my tale of woe

Oh, it's a sad, ongoing saga...

I met up with a friend of mine a few months ago and she was wearing a beautiful crocheted scarf and hood combo, which I complimented her on. She told me that she had crocheted it herself and she'd make me one if I wanted. I was very thrilled, let me tell you.

There's nothing like having something handmade, I'm a huge fan of that. And there's nothing at all better than having it lovingly crafted by one of your friends. So I happily took her up on the offer.

I went home and went through my stash (carefully, mind you, it's in a constant state of collapse as it is (see I'm firmly convinced it's the stash from hell for the visual)) and I found one single solitary ball of wool that I thought would be perfect for it. It was a dark grey with tiny flecks of white and red, and I'd bought it at an op shop over a year ago, waiting for the perfect project. Unfortuntaly there was only one ball, and my friend had suggested that around 3 balls would be best.

So I went wool shopping. For weeks I scoured as many wool shops as I could find looking for something perfect for the scarf. As the weeks went on, it changed from the search for the perfect wool to searching for something ace, then for something that was ok. But I jsut couldnt find anything I was happy with for this. I always had in mind the op shop single ball of wool sitting forlornly in my stash.

In desperation I took apart my stash carefully, to see if I had anything else in there that would be ok. About half way down I found another of the perfect balls of wool. I was estatic! I held my breath as I dived down more, only to find a third! I was so happy, I did indeed have enough of the perfect wool for this scarf and hood.

I gave it to my boyfriend who gave it to his best friend, who is my friends husband.

A few days later, I recieved a call from her husband. He asked if there was any more of the wool. I had been concerned that it might not be enough, as the balls were a little small, so I suggested that maybe my friend use some black in there as well if she needed any more. How much more did she need? I asked him. About 3 balls, he said.

It turned out that he had left the bag with the wool on the train and had spent a week calling Connex trying to get it back, but to no avail.

So I was back to square one. This time I decided to try and find someone to hand dye some wool for me. How lovely would that be, I reasoned to myself, something hand dyed and then hand crocheted.

After much searching on Etsy, I found Yarn or a Tale, who had some beautiful hand dyed stuff. I convo'ed her and told her my tale of woe, and over about a week we sorted out the details, she had some wool/silk that she offered me, and away we went.

She put the finished, hand dyed product up on etsy so I could buy it, mostly dark grey, occasionally fading to light grey and so soft! I happily purchased it and awaited my package.

I've been getting heaps of packages in the post lately, all dolls from artists around Aus, and the occasional book from Amazon, it's gotten so I don't need to show idendtificaion to the lady behind the counter anymore. The day after Totem opened, I recieved a card telling me that I had two packages waiting for me. I went down there, they handed me one box (a late doll) but couldn't find the other. They photocopied the card for me, took my number and send me home.

A few hours later, after racking my brains, my heart sank. I only have two packages I'm waiting on. Either it was a book I've bought off Amazon or it was my wool Yarn or a Tale...

This morning, my Amazon book was delivered.

So it can only be the wool. I am glad that, out of everything they COULD have misplaced, it was my wool rather than one of the dolls, but still...

My heart breaking tale of want and woe continues...