Good Karma

What a karma-riffic day I had yesterday. It started with getting weekend orders in the mail, which despite the effort involved, is a wonderful way to start the week. Then I started working like a madwoman to get a Portrait necklace done before the mailman came because I was crossing my fingers that he would be bringing me my bamboo yarn for my custom scarf. Just a half an hour after I finished the necklace, the yarn arrived along with an etsy purchase. Then right before I turned off my computer for the night, I got informed that I had won some hand dyed silk thread from Ladyshuttlemaker. So Huzzah for things going just as I hoped and then some.

Let me now back up for a minute to that bamboo yarn. I had initially ordered from another store which had said it was in stock, then it wasn't and it was going to take another week to get. Annoyed, I ordered from another store on Friday and that is what arrived yesterday afternoon. The yarn was for a Grand Daisy scarf that was ordered during my anniversary sale, so I was extra anxious to get working on it. In my listing I state that I will make the scarf in any appropriately sized yarn the customer wants, she chose this specific bamboo yarn. I had never worked with it before and since I live in a town with no real yarn shop, I'd never even held the yarn before. I had no idea what I was in for, tatting with this stuff. To say that it has a light twist would be a severe understatement. Really it is more like a dozen or so threads held together through the sheer will of the manufacturer. It has a lovely sheen and it is very soft, but my needle keeps separating the yarn and it my tension is just a bit too tight pulling the yarn through is quite difficult.

I am so used to tatting the same designs with the same thread that I barely have to pay attention and I still get the same consistent work, but not with this stuff. I need to work very deliberately to get good results with the bamboo. I am about halfway through the core flower strip of the scarf and I should at the very least get flowers done today. Of course my other issue it that I literally have no idea how much yardage I need for this design, so I am crossing my fingers that I bought enough yarn to finish it as well. At least I know where to get it quickly now if I need more and I can add bamboo tatting to my list of achievements.