Always Reliable

I love KnitPicks. I'm always surprised when I meet people who haven't heard of them and I have a moment of indecision: do I share or not? Call me indoctrinated or overly cautious, but I tend to keep my secrets to myself. Because if large numbers suddenly went where I go for yarn, I would no longer be the one to find the bargains. Or worse. The place would change, catering to the vapid vagaries of the majority (who have more credit cards than I do). I hate competition. Too much work.

Knitting isn't a competition. Stretching my measly dollars to stay in practice without going bankrupt, well, that's another story. But being the generally enlightened person that I am (who has a hard time keeping anything to myself, anyway) I share. KnitPicks is great.

Not just great. Superb. I will expain. I had a project. Well, hoping I still have a project for a friend who doesn't know the amazing thing she will be eventually getting as soon as my yarn arrives to start said project (now I'm starting to sound like the Jack Sparrow of knitting bloggers). I ordered this yarn at the end of May and I'm well aware that impatience is my middle name. Still, after almost 2 weeks, I called to check on my order status. Tracking number in hand--provided by a cheerful KnitPicks CSR--I found out my yarn had made it as far as Atlanta. But no farther. There it sat and numerous calls to the USPS (both local branch and national help line) could not explain why it was still sitting in Atlanta. The heat? Doing some sightseeing? Had a run in with an exuberent cat? What could my yarn be doing for 10 days in some USPS wharehouse? The people at USPS didn't know, didn't appreciate my possible explanations, and wouldn't go investigate or liberate my yarn, either. Poor, lonely, incarcerated package of possibility. Now it will just be gathering dust and obscurity.

Happily, the good folks at KnitPicks said "no problem, we'll just mail you a replacement". How awesome is that? They could have forced me to fight it out with the Atlanta USPS office or even shook their heads and called it an act of god. But no, they took care of me. And, indirectly, my friend who will eventually be getting the very awesome thing the yarn will be becoming (sorry, channeling Sparrow is addicting). And let's not forget the fate of my very first KAL experience, which hinges on getting that yarn!

Yay for KnitPicks! I was good, too. I didn't tell them in exact detail how excited I get when another of their catalogues comes in the mail, how dog eared, read, and re-read it gets, either. Some things are too embarrassing to share. Like yarn orgasms. But that's for another post.