bonanza

The local weavers' guild recently received a huge donation of yarn and weaving equipment from the estate of a member who passed away. This weekend they were having a "yarn tag sale" (how cool is that?!), so Jesse and I went to check it out. As we pulled up to the house where they were having the sale, I could see a rainbow of yarn on tables outside the garage. As we walked up the driveway, I could see that there was a ton more yarn on tables inside the garage. Then I noticed the signs: $1/skein, $2 and up for cones. Hoo boy, let's get busy! An hour later, Jesse and I unloaded the car at home and set up our haul so we'd be able to show it to Scott and Leah when they got home. Here's the whole shebang on 8 ft. of desk space:

Most of the skeins are Tahki Donegal Homespun and Berga wool. Here in the center of the red section, there's a dozen or so skeins of Donegal Tweed Homespun that's a rich, deep red. In front of that is 15 skeins of Donegal Homespun in a lighter red with a bit of orange spun in. The retail price of the front group of red/orange skeins alone exceeds what I paid for the entire load! Squee!!

There are sweater quantities of quite a few individual colors and the mind boggles at the fun I can have putting multiple colors together in projects. Lots of tweed, because both of the guys in my family have requested sweaters with tweedy yarns (Cobblestone for Scott, a variation on Durrow for Jesse). I made sure to get lots of coned yarns for the resident weavers to play with too.


My sewing machine is in this pic for scale, down here on the BIV end of the spectrum. Oh yeah, that's a beautiful lotta yarn!



When I was a kid, I remember the thrill of Murphy Mart having a $1/skein sale on crappy acrylic yarn. I would buy $20-30 worth (earned from selling my crocheted clowns) and organize the skeins in my yarn box, and then I'd gaze with delight on my yarn while imagining all the fun projects to come. Here I am 30+ years later, with the same feelings about the same stuff (well, it's still yarn, but infinitely better quality now) and, amazingly, at the same price!

neat

Tuesday morning, I was listening to the Knitmore Girls podcast and they mentioned using these zippered blanket bags to organize yarn and roving. Given that my dining room closet is our spinning/felting storage space

and it's a big family joke how every time someone opens that door, they must be prepared for the resulting avalance of slippery bags of fluff, I clicked right over and ordered TWO DOZEN bags. Total, with shipping? Less than $23.

Wednesday morning -- that's right, in just over 24 hours since I placed my order -- the UPS truck pulled up to my house. :::blink blink::: Seriously? 24 hours and less than $1 a bag?! Yeehaw!

Since I had a pretty hefty workday on my hands, I couldn't dive into the project right then and there, but by dinnertime Wednesday...

Ta da! Avalanche-free zone!
Besides being nicely squared off so they stack neatly, the clear plastic is not slippery, so they stay where you put them, unlike Ziplocs. The 9" bag height is just about perfect for 1-lb. bumps of roving. I fit about 6 lbs. in each bag. Could have easily stored more per bag if the fluff wasn't wound into balls, but it is and I didn't feel like unrolling it all.

Bonus: Found some forgotten treasures while stash diving! Ooh, ahhh...

The packing slip for the blanket bags is on my desk this morning and I just noticed the Cleaner's Supply slogan: "Great prices. Fast delivery." Heck yeah! Two thumbs up for them!

condensed creep

I had to laugh this morning when I read Anne's post about yarn creep and then turned my head to the left. Our projects are generally contained to my office, but ooh, the stuff bubbles up fast and oozes out of the closet and all over my desk at an alarming rate!

Believe it or not, I cleaned this space on Sunday. (It is now Tues., 8 a.m.) Also unbelievable: this is a real office from which I conduct business and do the work that supports this goofy family o' mine.

Included in this condensed sprawl, clockwise from the orchid:
- crocheted water bottle holders
- sock yarn to be used for fishies
- knitting/weaving books and mags from yesterday's library visit
- knitted fishies
- sock yarn that has been used for fishies
- quilt block of the month supplies
- Leah's sweater pattern (she finished the first sleeve last night)
- another knitting library book
- gloves in progress for my sister
- cotton yarn and hook for another water bottle holder
- Leah's charity quilt
- Leah's 2nd crocheted hat , from handspun yarns

And off to the left there, the stash of fun projects yet to come, including a basket on the floor, filled with the yarn chosen for my next stranded sweater.

Meanwhile, did you notice mention of fishies in the above list? That, my friends, is because we are nearing the time for annual festivities of a most enormous magnitude. You see, this Friday morning will commence the camping debauchery and rituals that accompany Opening Day of Trout Season. :::insert dramatic glorious music and imagine a glowing halo around the sacred trout on a pedestal!::: Scott has been prancing around the house for weeks, giggling with glee, prowling Cabela's, reviewing his equipment, and tweaking details of the weekend camping trip with his buddies.

Since he recently asked me to knit him another hat, I figured I'd make a few of these guys and see if I could wrangle them into an ultra-silly hat. Still not sure if it'll work, but I also have an alternative plan. Either way, I'm doing my part to keep his bald noggin warm while he goes off to play with the fishies (and the guys who love them) this weekend.

BTW, if you're a fan of Pink Floyd and ever get the chance to see The Machine, grab those tix in a heartbeat. They are amazing, fantastic, phenomenal. Go. And take me with you! :-)