Thursday, November 11, 2004

Yarn score at the thrift store

When I left school at three yesterday afternoon, I wasn't ready to head straight home. Instead, I took the long journey by bus out to La Boutique V.V., and I found that a knitting fairy had been round there!

mmm, silky wool

Score #1: Nine 50-gram balls of Scheepjeswol Thorobred Silk Lambswool -- 60% wool / 40% silk, 110 meters per ball, colour 373 (deep raspberry pink). Made in New Zealand. So soft. Looks like a light worsted weight? I'm never sure about that. So... 990 meters of this stuff. Enough for a sweater of some sort? Price: $3.99.

cotton + linen

Score #2: Seven 50-gram balls of Scheepjeswol Linnen -- 60% cotton / 40% linen, 170 meters per ball, colour 255 (pale dull blue). Made in Holland. This stuff is thin (recommended needle size is 3.5mm), but uneven; two thin plies of linen, two plies of cotton that are often slubby. So... 1,140 meters of it. No idea what this could be knit into. A light summer wrap, perhaps? Or a lacy summer cardigan? I'll set it aside for now. Price: $3.99.

Thanks, generous knitting fairy! Don't forget about thrift stores, you yarnivores, especially if you're dreaming of new yarn but can't afford a sweater's worth of, oh, say, a silk-wool or cotton-linen blend. People donate lovely things.

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