The best kind of garage sale

My local yarn store had a garage sale today.  Customers bring in random fiber products and set the price.  Other customers buy them.  The store keeps the money, and gives the sellers a gift certificate for an equal amount. 

How cool is that?  Clean out the stash.  Buy other's stash.  Get gift certificate for new yarn. 

My mother tagged along with me.  I quickly amassed a handful of little treasures.  Random balls of sock yarn, a bamboo circ, some whispy mohair, all for only a couple dollars each. 

Then a large bag of Noro Aurora jumped up and bit into my wrist and wouldn't let go.  10 whole skeins of it, in the prettiest shades of dark greens, blues, purples.  $40.00 was far more than I had planned on spending, but I was a woman obsessed.  I kept wandering back to that table to fondle the yarn and admire the colors. 

I blame the yarn fumes.  And the enablers other knitters.  They kept whispering into my ear.  10 skeins is a lot of yarn.  I could make anything with 10 skeins.  $40 was really a bargain for that much Noro.  If you haven't knit with Noro, you haven't lived. 

   It followed me home.  Can I keep it?

Today, it is all about the bargain.   

Did you fondle it?

You know how it is when you are expecting yarn.  You check the tracking info, multiple times a day.  You look at pictures of it online.  You dream of future projects.  And at long last, you hear the news:

My sweetie: a package arrived for you today. 

Me:  My yarn!  Did you open it?  Is it pretty?  Did you fondle it?  Is it soft?

My sweetie:  Um, I didn't open it.

Personally, I don't see how he can resist opening my yarn for me, but I would feel the same way if it was hunting-related. 

So without further ado. . . .

Six gorgeous skeins of black Misti Alpaca Canada Lace.    All purchased off Ravelry for $24 (including shipping).

2,600 yards of alpaca softness! 

And it is SOFT.  Baby cheeks soft.  Angel wings soft. 

I am seriously fighting the urge to spread it on the floor and roll around naked on it. 

Today, it is all about the softness. 

The Lost Notes

Today, I was tidying a little around the bedroom, and I found underneath my jewelry box some yarn notes. I had forgotten all about that yarn trip.

Well, that is what I call the day. I went out to to the "big city" for a wedding shower in September, and while out and about there, we passed by a yarn store. My sweetie was willing to indulge me in stopping.

Whew! I have never seen such a store. The yarns were so exquisite and exotic, I was afraid to even pet the yarn. And expensive! Quivit, cashmere, crystals, oh my! I just can't imagine paying over $ 100 for a single skein of yarn, no matter what I would knit with it. Even the clearnance racks were well beyond my yarn budget. I had an eye out for some interesting sock yarn to purchase, and I still walked out empty handed.

My sweetie wanted to stop at some sporting goods store (probably why he was so agreeable to the yarn store stop), and right next door was a Joann fabric. A huge Joann fabric store. What a smart store combination. Men to the left, women to the right, and we will meet in the parking lot between them.

I found more interesting, affordable and droolworthy yarns at JoAnns than I did at the pricey yarn store. I jotted down a few notes, figuring maybe we could go back to the big city again in a few months. Those are the notes that I found this morning.

I just have one more problem. I still have more yarn than time to knit it. But that is getting a little better.

Today, it is all about the dream yarns, both affordable and expensive.

My kind of garage sale

My local yarn store had a garage sale this weekend. What a great idea! People brought their unwanted yarn/books/gadgets to the yarn store all week. The seller sets the price. When your items sell, you get gift certificates at the yarn store. Anything that doesn't sell will be returned to you, or found a new good home for charity, whichever you wanted.

I had been looking forward to this all month. It turned out to be anticlimatic, for me at least. I saw other knitters with full baskets. I had one eye on Bugaboo, one eye on Doodlebug, and one eye trying to shop. Plus, I have some much great yarn at home, and so little knitting time, I had decided that I wouldn't buy anything that wasn't better than what I had at home. I couldn't believe it, but I didn't buy anything. I was tempted by a few things, but what is the point in getting a great deal on sweater yarn when I already have so many projects in the queue so it would just sit there with the rest?

At least it was a success for the store and other knitters, because that means that she will probably do it again. And maybe I can take better advantage then. And since I had both kids, no Sock club either. Sigh.

Today, it is all about the oppotunities that slip away.

Is it here yet?

I am waiting on pins and needles (pun intended) for my new yarn. I ordered some yarn from KnitPicks with my birthday money. Sock yarn. And for the first time, I kept in mind my wardrobe as I chose the colors. I think I will have at least one article of clothing to match each colorway.

I realize that some of you may be wondering why I am so silly excited about some rather plain jane sock yarn. But you don't understand. I have been on a yarn diet forever. Since the beginning of time. Or at least since the beginning of my marriage. In part because of money, and in part because I just didn't need it. (Pause for the sounds of shock and the frenzieed insistence that one ALWAYS needs more sock yarn.) During most of my pregnancy, I hardly knit at all, and married mommy me just doesn't have the down time (or energy) to knit like I used to. (See previous entry about how many things that we in progress two years ago are still in progress. And there weren't very many things that have been started and finished duriung that time either.)

The only yarn I remember buying in the last two years was the cheapie stuff I bought for my sweetie's hoodie, that that doesn't really count.

So, I checked on the status of my new yarn. Damn! Not even shipped yet. Ok, I guess I did order it only two days ago. I

I also received a birthday gift certificate foy my lys. I have definite plans for that baby,

Today, it is all about the acquisition.