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Happy Knitting!
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Saturday, January 27, 2007
A day of Yarn Excess!
HO-LY COW!
Today was a day of utter excess when it comes to yarn!
Stop #1: Since I was headed to Mt Dora (see Stop #2 below), and I was in need of a bit of #8 pearl cotton, I dropped by Dream Stitchers on 5th Ave and picked up two yummy skeins of hand-painted pearl cotton. I have a pattern for a really cute little beaded purse, and these yarns will make an absolutely lovely one. Tried to photo, but it didn't really come out, sorry.
Stop #2: Amanda from the NYGK group happened to be in Mt Dora earlier this week and dropped by Knit N Needle Nook to see if they were open. Surprisingly, they were!
Ok, so let me back up 30 years and give you a little background. This store resides in a small storefront in the historic village district of Mt Dora, FL. The entire building lacks air conditioning. As a result, the store has been open only seasonally for years. Barbara, the owner, did not believe in sales, therefore they never had them. Which means that there is some REALLY old yarn in this store. In addition, she received automatic shipments for years, which means there was also a TON of yarn in the store. Years ago, one of our guilds went in on a field trip, and the classic story from that event was: "I accidentally knocked over a bag of yarn while I was there, and Barbara said 'oh, don't worry about that, I'll get it when I vacuum'" The funny part? There was barely room for a walking path, much less to get a vacuum through!!
Fast forward to this spring, we took another field trip, with planned stops at #1 above and #3 below, and a hoped for stop at #2. Upon arrival, we found a note on the door that said "Closed due to illness". We have heard nothing more about the store being open until we heard from Amanda on Tuesday.
It seems that the store has been sold. Sadly, Barbara seems to be battling a terminal illness at this time. The new owners, Lora and her husband have been working hard to clear out the piles and piles of yarn in the store. They are open this weekend, offering yarns at up to 90% off their list prices. Basically what this means is that many yarns are marked at $1 a ball, some at $2 a ball, and a few of the more current ones are a smaller % off. If you go up, be sure to take a look in the back room! Lots of old yarns ranging from cottons, linens, wools, mohairs, and acrylics. Much of the yarn is an acrylic blend, some higher percentages than others.
If you are doing charity knitting, this is a great opportunity both for acrylic blends and 100% acrylics. There was also a significant amount of yarn that could be used for baby knitting, including a variety of Sirdars, as well as DK and fingering weight yarns.
Be aware that one person has attempted to swatch some "bulky" weight yarn that she purchased, and it swatched at more of a Sport or Worsted weight. Due to the amount of time some of these yarns have been in storage, there has definitely been some compression.
That said, I bought over 100 balls of yarn - and paid less than $100 including tax.
Here are 40 balls of Filatura di Crosa cotton - looks like some great baby clothes to me!
13 balls of Pinguin PingoFrance II - 75% acrylic, 25% wool. Once again, more baby clothes! Oh, and all of that "black" looking yarn? Nope, not really...it's actually a lovely deep purple color, and one ball of nearly navy. Sorry, by the time I got home it was too late to go outside for natural light photos!
Here are two shells for me - the turquoise is Katia Papiro, the peach I forget. The baby weight cotton could be socks, or baby clothes...we'll have to see...
Oh, and found a bit of SP8 yarn there too...
This sale will be going on for the next few weeks, and they will be bringing in additional yarns. They said the yarn in the store today represented only about 1/4 of the yarn that was in the store when they purchased it. I would call before making the drive, to ensure that they will be open. The new phone number is 407-830-5421. Lora's email is linked above. The storefront is located on 5th Ave in Mt Dora. Here is a link to the 5th Avenue Cafe. It is located one or two blocks farther West from Knit N Needle Nook. Basically it's a small town, and parking is tight, so just find a spot to park, then walk up to 5th Ave (It's pretty much the "Main Street" through town). Also be aware that the Mt Dora Arts Festival will be February 3rd and 4th. This means parking will be remote with transport to the town, and the town will be mobbed.
I hope you enjoy your trip! There are some great gems in there, and it's an awesome opportunity!
Ok, so at that stop, I also met up with ladies from at least three of the Orlando Guilds. Two of them helped me narrow my selections after they had finished their own shopping. After shopping, we all headed to The Gables for lunch.
Stop #3: After lunch, the rest of the group headed back to Orlando, but, since I was already most of the way there, AND since it made my drive home simpler and more direct... Well, I just had to drop by Chez Casuelle and visit with Carla for a while! Picked up this luscious skein of CTH, and two more skeins of sock yarn for my SP8 downstream :)
Overall? Good day. Spent a little, saved a TON...hhhmmm...common theme recently...
Today was a day of utter excess when it comes to yarn!
Stop #1: Since I was headed to Mt Dora (see Stop #2 below), and I was in need of a bit of #8 pearl cotton, I dropped by Dream Stitchers on 5th Ave and picked up two yummy skeins of hand-painted pearl cotton. I have a pattern for a really cute little beaded purse, and these yarns will make an absolutely lovely one. Tried to photo, but it didn't really come out, sorry.
