To my wonderful international Loopy Friends:
Good news: I did so much research (online and at my post office) before all of this postal rate update to figure out the new international postal prices. I just knew that all of you international Loopys would be ordering right away on Monday as usual, and I wanted to have everything in place for you in terms of the new postage.
Bad news: Wrong information from my postal ladies which led to wrong research on the usps.com website. Although I’m not sure the right information would’ve helped much. Have you tried to wade through the mumbo-jumbo on the usps.com website lately?
Good news: It means international rates won’t be QUITE as bad as I had feared.
Bad news: But they still went up.
Good news: I was right – you all ordered on Monday and Tuesday, so Tuesday morning I took several country/size/weight variations into the post office.
Bad news: I packed them in the regular Global Priority boxes. (Last week – The Week of Misinformation – they had assured me that I could still use them.) This week, The Week of Enlightenment, they assured me that I could not.
Good news: I can ship in reinforced envelopes which cuts down on the weight.
Bad news: I had to repackage the boxes right there in the post office with 5 other postal customers impatiently waiting their turn.
Good news: I didn’t mind.
Bad news: They did.
Good news: I had the clerks weigh everything, then gave them different scenarios. “Now if it was going to that country and weighed under a pound, how much? And then over two pounds to that country, how much? And now this country – how about this one? And the next?” etc. So I got a complete picture – the correct one, I believe – of the pricing. I’m just glad to know there are options.
Bad news: This made the five postal customers even more impatient with me. Bad news #2: some of you will be receiving your orders in envelopes that were very hastily written at the post office counter.
Good news: It didn’t cost you as much shipping as you and I thought it would. With the help of the postal ladies (who are now in the Week of Enlightment – aka, The Week of “Now that the updated postal program has been downloaded into our system, we can stop telling you information that we assume is right, and start giving you the cold hard facts directly from our computers”), I have been able to take our average sized international orders, and figure out the postage, and knock that down a bit, to come up with new international postal rates which will not drive either of us too batty. Although you know I would much rather be delivering all of these in person anyway. We have switched the website to the international prices that are the best low-average that we can come up with. When it costs more than that on some of your orders, we will cover it. So glad to have this settled.
To everyone else:
Bad news: I will be away from the computer Thursday through Sunday.
Good news: College Guy comes home on Thursday and we head up to see our friends in Iowa for the weekend on Friday! (They have llamas. I’ll take pictures.)
Bad news: no blog post on Friday, no order shipping on Saturday. (We will, however, be shipping Thursday and Friday. Although not too many on Thursday because the postman has already warned me that he intends to play golf on Thursday afternoon and does not want too many boxes on my porch to have to deal with. Well alrighty then.)
Good news: Susan-the-awesome-assistant and College Guy will both be helping me pack weekend orders for you on Monday so you shouldn’t have to wait any longer than usual.
Bad news: WH tells me I must stop buying yarn, as there are too many yarns waiting to be photographed so that we can put them up on the website for you.
Good news: I’m not listening to him. (but don’t tell him)
Sheri doyouhaveanygoodnews/badnews/badnews/goodnewsitemstoshare?
P.S. You “miter” want to check out Wendy’s gorgeous Miter Sweater made out of sock yarns, that she just posted to our “Sock Yarns but Not Socks” photo gallery. It’s amazing!
Hi Sheri!
One of my (many) responsibilities at work is to do some international shipping. We have found that UPS is the cheapest and most efficient (and most reliable). We have also found FedEx Ground to be cheaper than USPS. But, that may be because we have a major discount due to our high volume of US shipping.
Good luck with it all, though! It sounds so complicated, and the Post Office is never very helpful (especially when they only seem to have ONE person working at a peak time when the rates have just changed, so of course everyone’s going to have questions).
Thanks for my recent order! It’s going to be awesome! I’ll send pictures when I’m done.
