Thrift s(t)core!!

Yeah, like I was sayin' last time...I've been on the move. I absolutely love a deal, and it's even sweeter when it's name brand merchandise! See for yourself. I bought the taupe handbag first. Then, it kept bugging me...I should have gotten the black, too. So, 2 days later I went back for it, and imagine my joy when it was STILL There!!The thrifting gods were smiling on me--unlike the knitting gods, but we won't go there right now. These are Brand Spanking New Liz Claiborne satchels I got for $3.63 a piece. I left the tag on lest you don't believe me. The black one is a tad dusty, but hey! It was still NEVER used! And, of course, if that wasn't enough...and it wasn't...here's my new stash!


This first juicy item is a bag of 10-count 'em-10 skeins of Brunswick Quick Breeze with the ribbing of a project someone started. I'm going to rip it back and use this to make the peplum sweater in the latest issue of VK. The price tag was left on the bag from the original yarn shop.....$3.00. Can you stand it?? No, I paid more because when you go to this thrift store, they throw a bunch of different stuff into a bag and it's pot luck for anywhere from $5.15-$9.19 for the bag.

Next up for your viewing pleasure, a half knit sweater with the remaining balls. (10 balls, I assume) It's Patons Ascot in a beautiful shade of heathered tans....it's a wool/acrylic/viscose blend. I'm thinking something from Patons Street Smart booklet I bought about 2 months ago...

And if that wasn't enough, and it isn't....10 skeins of a delicious pink and 3 skeins of a silvery blue in Brunswick 100% shetland wool!! People, I'm feelin' socks here. Am I right?


Had enough?? No, me either...but I am going to make you wait for my next post from this yarn stash! Because....I want to show off some other things I've been dallying around with. My wee mp3 player desperately needed a better "jacket". Hello Kitty naturalamente! I doubled the flannel and crocheted the drawstring! Wait til you see the next one...And speaking of crochet.....

and I am....here's my latest WIP. It's a tank top from a vintage McCall's Needlework. I'm using some oldie goldie yarn I picked up at the local Wally World from 1990. Knitters always talk about cotton yarn bothering them when they knit, but I can truly say it only bothers me when I crochet. I must be backwards...which reminds me....at knitting group, A, who is a crocheter and recently learned knitting, blurts out that she is a Croknitter! I retort, then I must be a Knit-cheter(pronounced shay-er)! And, I guess I really am!

Longest span between posts?

Blogging hasn't been at the top of my priority list. What has? Actually, many things have captured my attention as of late....I quit smoking very recently and decided that instead of sitting aroung making myself fatter, I'd also go back to the gym and change my eating habits. I figure if I have to suffer, I may as well do it all the way. Let me tell you, eating "good" has it's drawbacks and couple that with "oral" fixation from not smoking...I'm HUNGRY ALL THE TIME!!!! Exceptionally low cal snack ideas would be welcomed!

I figure I'm the last person on the planet to get an mp3 player, but I love this little gadget!! Why didn't I succumb before?? Because I couldn't justify the price of an i-pod just for going to the gym. Being technology impaired, I will say this was pretty darn easy to upload. My hubbo has windows xp on both home computers, but after a bit of trial and error, we discovered that we needed to upgrade the media player! That done, and away I went....uh...my batteries already died, so off to get more! Luckily, Walgreen's had a sale on them today....$.99 for 4.

And, yes, I'm knitting alot , and shopping, too. I wanted to show some more, but guess what? The stupid camera battery died. This house is jinxed. Guess I'm off to Walgreen's again.

Yes, Virginia, there is an Easter Puppy!

Don't ya love stuffed animals? I do...and this one is holiday appropriate! So first let me wish everyone a happy Easter!

I realized last time that I promised a pic of my kool Aid dying experiment, and I didn't do it, so here:

I knit a gauge swatch, measured out how long I wanted each stripe, and then proceeded to wind the wool around 2 chairs--just like what I've seen floating around on the internet. The dying process wasn't as messy as I thought it'd be, and went rather quickly. After rinsing, I hung up this super looooong hank to dry. The day I chose to do this, it must have been 80 degrees out, and the yarn dried in an hour. Now, here's where I goofed. I just brought the whole hank into the living room and thought I'd be cute and wind it into a fancy hank for photographic purposes like the real dyers have done. Ha! It took me longer to wind this up into a ball, and I thought I was going to have tangle city!!! What is the secret for winding it after it's dry??? Put it back on the chairs and go round and round til you're cross eyed again???

