Joining Carole and friends this week for Three on Thursday...

1 - Knitting

I started a new knitting project on the way to Chicago last Thursday.

It's a new Summer Camp (pattern by Laura Aylor) and, as I snapped a photo in the car, I noticed that I was wearing the first one that I made. That shawl and my 2016 Rhinebeck Shawl (Close to You by Justyna Lorkowska) were probably my most-worn shawls last winter (they both "go with everything") and I've wanted to make them both again.

Coming along!

I'm using yarn that I dyed a few months ago and I'm pretty happy with it so far.

My elbow/shoulder/arm are still balking at me now and then, so I'm trying to take it easy (figuring out my next step with this lingering situation).

2 - Wine

It occurred to me this morning, while replying to a comment/email from Mary, that perhaps I've neglected telling you about the amazing wineries that Maddy's worked/will be working for! She has worked the past couple of vintage seasons for Wither Hills in New Zealand and also for Loveblock Wines (the winemaker formerly of Kim Crawford Wines); this fall she'll be working for Kendall Jackson in Oregon, and she's pretty certain that she'll be similarly working in Australia next year (exact winery TBD).

She brought a bottle of Loveblock home with her (because she didn't think it was available here) and we shared it on Thursday night at our hotel. I'm pretty sure the staff in the liquor department at our local grocery store thought she was a little off her rocker on Saturday when she VERY EXCITEDLY showed us that she'd found some on the shelf there!! Isn't the label pretty?

3 - Customer Service

I've tried in vain to locate the misplaced shoulder strap for the charcoal gray Baggallini* Medium Avenue Tote Bag that I bought last year. I don't know what I did with it, and had to resort to using the red strap from another bag when in NYC in March. I finally resorted to reaching out to customer service last week and :08 later I had a reply email informing me that my replacement strap would arrive in 5-10 business days. At no charge. Not even shipping. Yahoo!! I'll be ready, with matching bag/strap, for the next trip to NYC in two weeks!

*FYI, and per the disclosure that appears on the sidebar of every page, I post ads and affiliate links here on occasion, mostly from Amazon and Craftsy (within posts, at the bottom of posts, and also in the sidebar), from which I earn a percentage of any resulting sales if you click through, and that money pretty much covers the annual cost of having this blog/domain. Baggallini is not one of them (nor the wineries) (ha!) (though I realize now that they may now show up!)... anyway, they don't know me from Adam and I'm not compensated for this endorsement whatsoever; I just want to share my experience with their fabulous customer service! (It is so rare... and, really, it made my day!)