Good News: My Loopy Ewe order arrived yesterday. Even more good news: I’ve already cast on a pair of socks with the Claudia’s Handpaint in the color “Boot Camp”.
Bad News: the magnolias and lilacs that I wait for each year, did not bloom this year… we had a warm/cold spell that apparently really got them.
Good news: I have a red Loopy tote and other goodies coming to me…hopefully today!!!!! yeah!!!!
Good News: Me and my hubby get to see the grandparents and 2 aunts this weekend. Yea! I always get in good knitting time while we are there.
Bad News: After driving the 2 1/2 hours to get to the grandparents we have to drive another 1 1/2 hours to Tampa to pick up one of our aunts. But again, good knitting time.
Have a great weekend Sheri and family!!
Good News: The Thermal sweater is done. Yea!
Bad News: Nope – everything is going pretty well here. 🙂
good news: we’re going to chicago next weekend for the extended weekend
bad news: in the last few weeks i’ve come out of the fog that had me convinced that the loopy ewe and loopy yarns were one and the same and i’d get to drop in… 😉
have a wonderful week and thanks for working so hard to ensure everyone can handle the shipping rates and we all still get to buy yarn from you! i rave about you to everyone! but eric said last night that i wasn’t allowed to buy any more sock yarn ’til i make 5 pairs of socks… #s 2 and 3 are on the needles. 😉
Good News – I finally was able to cast on the Skinny Dippin’ yarn for my summer socks.
Bad News – I bought 6 oakleaf hydrangeas via mail order and I think one isn’t going to make it.
Good News: I managed to snag some peppermint mocha yarn yesterday! Woot!
Bad News: I actually had a nightmare about it, that it arrived scented like peppermint mocha. It really was a nightmare, with the morning sickness that lasts all day and night! lol
can you still use global priority envelopes?? um… cause i have 3 sitting on my table waiting to go to the post office.
i think WH should train KD as his photography assistant!
Good news, my 1st sock is going well, and the 20 year old wallpaper is slowly coming down.
Bad news, they are holding my sinks hostage until my other vanitie comes in next week. we are currently down to the kitchen sink and my husband is refusing to shave until he has a sink again
Good news: I’m doing something stupid and mindless but fun at work with a coworker (we’re taking a break right now).
Bad news: It’s making my back hurt standing up collating thousands of sheets of paper.
Good news: I can take some of my back pain meds for the problem.
Even better news: I can only take the meds on a full stomach so I HAVE to eat a large and yummy lunch.
Bad news: It’s at least an hour til lunchtime.
Thanks for the shout out on my miter sweater. I miter be tinkled pink it is done! 🙂
Good News: You are coming to see us this weekend!!
Bad News: We have already captured the 2 loose llamas (see my blog) so you will not be able to help with the Great Llama Chase of 2007
Good News: You can still chase llamas and take pictures in our pasture if you’d like
Bad News: You probably won’t be the Top News Story in our local paper doing that.
Good News: After this weekend I’ll be able to cast on some socks.
More Good News: I have some of the Yummy Peppermint Mocha yarn to cast on 🙂
Hilarious post 🙂
I’m so relieved that you managed to down the international shipping from $24 to $16! Now I can enjoy browsing the store again.
I got my sock club package yesterday, loved it!!!
Bad News: It’s very hot and humid outside and my one year old is teething…
Good News: My yarn shipped! I am so excited! 🙂
Good News: I found your store & blog recently… and enjoy both.
Bad News: I didn’t find you sooner!
Good News: My first order has already shipped.
Bad News: I couldn’t order everything I wanted right now.
Good News: I will eventually! 🙂
Oooo!! Llamas!
Good news: cast on some Yarn Pirate
Bad news: frogged twice before settling on a pattern
Good news: working too much will pay for vacation
Bad news: working too much is cutting my knitting time
Good news: I have today OFF!
