understands the overlapping requirements of wood-turning and multi-strand knitting.

Though now I come to think of it I could probably have bodged something together using kitchen paper towel holders, superglue and a small plank. But this will be much smoother and prettier. And anyway I've bought it now.

What is it CM please share?

It is going to hold the yarn nicely for me so that I do not go to pieces over the tension like I did last time and have to unravel the whole dang thing again; once I get going it shouldn't take more than a day or two thanks to that unintended rehearsal. With this little gizmo it will be like having the five hands that I have always secretly suspected those clever Scottish ladies of having...

Ah, grasshopper say, knit slower, spend more time knitting.
This for granddaughter, cancel everyhing else.