I blame Sharon Stone

I've been looking for a new ice pick.  The old ice pick has a bent tip.  Yes, I know.  I've been looking for a new one for a while now.  I looked again at Target because an ice pick seems like the kind of thing a girl could get at the Target.

A very nice Target employee asked if she could help me find something as I was wandering toward the check-out area.  I said ice pick and mentioned I'd just come from the kitchen gadget area.  It's not big enough to be a department.  Nor well stocked enough because they don't have ice picks.  She said they don't have them, and we exchanged confused faces. 

I lowered my voice and asked if ice picks were now considered weapons.  She also lowered her voice and said that yes she thought this may be the case.  Then she mentioned the dollar store that's across the way from the Target and, if that didn't work out, the local big deal grocery.

She also mentioned that some kitchen items seem to be seasonal.  They carry electric can openers but not in the summer.  o.O

Visits to two different dollar stores and the local big deal grocery got me nothing but frustrated... and a bottle of water.  How do we live in a world where I can buy all the booze and ammo I want but am out of luck if I need an ice pick? 

For a brief moment, I did consider getting a meat mallet while at the Raley's.  However, in my world, that really would be a weapon.  I'm starting to wonder if the lovely people at the Ace Hardware would carry ice picks but calling them is always more trouble than it's worth...

In other news...

Knitting Arroyo, and feeling sorry for the designer.  Judging by the comments page, a lot of very stupid people who may not know how to knit have tried that pattern.

I mentioned to a friend that I was knitting that pattern and she wanted to know what I thought.  It's been on her list for years but she hadn't gotten around to it.  I'm happy to report that it is a simple fairly mindless pattern...

Assuming you can read a chart, know how to purl and can follow directions.  Oh, and don't get confused by short rows.  I know that may be asking a lot for some but really it's not that big deal.  Then again, I can follow directions...

Glad I'm back, right?  *L*

 

Comments

[Marilyn]

Yes. I am glad you are back!
As for the ice pick...there is a new invention called the ice cube. They are made in special divided trays that you put in the freezer...voila, ice chunks.
There I go again...being snide. /forgive me?? /flutters eyes at you
The shawl is looking very pretty!
xoxo

[Patty]

Is ice pick a code word for something else??? Though Target and Ace would not be the answer there. ;-) (It was Sharon that set my mind a wanderin'.)

[Datagoddess]

Amazon lists bunches of them in the home & kitchen section, but I would have tried the places you did, too. Kohls? Bed Bath & Beyond?

[silvia]

I think Bed, Bath and Beyond has everything in the world. I'd go there. Can't you just use a screwdriver?

I've had to stop reading comments in certain arenas since they will either put you right off something that's just fine, or make you sooooo mad you want to spit. And run amok with an ice pick.

[Cheryl S.]

I don't even remember where I bought my ice pick. (But no, you can't have it.)

I don't see why ice picks are any more of a weapon than knives, though I suppose they're less obvious when the business end is hidden in wood. o.O

Mine gets used for lots of stuff, but hardly ever for ice. Stabbing squash is probably the most common usage.

Anyway, I agree with the BBB as a likely source. Or some other kitchen specialty store.

[Melissa]

Isn't what you can buy and can't buy asinine. Good luck with the hunt. You may need to try the highend kitchen stores. (Best of luck with them.)

[Gretchen]

Yes.

[gayle]

I'm not even going to ask what you really need the ice pick for...
I once read a long comment thread by a bunch of people who couldn't wrap their brains around the concept of a YO. It just seemed so very very complicated to them. Made me despair for the human race.

[Big Alice]

Glad you're back :)

> They carry electric can openers but not in the summer.

Um, what?

If you send me your address I will send you an ice pick obtained from the great city of San Francisco, land of ice picks and all the kitchen specialty stores of the universe. There's 2 Surly Tables, a Williams Sonoma, a "Gourmet Depot", and some place called Le Sanctuaire within walking distance of my work. (I should have your address somewhere already, but I don't have my shit together much these days.)

[donna lee]

I can follow a chart if and only if it's knit in the round. I cannot remember that symbols that mean one thing when I am knitting right to left mean something different when moving left to right. I don't know if I am just not smart enough or just don't care enough to keep trying!

(I am still finishing up my Tour spinning......BUT I did finish the wedding dress)

[Doris]

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/commercial-ice-pick-with-sheath/1014991794

Here you go. Bed Bath and Beyond has one with a sheath. cheap, too

[Mary Lou]

The poor designer indeed... I read the questions and commments about her pattern and had to refrain from banging my head on my desk. "better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt." She finally told everybody that she would no longer offer tech support (poor dear). Your spinning is lovely, btw, the colors, the plying, the texture, all of it!
blogless Mary Lou

[AnotherJoan]

About being back - definitely. There is a gap when you are not posting.

About ice pick - please tell us Why an Ice Pick? Are you having a very swank cocktail pahhhty and want James the Bartender to be pinging off chunks of ice for the cocktails? If so, send picture of cocktails and/or James (neither of which will come close to as lovely as your spinning.)

Have used with various success: hammer, screwdriver, ice cubes, blow dryer(!), paring knife (bandaids were required but no stitches).

[Kym]

I cannot begin to understand how designers deal with the riffraff. . .

[Sarah]

I've had that one on my list for quite a while, too. Yours is looking great. Sometimes it seems like the queue is the kiss of death for me actually knitting a pattern.

I won't even look at the comment section, because my head might kerplode. With over 900 finished projects, I cannot imagine that the task is as complicated as some have tried to make it. Those are some of the reasons that even when I take the time to write up a pattern I do not put it out there. I'm just not feeling ready to take on pattern support. xo

[Tiny Tyrant]

Well honey. Awls are just the hardware store name for ice picks.

And Ace Hardware is awesome. Haven't been in one in forever.