Bad news: must first conquer Laundry Mountain
Good news: made progress on the looooong shawl I’m trying to finish before casting on more Loopy Ewe goodies
Bad news: I could’ve sworng the thing was over 60″ but it was only 58″ at last measurement. And I found one more ball of yarn for it which means I hadn’t done as many as I thought.
Good news: free will reigns so I may cast on something else anyway
Bad news: I slept on the sofa till 2:30 so am dragging around today
Good News: I’m going to Tuscany this Friday on vacation.
Bad News: I won’t be in Iowa when you are! Sniff! Sniff!
Hope you have fun with the llamas! Sounds like fun! Happy belated b-day to College Guy. I’m late because i’ve been busy with yarn and packing!
Good News: It is cool enough today for me to wear my sweater that took me 13 years to finish.
Bad News: Only one co-worker noticed. 🙁
Good News: You are going to be getting in Zen String, and Yarntini soon.
Bad News: I go to sleep early so I have been missing the midnight sneak-ups.
Good News: Hello Yarn posted a link to a pattern for adorable baby hats made out of sock yarn.
Bad News: I’m impatient and it took her six days to post it.
Good News: I made my own baby hat out of my handspun!
Bad News: Oh wait, there isn’t anything bad about that at all. 😀
It’s very cute and I will probably make a couple to send along to you for the Q2 challenge. I forget how quickly baby hats go.
Good News: There are 18 days of school left. Yay!
Bad News: I’m the counselor in a building of ALL seventh graders. 550 of them. And there are 18 days of school left. ARRRRGGGGHHH!
Good news: Sheri posted early and made my day with her hilarious post, and she will have a great weekend with family and llamas.
Bad news: 6 more hours at work before I can go home and knit my new peppermint mocha yarn
Good news: I still have vicodin left from having my wisdom teeth out, so it will be bearable.
Dropping out of lurkdom to say that I would have re-done all those international boxes veeeery sloooowly because I was given the wrong information. 🙂
Happy belated birthday to Web guy!
Bunny hugs,
=:8
For all of us who thought we would love to sell sock yarn over the internet, thank you. It sounds like way too many hours of working getting things onto the web, mailed and all of the other misc things that you have to do. It is so much better to pick out what we want and have you deliver it to us. It really makes us appreciate the work you do on our behalf. A great big thanks!
good news: i LOVE the panda cotton. it frogs like a champ!
bad news: the pattern i chose is giving me fits. hence the good news.
Ack, I could have sworn that I commented already. Oh well…
Bad news: I haven’t knit any socks in the last few days.
Good news: I’m knitting up some stash to make room for more sock yarn.
Bad news: I just finished a tank top for my daughter and can’t decide on what next.
Good news: Indecision usually leads to the cast-on of a sock.
Bad news: It rained pretty hard this morning and our gutters are filled with pollen and pollen tassles.
Good new: The rain brought some much cooler temperatures and I love having the windows open.
Good news: my Loopy Ewe order arrived yesterday!
Bad news: someone covered the box in junk mail and I didn’t find it until 8pm
Good news: the Cat tails & John B colourways were even more gorgeous in person
Bad News: I have four socks on the needles and had vowed not to cast on anymore until i finish some up
Good news: I break resolutions all the time so the John B is wound and ready for knitting tonight, lol.
Have fun in Iowa (that doesn’t sound quite right, but I’m sure it’s possible hehehe)
What about possibly enlisting Web Guy & Knitting Daughter to help WH with the picture taking duties?
I’m glad that you all get to have a break for a change. I know you will be delighted to have College Guy home with you all for the summer. And, a weekend with friends in Iowa & visiting llamas sounds like fun! I can’t wait to see pictures! 🙂
Sorry this isn’t in your good news/bad news form today–my brain isn’t thinking in that mode right now. I have to go to a computer club board meeting tonight. There is so much dissension on that board now (long story), that I really don’t look forward to those meetings anymore. Oh well, we have to do what we have to do…
I hope you all have a safe & a fun trip!
