mariasdiscoveries web store FAQ section

Right away! I ship orders daily. I primarily use USPS, and they pick up packages every day except Sundays and postal holidays. I use first class mail for most small items (patterns, yarn, kits) and you can expect your order (in the USA) in about a week. I live in North Carolina, so if you live nearby, your order will probably arrive sooner. If you need your items right away, please check out the "shipping upgrades" category of my store. I am glad to upgrade your shipping to priority or express mail.

I have many problems, most of which have nothing to do with shipping. Without oversharing here, I have set the shipping to a fixed amount which is enough to cover my costs (which include shipping with tracking, part of the cost of my postage service, and an envelope). I am glad to combine shipping whenever possible. I have things set up to approximate shipping costs, but sometimes actual shipping costs could be less. I am glad to refund the difference to you if it is more than a few cents. If it costs more than what I charge you, I just eat that cost. Most of the time, it works out about right. If you would rather get an exact shipping cost upfront, please send me a message and I would love to help. If you're in a hurry, go ahead and check out and we'll settle up when I ship your order. In case you're curious, patterns ship in the US for $3.75, plus 75 cents for each additional pattern in the same order. Most yarn (3-4 ounces per skein) ships in the US for $4.00, plus $1.25 for each additional skein in the same order. (New postal rates in January 2019.) In Canada, most patterns ship for $9, with additional patterns in the same order shipping for $1 more. And most yarn ships to Canada for $9 (USD), plus $2 (USD) for each additional skein in the same order.

Yes, I am glad to ship just about anywhere. Please send me a message and I can figure out shipping costs for you wherever you are. I have set up all my patterns to ship to Canada for $9 (USD) and other places for $13 (USD). The combined shipping thing for anyplace besides the US is a little more complicated than it probably ought to be. If you are interested in combined shipping for non-US locations, please let me know what you would like and your complete address and I'll weigh it up and figure out a real shipping total for you.

Yes, really! They are used, and they may have pieces missing. It takes forever to count pieces and I don't have that kind of time, so I sell them here as low as possible. No, I don't make much (if any) money doing that. The 50 cents covers my payment processing fee. The $2.75 about covers shipping and postage costs. If you are adding a pattern to an existing order, postage is 75 cents for each additional pattern. It mostly gets patterns into the hands of someone who will enjoy them. I figure while you're picking up some cheapo patterns, you may see something else you'd like to buy, but even if you don't want anything else, I'm still glad to sell you a 50 cent pattern.

That's his caruncle. It looks kind of like a melted red crayon. It doesn't hurt. Lucky is a muscovy duck, and muscovies have caruncles.

Um...I haven't figured that out yet. But I do have a Pinterest board where I post new 50 cent patterns, plus size patterns, modest patterns, and some other stuff too at www.pinterest.com/porkyconure. As soon as I figure out the feed thing or the email thing, I'll put that information here.