So good they named it twice

Two confessions upfront:

I went to New York and

1) I did not visit a single yarn store, despite having avidly read Lixie's yarn crawl guide

2) I had no time to knit

What? Is she sick?

Let me explain. I didn't visit any yarn stores, much to the relief of my companions, but this was because I had pre-ordered my yarn and had no more space. I didn't knit, because I was too busy shopping, eating and enjoying the glorious weather.

Ah, that makes more sense. So what about the pre-ordering?

I had ordered ahead yarn from Knitpicks, Blue Moon Fiber Arts and Webs.

The Knitpicks order arrived in perfect condition and the yarn looks and feels a lot nicer than I expected for the low prices. You need to allow extra time for the shipping from the west coast, but the whole process works well, and you get free shipping.

The Webs orders arrive faster as they are located in the east, but they did make a fundamental error in my order, sending DB instead of Blue Skys Alpaca. It's a real nuisance to have to make a return when you don't live in the country, so points off for that. They have a real time inventory, but it's not perfect, as I ended up with a backorder. Great prices though, and when I emailed a query, they responded same day.

As for Blue Moon Fiber Arts, I have been dying to try Socks that Rock, but after several weeks, absolutely no sign of the parcel. No order confirmation or email either, so pretty unimpressed with that one.

So on balance, it was good to satisfy the yarn itch on arrival in New York, but service is spotty, and it's a hassle if there are any problems with the order.

To the yarn...

Cascade Pima Cotton. To be honest, I'm not crazy about the colours; they are a little 'off'. They are for projects from Fitted Knits.

Cascade 220. I got more colours than shown here, all intended for Noni bags. It's much softer than I expected, and the green colour is gorgeously heathery.