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Cardigan - The Saga of the Yarn
14 Oct 2022 01:06 amBecause a garment is, in my mind, a fairly tricky thing to crochet at the best of times, one wants to put as much effort as possible into making sure things go smoothly. A key to insuring smoothness, and therefore the crocheter's sanity, lies in having the right yarn for the project. So, in this case, while on holiday in France, I opted to buy the yarn that the cardigan was designed with. Which meant I had to source it from the United States.
Fearful I wouldn't have enough time to receive it--and having no indication of the delivery time--I went ahead and bought it, choosing to have it shipped to my mother-in-law's place, since we were spending the last week of our vacation there. Once I hit "purchase," I got a nice warning in bold, red letters "Due to international shipping delays, we cannot give you any idea of when you might receive your order." And this after I had agreed to pay over $50 dollars in shipping, just to have the 'right' yarn.
Four days before we were ready to fly out, still no yarn, but the website promised that we would be get the yarn on Wednesday, two days before we left. Hooray, I thought. And then the fun began.
While we were in Toulouse on Tuesday, at la Halle de la Machine, J got a text message from FedEx saying that I had to pay customs to have my package unblocked at the border. Twenty-three euros. J thought it might be a scam because he had been receiving several such messages from phishers. So, we waited until that evening, and I looked into it some more when we got to my mil's house. When I tried to pay through the link I had also received by email, the page wouldn't open unless I allowed FedEx to access my laptop's sensors. o.O
Long story short, I finally succeeded in paying the customs and the package was unblocked. But FedEx's tracking system still showed it in an office somewhere, awaiting "processing." Then I got a message saying it would arrive Thursday before 6 p.m. Only it never showed. Then they updated it to say Friday by 6 p.m. But on Friday, we had to leave for Beirut from Lyon--5 hours away from my mil's house--at 11 p.m., after turning in the rental car at 8 p.m. No way we could wait for the yarn. However, I did ask J to wait until the max time that would still allow us an hour leeway, which was 2 p.m.
At 1:50, we loaded the kids in the car and were just saying goodbye to my mil, when who should drive up but the courier. I lifted my arms in a victory salute and shouted with joy, echoed by J. The driver broke into a smile because he realized he had arrived in the nick of time. We ripped open the box, shoved the yarn balls into any available space in the over-stuffed car and took off, arriving at the airport juuuuuust in time to turn in the car because of fuel shortages and the long lines at the pump.
While we were waiting to check our luggage, I stuffed 3 kilos of yarn in the various bags that weren't already flirting with the maximum weight limit. No, my cardigan doesn't need 3 kilos of yarn. I thought, "In for a penny, in for a pound," while ordering those skeins and bought nine of another type to make a throw blanket. We found out last winter it can be crazy cold in Lebanon, and this year we shall be a bit better prepared.
But I can only start on the throw blanket after I finish the cardigan, which is currently in a state of Do Over.
Fearful I wouldn't have enough time to receive it--and having no indication of the delivery time--I went ahead and bought it, choosing to have it shipped to my mother-in-law's place, since we were spending the last week of our vacation there. Once I hit "purchase," I got a nice warning in bold, red letters "Due to international shipping delays, we cannot give you any idea of when you might receive your order." And this after I had agreed to pay over $50 dollars in shipping, just to have the 'right' yarn.
Four days before we were ready to fly out, still no yarn, but the website promised that we would be get the yarn on Wednesday, two days before we left. Hooray, I thought. And then the fun began.
While we were in Toulouse on Tuesday, at la Halle de la Machine, J got a text message from FedEx saying that I had to pay customs to have my package unblocked at the border. Twenty-three euros. J thought it might be a scam because he had been receiving several such messages from phishers. So, we waited until that evening, and I looked into it some more when we got to my mil's house. When I tried to pay through the link I had also received by email, the page wouldn't open unless I allowed FedEx to access my laptop's sensors. o.O
Long story short, I finally succeeded in paying the customs and the package was unblocked. But FedEx's tracking system still showed it in an office somewhere, awaiting "processing." Then I got a message saying it would arrive Thursday before 6 p.m. Only it never showed. Then they updated it to say Friday by 6 p.m. But on Friday, we had to leave for Beirut from Lyon--5 hours away from my mil's house--at 11 p.m., after turning in the rental car at 8 p.m. No way we could wait for the yarn. However, I did ask J to wait until the max time that would still allow us an hour leeway, which was 2 p.m.
At 1:50, we loaded the kids in the car and were just saying goodbye to my mil, when who should drive up but the courier. I lifted my arms in a victory salute and shouted with joy, echoed by J. The driver broke into a smile because he realized he had arrived in the nick of time. We ripped open the box, shoved the yarn balls into any available space in the over-stuffed car and took off, arriving at the airport juuuuuust in time to turn in the car because of fuel shortages and the long lines at the pump.
While we were waiting to check our luggage, I stuffed 3 kilos of yarn in the various bags that weren't already flirting with the maximum weight limit. No, my cardigan doesn't need 3 kilos of yarn. I thought, "In for a penny, in for a pound," while ordering those skeins and bought nine of another type to make a throw blanket. We found out last winter it can be crazy cold in Lebanon, and this year we shall be a bit better prepared.
But I can only start on the throw blanket after I finish the cardigan, which is currently in a state of Do Over.