Stop #2: Amanda from the NYGK group happened to be in Mt Dora earlier this week and dropped by Knit N Needle Nook to see if they were open. Surprisingly, they were!
Ok, so let me back up 30 years and give you a little background. This store resides in a small storefront in the historic village district of Mt Dora, FL. The entire building lacks air conditioning. As a result, the store has been open only seasonally for years. Barbara, the owner, did not believe in sales, therefore they never had them. Which means that there is some REALLY old yarn in this store. In addition, she received automatic shipments for years, which means there was also a TON of yarn in the store. Years ago, one of our guilds went in on a field trip, and the classic story from that event was: "I accidentally knocked over a bag of yarn while I was there, and Barbara said 'oh, don't worry about that, I'll get it when I vacuum'" The funny part? There was barely room for a walking path, much less to get a vacuum through!!
Fast forward to this spring, we took another field trip, with planned stops at #1 above and #3 below, and a hoped for stop at #2. Upon arrival, we found a note on the door that said "Closed due to illness". We have heard nothing more about the store being open until we heard from Amanda on Tuesday.
It seems that the store has been sold. Sadly, Barbara seems to be battling a terminal illness at this time. The new owners, Lora and her husband have been working hard to clear out the piles and piles of yarn in the store. They are open this weekend, offering yarns at up to 90% off their list prices. Basically what this means is that many yarns are marked at $1 a ball, some at $2 a ball, and a few of the more current ones are a smaller % off. If you go up, be sure to take a look in the back room! Lots of old yarns ranging from cottons, linens, wools, mohairs, and acrylics. Much of the yarn is an acrylic blend, some higher percentages than others.
If you are doing charity knitting, this is a great opportunity both for acrylic blends and 100% acrylics. There was also a significant amount of yarn that could be used for baby knitting, including a variety of Sirdars, as well as DK and fingering weight yarns.
Be aware that one person has attempted to swatch some "bulky" weight yarn that she purchased, and it swatched at more of a Sport or Worsted weight. Due to the amount of time some of these yarns have been in storage, there has definitely been some compression.
That said, I bought over 100 balls of yarn - and paid less than $100 including tax.
Here are 40 balls of Filatura di Crosa cotton - looks like some great baby clothes to me!
13 balls of Pinguin PingoFrance II - 75% acrylic, 25% wool. Once again, more baby clothes! Oh, and all of that "black" looking yarn? Nope, not really...it's actually a lovely deep purple color, and one ball of nearly navy. Sorry, by the time I got home it was too late to go outside for natural light photos!
Here are two shells for me - the turquoise is Katia Papiro, the peach I forget. The baby weight cotton could be socks, or baby clothes...we'll have to see...
Oh, and found a bit of SP8 yarn there too...
This sale will be going on for the next few weeks, and they will be bringing in additional yarns. They said the yarn in the store today represented only about 1/4 of the yarn that was in the store when they purchased it. I would call before making the drive, to ensure that they will be open. The new phone number is 407-830-5421. Lora's email is linked above. The storefront is located on 5th Ave in Mt Dora. Here is a link to the 5th Avenue Cafe. It is located one or two blocks farther West from Knit N Needle Nook. Basically it's a small town, and parking is tight, so just find a spot to park, then walk up to 5th Ave (It's pretty much the "Main Street" through town). Also be aware that the Mt Dora Arts Festival will be February 3rd and 4th. This means parking will be remote with transport to the town, and the town will be mobbed.
I hope you enjoy your trip! There are some great gems in there, and it's an awesome opportunity!
Ok, so at that stop, I also met up with ladies from at least three of the Orlando Guilds. Two of them helped me narrow my selections after they had finished their own shopping. After shopping, we all headed to The Gables for lunch.
Stop #3: After lunch, the rest of the group headed back to Orlando, but, since I was already most of the way there, AND since it made my drive home simpler and more direct... Well, I just had to drop by Chez Casuelle and visit with Carla for a while! Picked up this luscious skein of CTH, and two more skeins of sock yarn for my SP8 downstream :)
Overall? Good day. Spent a little, saved a TON...hhhmmm...common theme recently...
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Last Things First
At the enablement of my last SP, Applepieisyum, I've decided to stalk Baby Ull yarn... she sent me two balls (pink and light purple), along with pattern book 135, which is TOTALLY yummy! So, with a new bebe in the family, I'm thinking of making some of those luscious Dalegarn patterns. Found a listing on eBay this week for *8* balls! Starting price $12. Actually, it was $12 all the way up through this afternoon when I bid on it. Sadly, the auction closed right in the middle of the evening's knitting meeting, so I wasn't there to adjust my bid when someone outbid me 30 seconds before the end :( I suppose it was for the best.
In other news, I just MIGHT have finished a particular recent project of some import that I have been working on of late at this evenings meeting... but I'm not tellin'!
Worked on the final scarf as well this evening...was totally in a knitting mode! This scarf will be #10 of 10 for the Red Scarf Project! