Jimmy Beans Update 4

Yea!!! The last of the order came yesterday...didn't dare write anything about it for fear of hubby finding out.

Final delivery came in soft mailing envelope (the vinyl water resistant kind)...Inside it were my single ball of "Ducky" colored aMAIZing and my 2 hanks of Lorna's Laces in "Bee Stripe".

I was a little surprised when I took a really good look at the receipt...I DID pay for the signature service...but no one told the post office that! Both times the package was dropped off in the mail box without a sig being sought after. Looking at the package it does say "e/ USPS DELIVERY CONFIRM" so I don't know if that's just a tracking service or if that is the post office's way of saying "Get a damn signature" that got ignored! Either way, I'll save the $2 extra bucks next time and just go regular delivery...since I don't know which side goofed up on this, it hard to tell who to be disappointed with...but since I paid Jimmy Beans most people would blame them--not crying over $2...this time.

It was so funny, last time my daughter found they had included two pieces of "Whether's Originals" as a thank-you gift...perhaps as an apology for not getting it all off at the same time (?)....any ways, there was no free gift this time...LOL...why do I find this amusing? Because this was the part of the order that I was really waiting for and had let them know so...if anything this is the order where I would have expected a little something extra.

But that's okay....if you go thru life expecting things you will be (a)disappointed, (b)shunned by your fellow man and (c)less as a person, in my opinion--you get what you pay for...well, mostly.
Now about the yarn:

aMAIZing:

It is actually a flat ribbon yarn about 1/8 of an inch thick (don't have the accurate ruler handy) and is woven instead of spun by the looks of things. It doesn't seem to have much "spring" to the fibre so it would be useless as a sock yarn. The texture reminds me of crochet-cotton, it seems very soft at first feel until you start to really feel the fiber of it all...like crochet-cotton it has a firm, almost rough feel to it...I'm not sure I like this brand at all. I'm glad I only bought a single ball....it will likely go onto the "need a quick grab" shelf of my stash...to collect dust....maybe I will find a use for it.

aMAIZing by SWTC (South West Trading Company);

cost $9/ball;

size 50g/130m or approx. 1.75 oz/142 yds.;

gauge 6 sts & 8 rows= 1" (24sts/32 rows=4") US size 7 needles;

care machine washable/dry;

Content 100% Corn Fiber;

company website: SWTC, Inc-The Home of SoySilk Yarns

Lorna's Laces, Shepherd Socks:

Actually I'm glad the photo was inaccurate on this one. The yellow is actually a very nice dandelion gold...no wait, dandelions aren't deep enough...its almost a marigold color and the black appears to be a true black....as opposed to just a very deep green...I like the looks of it.

It comes in a hank form, so there is some balling that needs to get done before stitching can begin. It is very soft and will make the most luscious socks! It would also be great for thin mittens or light scarf...a sweater would be wonderful too, but at $11/hank it would come out rather expensive!

The coloring I find unique--but then I've never used a hand dyed yarn before--one half of the skein is this lovely gold and the other is the luxurious black with a band of intermingle...okay that part is just muddy and ucky, almost an olive or grass stained color (so I guess this means the black really is a deep green, the standard in the industry) but I suppose it is the nature of the beast.

The hank itself is roped upon itself...not familiar with roping? That means they have put the yarn into a large circle and then pulled it out taught, twisting it tightly then letting it naturally coil upon itself--one end is then tucked into the other and the natural tendency of the yarn to both work with/fight against the twist keeps it all in place without over stretching the yarn fibers themselves.

I had heard praises of the yarn from others and being that it sounds like a rather rare issue...JBW says there are only 100 skeins produced a year in each color, 2 skeins needed per pair of socks...I had to give it a try.

I don't usually like working with wool as it seems to cut into my hands, but unlike Wool-ease, this has a very nice flow to it. As I have typed I have been running it over my fingers to get an idea as to how it will play on my fingers during stitching...it seems to slide well, but I can see I will have to take a few breaks at the beginning to get used to things. Still it is better than I expected for wool. As I get knitting I will keep everyone updated on how well it takes to small needles (which it is supposed to be made for)...frequent "frogging"....and how well the stretch/ease is.

Shepherd Socks by Lorna's Laces;

cost:$11/hank

weight: sock weight/standard 1 size: approx. 215 yds/2 oz or 196.5m/56.5 grams

gauge: 7 sts/1" (no listing of needle size): JBW gauge: 7sts/1" size 2 needles (28sts=4"); neither wrapper or JBW gave gauge of row.

care: machine washable;no drying instructions given

content: 80% Superwash wool 20% nylon company

website: Lorna's Laces:All Natural Hand-Dyed Yarns Well off to start some balling!

JBW RATING
Customer Service: started out stronger than most, but kind of lacked off with the second part of the order

Prices: A tad high for my tastes, but a lot lower than most of the places I've seen offering hand-dyed yarns. If the prices were a little lower I would probably shop here more often.

Delivery Service: orders arrived within 2 days of shipping notice, since my order was fairly small the envelopes worked okay but would have preferred getting the order with the wooden needles in a box of some sort to guard against breakage (the needles are fine, nothing got broke).

Shipping Fees: very reasonable! $4 up to $75, and then its free....I really like this. Most places I shop with have a sliding fee scale based on how much you spend, usually an order under $35 will add an additional $10 in shipping...I absolutely love this feature, I can make a small purchase and still pay less than the yarn for shipping. This means that I would probably buy from the company a LOT more than the others.
Over All Rating:Well, JBW shines in customer service and shipping costs; its just too bad that the prices are out of my normal comfort range. While the shipping costs would bring me back time and again for small orders, the high prices stop me dead in my tracks. Perhaps I've just been spoiled by the $3/skein deals that acrylic, nylon, and blended yarns give me but if the price gets higher than a cup of coffee I am much less likely to buy it.

There is no real invoice, just a detailed register slip...which is fine in many aspects, but I would like something a little less flimsy for my records.