Good News: I’m almost done the third baby blanket in a row…I only do one project at a time, not counting the Fair Isle I work on when around those for whom I’m knitting baby blankets.
Bad News: I really should finish the Fair Isle before starting anything else.
Good News: Daughter for whom Fair Isle is being made is very forgiving.
Bad News: So many other projects clamoring for attention have me completely overwhelmed.
Good news: This weekend (well Friday too for the folks that can get off work) is the LYS Tour in the Puget Sound area. (http://www.lystour.com/ if you wanna check it out)
Bad news: Money is way too tight. I can look, but not really buy (ok, I am budgeting a SMALL amount so I can have one treat somewhere, but no big stash plumping).
Good news: skinny dipping yarn is now wound
Bad news: I haven’t started knitting it yet, and am now engrossed in knitting a pair of socks for my almost-5-year-old, and I can’t stop because how can you resist knitting for a child who WANTS handknit socks from his Mom?
Wait, that’s not bad news. Just delayed gratification on the skinny dipping socks!
Lucky you picking up your College Guy tomorrow! I will have to wait another week to pick up my College Boy (who becomes College Guy this Saturday). Guess we were both having babies in May of 1987! So, at the moment I only can list Good News…aren’t I lucky to be able to say that!
Good news – the weather was beautiful today.
Gooder news- my plants are happy and smiling even with their frost bitten parts!
Goodest news – I am almost finished with work and can knit for a long time tonight! Yippie skippie!
Oh, and other goodest news, for mother’s day I learned I am going to be a grandma to baby #2 !! What a nice present that was!!!
Sheri,
You may now get off the roller coaster. 🙂
Fly me in – I’ll take all the pictures you want. LOL
Good news: loopy order coming soon!
Bad news: recovering sucks monkey rocks.
Good news: I knit a little today and will knit more in a bit.
Bad news: pain meds and tummies don’t mix. Urghle.
Enjoy your vacation! Llamas! Picasso is jealous.
Bad News: We were up 7 times between my two kids last night.
Bad news: My daughter woke up this morning and had poo all over herself. Which she proceeded to get all over me.
Bad News: I got home from running errands to find a letter from our insurance company that said they were canceling our homeowners policy because it hadn’t been paid…..something my bank escrow was supposed to take care of.
Bad News: My internet has been out, which means we also have no cable and no phone and the cable company won’t be here until after noon tomorrow.
Good news: Today is FINALLY over! LOL!
Have a fun trip!
Good News: This summer I’ll have more money to spend on yarn
Bad News: I’ll be teaching summer school to earn that money which will cut into my summer knitting time.
Good news: finished my first toe-up sock today! (‘ve always been a top-down sock knitter.)
More good news: it’s rainy and cool here. I love rainy weather, too, Sheri.
You know, I can’t think of any bad news. So I guess that’s even more good news!
Hope you have a great trip!
Hi, I spotted your post about the sock club and after looking on the site I could find nothing about it. Some info would rock. I love socks, and I’ve been checking by your site daily in breathless anticipation waiting for the chewy spaghetti yarn to arrive. 🙂 Speaking of which, do you have any sort of estimate of when it will be in stock?
Oh the nightmares caused by the USPS. I’ve developed a few headaches due to the USPS.
Oh boy Llama’s. I’m still trying to talk hubby into having a small farm/ranch when he retires from the AF in another 5 years. He still doesn’t quite get my obsession.
Good News: If I end up overseas I’ll get a military address so I won’t have to pay international shipping
Bad News: We still don’t know where we being sent yet.
Good News: I finished my moms gift so I can cast on another project. 🙂
More Bad News: I can’t buy any more yarn until after we move. 🙁
Have a great weekend with your friends and family!
Good News: International rates aren’t as bad as we all feared!
Bad News: You had to repack everything while standing in line at the post office!
Bad News: The dog licked a band-aid off my foot last night and swallowed it!
