I told a good story the other day and, as it's about knitting, I thought I'd write it down. Then I remembered that I sometimes write about knitting on this blog, so here it goes...
A few weeks ago, I wanted to start some socks. I really like bamboo needles generally and I had some leftover Shibui Knits Sock yarn (in Sky) so I bought some 0's, 1's, and 2's in bamboo. It was the first time I'd used smaller than 2's, so I struggled through more than half of the Absinthe foot chart before I realized that I was having a hard time because the yarn was sticking to the needles (I knit tightly) and they were too flexible. I decided to buy some metal dpn's. This is where the story really begins:
I went to Michael's in Cary (near where I work, about 30mi from home) to find some inexpensive metal dpn's (I'm on a super tight budget these days). I craft a lot, so it's really been my go-to craft store. They didn't have any sock needles. NONE. I left, disappointed. It suddently occurred to me that there was an AC Moore nearby and I thought I'd give it a shot. I got there and found a lovely set of 4 sets (of five, of course. Michael's didn't even have ONE set of five) Bates sock needles in a pack (not to mention a vastly superior collection of needles in general) for $10.99. I took them to the register and proceded to pay for them with my ATM/Debit card. They were having a bit of a sale and rung up a 25% off coupon for me. However, my card didn't work. They said that happened sometimes and I should try another time. Sure, I thought. I'll just head home after work (did I mention I should have been at work?) and go to the AC Moore in Chapel Hill and buy them. I stopped by Michael's in Chapel Hill first, thinking I might find something else there, but with no luck. Back to AC Moore I went and found the needles easily (again, vastly superior needle collection), went to the counter where the cashier used a 30% coupon, ran my card, then told me I couldn't use that card. I gave in (because I really wanted to finish the socks and could NOT knit with the bamboo another torturous minute) and got cash out of the ATM. When I got back, I picked up my needles, and the newest cashier rang me up with a 50% off coupon. I paid, left, and went directly home to knit. It was SO much better. You know what was the best though? An entire day of searching for needles, four stores, five times and I ended up paying FIFTY PERCENT of a price that I thought was crazy reasonable in the first place. What a fabulous day!
PS: Just a note, I could have easily found the needles at my LYS, Yarns, Etc., but they don't take my ATM card (I don't have one with a credit card logo on it and I don't use a credit card), I was really trying not to take out cash, and by the time I leave work each day, they're already closed.
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