I want to try this again (and again) but still can't find any cheapo wool to dye. Meaning a thrifted sweater. Every one I've found has been a "colored" one. And really, I can't see buying more wool at the yarn shop just for this purpose since I'm such an amateur. This stupid ball I did was $6.95.-and there's only 240 yards there. I used 2 packages of grape, 2 of lemonade-don't ask- and one package of cherry. The process is fun, but my results were disappointing. It will be back to the drawing board for me!

Some progress, some new work

Thought I'd share a pic of my mistake rib socks while in progress..
Check out the heel flap! I love how it looks like fair isle...just a reminder, it's that Italian acrylic yarn from the stash.



Then, I've added yet another project to the mountain that I already have. Went to the thrift store and found this project (half finished) in a bag with some other stuff. The yarn I love--Pingouin Fresca-100% mercerized cotton! I want some ideas here. There was no pattern or magazine with this, so I'd have to make a chart. That is, if I continue on....I have this crazy idea to make it into a vest ala "See Eunny Knit". C'mon! I'm open to suggestions!
It looks like it was originally destined to be a pillow. That's all the yarn that came with it. Ok, and if I do go with a vest...how to do it??? Help!

FO (to) Finish

Yep, it's another one!
These are Yukon Leaves in LB Magic Stripes Regatta Blue colorway. I used 2 size 1 circs. I was hoping you'd be able to see the stitch pattern, but no go. I recommend this one. There's enough row variation to keep you interested. Anyhoo...here's a different shot....I tried to make them matching, but somehow ended up goofing. The sock on the right looks longer and larger just because of the white striping.










Over the weekend, I went to Bradenton to meet my nephew for the first time. I can't believe he's already 4 years old. Meet Red's son....Griffin! Isn't he just the cutest? I made a little mpeg of him running and fetching his ball!

And while I was there, Red was kind enough to take me to a yarn shop. (2 of the 3 I wanted to go to were closed on SATURDAY!!). What's up with that? I realize Sarasota is kind of a retirement place and a resort spot, but really! People who have to work need access to a shop who is open on the weekend! You know, here I am trying to patronize an LYS, but with no luck. No wonder etailers are so successful.

Anyway, I only bought one skein of fingering weight wool to Kool Aid dye. (Pic next time). Can I tell you how disappointed I was in the one yarn shop I visited? First off, it has a great location...but upon entering the shop, I couldn't make heads or tails of her inventory. It wasn't by brand name, nor was it by color or fiber content. I felt I was in cubby hole mishmash! I couldn't tell ya what she had or what she didn't have. I knew I was in trouble when I called and asked what lines they carried. The person that answered was so vague--which made me think immediately there was a problem. The shop owner was nice and willing to help, but it was pointless. It's not that the store was messy....it was that all the hanks were just stacked one on top of another in each cubby hole without regard to brand, color, or fiber content. I could tell that Red was getting bored....and she's not even a knitter! Maybe another day I'll be able to visit the other 2. Oh? The shop name? I'd rather not say since it wasn't a favorable review. Maybe they'll get it together so that the next time I'll be able to shop!

"Random" stuff

If you'll pardon the pun. As you know, I flashed my sock stash, so since I figured I had enough for (gulp) 38 pair of socks, I better get crackin'. On Saturday I finished 1 sock of Yukon Leaves.-I promptly cast on for mistake rib sock 1...check out each side of the sock...one lighter, one darker. I think I'll name these "creamsicle" since that's what they remind me of.










And then, did you ever try this? I did and gave it up for strictly(!) knitting... It's kind of nerdy, but in a cute sort of way.






Update on Kool-Aid. Got light and dark green at a different grocery store chain, but alas no wool sweater to be frogged for the yarn dying experiment. :(

On the Hunt

....for green Kool-Aid. I'm trying to get all the colors available for my yarn dying experiment. Here's what I found today: In talking to Aletris, she mentioned another brand of drink mix that I originally was trying to find since hubbo had suggested it, too. It's called flavr-aid. I want green, but there wasn't one for Kool-Aid.

I finished one sock at group today and then proceeded to cast on for my next socks. These will be mistake rib socks. See? I am trying to use up the stash! Ok...truth be known, I want to dye my own for more sock yarn! My thrift store crawl today was a total bust. Nothing. Guess it's hard to get a 100% wool sweater in FL.

And speaking of FL, I am proud to say I have just joined the Florida Knitters webring! Woo! The best part is I found a fellow knitter whom I've met before , and I'm happy to say she's bloggin' again! Ya gotta love the internet....better than "let your fingers do the walking".