Good News: He’s still alive.
Good News: All my recent purchases from The Loopy Ewe are in the mail!
Bad News: All my recent purchases from The Loopy Ewe are still in the mail…
Bad News: My husband is hinting that I might not need to buy so much yarn
Good News: I’m a little deaf. Did you say something?
Have a great weekend, Sheri!
Help!
Sheri, I can’t find the baby hat pattern that Lime and Violet talked about?
Good News: Children are off to school, and it is almost summer.
Bad News: Went to the ER at 11 p.m. with my son who hurt his wrist (again), and finally needed x-rays.
Good News: No broken bones, we were home by 12:30 a.m., I didn’t have to fill out any paperwork, and I worked on yarn cards (for gifties) while waiting.
Bad News: Sheri is gone so I have to pack orders alone.
Good News: Zoe (my favorite cat) will keep me company, and she secretly wants to live with me, but don’t tell Sheri.
Bad News: I don’t know how to knit socks.
Good News: I don’t know how to knit socks–there are sooo many fun colors I would spend my whole paycheck before I walked out the door 🙂
Good News: My cousin is having a baby girl in two months.
Bad News: I have no idea what to make the child. And I have so much yarn! I feel like the rhyme of the Ancient Mariner: Water water everywhere but not a drop to drink!
Good News: Tomorrow is friday. The weekend isn’t too far behind that.
Bad News: My apartment is about one load of laundry away from the Red Cross swooping in and declaring it a disaster area. I am going to be spending plenty of time this weekend cleaning it.
Good News: I might be able to get out to a vacation soon!
Bad News: By the time I get my ducks all lined up the flight prices will be through the roof!
Good News: I have been exceptionally good at not buying yarn in the past week and a half.
Bad News: The reason for this is zero downtime to surf and browse.
Good News: I am casting on the Seacoast Panda in Reef tonight if it kills me! I have gone 4 days without knitting a single stitch, and enough is enough!
good news: my daughter and my beautiful granddaughter are here for an extended visit (they live in germany while my son in law is deployed)
bad news: i am having difficulty to adjusting to two more people and one more dog in my morning allaboutme routine
good news: my girls are home!!!!!
good news: i made waffles for the first time ever. with strawberries and whipped cream on top. and i ate 2 of them.
BAd news: no more room for the left over waffle.
Good news. i went out last night with my friends, had a great time.
bad news. i was out until 5 am, and igot up at nine.
Good news: i got a bike light and helmet so i could save money on gas.
Bad news. my dad overfilled my tires. both popped.
Good news. i get to see my fiance tonight.
bad news. its not until later.
I guess what they say is true. take the good with the bad.
Good news: I actually have some decent knitting time that can be worked into the schedule today.
Bad news: It’s while riding the train, which sometimes can mess me up.
Good news: When I return from said train ride I might have time to work on dyeing some yarn, which is my new favorite thing to do.
Bad news: The yarn swift broke last night, which makes winding yarn a new and interesting challenge.
Good news: Why dye your yarn when you can order it from the Loopy Ewe!?
Have a good weekend and while in Iowa if you are up between midnight and 6am, tune your radio to Rock 108, where you can hear the latest addition to the radio team–my brother! 🙂
You’ve been tagged and now your it! If you’d like to play the rules & regulations are on my blog.
Good news–I finished one repeat of the beautiful sock using the “Skinny Dipping” yarn without having to rip anything out!! It’s so pretty!
Bad news—I’m stuck here at work when I really want to be at home knitting the second round!
I Hate the Post Office.
The good news — they said they delivered my latest yarn order at 3:27 PM today.
The bad news — they didn’t deliver it here. But they said I can come in to the Post Office tomorrow and look for it. Huh? If they delivered it to the wrong house, how can I come and look for it?
I’m hoping that it’s actually still in the truck and they will try to sneak it into my mailbox tomorrow morning.
I HATE the Post Office!