Yesterday Momma and I made a trip down to Savannah for a little fiber research and shopping. Located two nifty LYSs and found out about a spinning group! And lucky me, they're meeting next Monday! Very excited about that. I may have to just take my drop spindles this first time because I'm not sure how to lug my wheel down there (will have to borrow Momma's car at least) but I'll definitely check it out and then try to bring my wheel next time.
I was just going to the yarn stores "to look" and for spinning tool/info research purposes and I held strong despite the very lovely fibers and yarns at Wild Fibre, but I will be exposed to that temptation again on Monday. My wallet didn't fare as well at Unwind though. I have three words to support my moment of weakness: sale, alpaca, bamboo. I think that is justification enough.
It's safe to say I'm fairly obsessed with alpaca, both the fiber and the animal. Just the thought of alpacas is enough to make make me go *squeeee*. I am also currently in love with bamboo. I love the drape and the sheen and I really love the way it feels cool and light, something that is veeeery good around here. So when I cam across this for 30% off, I was a goner:
My downfall started early on when I spotted some black and white Berroco Seduce, which normally would not be "my thing" but it was speaking to me. I could see small, simple, light openwork scarf that would be a little snazzy, but casual enough to be wearable and light enough that it could just be an accent piece rather than only being able to wear it when actual warmth is warranted (which for me is very rarely). Of course I could not see that piece making it past my mother but that's not the point. Anyway, I picked up a couple of those and carried them around with me. Not too much, just a little something to take home without blowing the bank. Then I spotted a few more things that just had to be picked up as well. The next was very out of character for me. It was a bamboo blend but very bright colors (hot pink and bright blue) with some shiny bits. The bright colors is not all that out of the ordinary for me to be drawn to but I usually don't go down the shiny or 'novelty' road. It was quite lovely though. Then I found some awesome feeling yarn that was 100% sugar cane. How cool is that? Then another bamboo blend that was dark brown with a little black and strikingly similar to my hair (which was actually down for the first time in weeks). At this point it became apparent that some choices would have to be made. Lol. Worked my way around.. my typical yarn store method is start at one spot, systematically work around the room/shop touching almost everything at least once and try to resist the urge to smell most of it (because I think that makes appear even weirder than usual)... until lo and behold I came upon the sale yarn. Sometimes I'm relatively safe in the sale area since often it is a lot of novelty stuff or things I'm not crazy about (although my taste was a bit off center yesterday so who could say at that point), and sometimes you hit the jackpot. This was a case of the latter. I found some lovely kettle dyed 100% bamboo, then some bamboo/nylon sock yarn which I really really wanted. I didn't even realize they were on sale at first. Then I found the Mirasol Qina alpaca/bamboo heavenliness and it was all over. Once I realized I was indeed int he sale section (?*!*?*!) I first grabbed a couple skeins of a lovely green... then a couple more... and finally I did a little math, ditched the Berroco and sugar cane and bright colors and hair matching yarn (after making a list of them all for later, of course) and snatched up every last skein in that colorway. All in all I think I ended up with enough for a light cardigan-y creation for myself, which is no small feat for that price range. I mean, I'm not huge but there's enough boobage real estate to consider that a proper sweater that fits me comfortably is rarely in the budget, especially considering my alpaca fetish. I still don't have enough for a full on high neck, long sleeved, cabled masterpiece but there's plenty for something like a February Lady Sweater with a little left over for something else small and fun. Maybe not that exact patter but who knows. I did enjoy making Momma's and have been on the lookout for some of that super fabulous Sundara yarn to make one for myself but it has been out of stock or out of price range (Momma's was super expensive but totally worth it).
Anyway... I made out with the Qina, the On Your Toes Bamboo, and one skein of Bonnie's Bamboo.
Then we had to pop into Michaels for a minute to see if they had one of those yarn guides you put on your finger for colorwork and a crochet hook and buttons for Momma. There would be no yarn happening there for sure. Almost made it out alive until this nearly jumped off the shelf at me. How did I not know about this sooner? Being a stretchy cotton blend, there is hope for this turning into socks FOR ME and my hot sweaty little feet!
Usually I knit for my mom or for someone else or for no one in particular because it helps me justify the yarn expense (but it's a present for _____!) and because I am so warm bodied and live in such a sweltering climate that I rarely get a chance to use my own stuff. Only every now and then and usually just a practical shawl or something. Out of my 5 1/2 years of knitting, I think I myself have actually acquired one hat (which is not in my possession currently but I keep telling my mom is not hers), one pair of fingerless gloves (which are in need of repair because some sort of beastly critter dared to gnaw a hole in one *dies*), two shawls (an acrylic Clapotis and my beloved SWTC Karaoke Lady Elanor), and to pairs of socks. And I didn't even make the socks myself (Sock Wars)! It should be noted that only the Clapotis, one pair of the socks (which need darning... thanks for nothing Debbie Bliss :-P), and the gloves (which also need darning) are actually in my possession. I had a Malabrigo Clapotis as well but I'm not sure I'll ever be able to get that back from my mom.
So a day filled with yarn for *ME* is unusual. I just hope I can make those projects come to fruition! Most of my personal stuff never gets finishes (*ahem* Gamecocks Sweater *ahem*) if it even gets started (Ultra Alpaca sweater, Lotus Blossom Tank, etc).
Ok, now I must go do some boring things like grocery shopping and dishes and other undesirable activities. Later I must post the results of my dying experiment and updates on the colorwork swatch and such to verify that I do actually *do* things other than stash acquisition. Lol.
No comments:
Post a Comment