Thrift Score

I always poke in the half-hidden bins that hold a myriad of crafty things at thrift stores, hoping against hope that there will be some excellent yarn in them. Usually there are just some tangled balls of 1980s acrylic (see, if it was from the 1970s or earlier it would at least be cool colors) in several pastel shades. Not this time! I found three skeins of Bernat Glenspun English Tweed in a dark blue at a local consignment shop:

This, my friends, is 100% wool, superwash no less. And the label claims it was actually spun at a mill in England. The three skeins together cost me 75 cents.


My Christmas knitting project for myself:


Pattern: Cabled Purse from Last Minute Knitted Gifts
Yarn: Celestial Merino by Lucy Neatby, 1 skein Scarlet
Source: The Elegant Ewe
Needles: Clover bamboo US Size 3 dpns
Modifications: I used dpns instead of the 12" circular needle called for in the pattern. I also ended up knitting the cabled part twice, because I grabbed a set of US Size 6 dpns and didn't notice until I was on the last round of the cable chart. Oh well. It was something simple and pretty to keep my mind occupied during the hectic days surrounding Christmas and New Year's.



There hasn't been much new knitting around here, since I'm trying to clean stuff out and get organized. The organizing itself leaves slightly less time for knitting, and half-finished projects are reappearing (above is the Bird Seed Scarf from the Purl Bee that I've already shown you, but I decided I would like some more birds. Who wouldn't?). I'd like to finish them before I start anything new, especially because the second Secret of the Stole starts in a couple of weeks.

Here's my swatch:

This is done on US Size 2 bamboo needles (instead of the US Size 3 needles recommended) but I like the way it looks so I'm keeping it.

Here's the yarn I'm using:

It's Habu Textiles Extra Fine Merino. Each cone comes with 747 yards, and is only eight dollars at The Elegant Ewe in Concord. They only have this brown color, but I like it. Also the tips from Nautical Knitter, the SotS II designer, recommended natural earthy tones. The yarn is beautiful although it's very thin (hence the smaller needles). It shows lace beautifully though, and has a slight haze to it.

All right, back to the house cleaning and finishing-up-of-old-projects. Not only are the number of unfinished projects embarrassing, so is the size of my stash (especially my fiber stash, which I contribute to as if I was a person who spins on a regular basis. Obviously, this is not the case). So after the finishing-up-of-old-projects, there must be some stash busting with a capital S. Wish me luck in both endeavors.