Knit by Nora
Compulsive ~ a strong, irresistible impulse to act (i.e., to knit) and Obsessive ~ to occupy the mind excessively (thus this blog)


Wednesday, March 30, 2005  

Today’s Fiber News

I returned from a week in Washington D.C. Although it was technically a work trip for an immunization conference, Mark went with me so it was also a mini-vacation. Or a super-sized vacation based on the amount of meals and wine we drank.

Finished Object Alert! Ava is finished and blocking. Hopefully she will debut this week. Started in January of 2003, she stalled when I knit a front panel too long and thought the two sleeves were also too long. Once I got past the frogging and also worked out the chart (she is an intarsia piece), the knitting was a breeze. While at the Pittsburgh airport, I shopped at Gap and picked up to tanks to match.

New WIP! During breaks from plenaries and workshops, I knit on Birch. The pattern for this shawl is a dream which compensates for the dental floss-like yarn (Rowan KidSilk Haze). I noticed Claudia has also undertaken Birch. Hers is a firey orange to my brilliant Candy Girl (discontinued color) pink.

Almost a FO!! Last of all, Ebony cabled cardie is just flying off the needles (#8s). I finished one front in DC and the other over the weekend. The sleeves are en route and I think it could be cranked out by next week. Another knitting first for me – pockets. Since I am using Rowan Magpie Tweed, the pockets have nice body and look quite good. Ebony is a cabled cardie and will work out good for our chilly spring.

Mark and I headed to Mt. Vernon, but the Hilton gave us the wrong written directions in the opposite direction. The good news is we were near Bethesda on the way back and Bonnie and Betty at a lovely shop, Yarns International, gave us great phone directions to their store, then back to the hotel. I went for the sole purpose of reading materials (VK and the Rowan Classic Café and Garden books). But yarn followed me home.

When we returned, I spoke to a manager about the directions so that some other poor fool would not end up in BFE. Note that constructive criticism not screeching wins the day (my girl friend in NYC once got us a $600.00 meal for four from Petrossian Restaurant when they screwed up our reservations!)

The Hilton apologized and provided us with a $50 dinner certificate and a superb gift basket of goodies. This hotel puts their money where their mouth is unlike the Sheraton of Chicago. They screwed up two room reservations and I ended up sharing with a co-worker after being told BS for six hours. Then our room was given to two other people! Our keys were de-activated twice. And insult to injury, I was billed for two rooms not one! All we heard is that they had a “service promise” which translated to a lousy 10% off lunch coupon. I later completed a 13 page survey on my experience and heard nothing. I think the Sheraton’s service promise was for bad service.

Another perk at the Hilton, a free paperback of Conrad Hilton’s autobiography, Be My Guest was in our room. It is a very good book in regards to leadership and management even though it was written in the 1950s. That the material is still relevant makes Mr. Hilton very special. I will be adding the book to our work library.

posted by Nora | 12:37 PM
Comments: Post a Comment
On the Needles
Gallery
Patterns
Archives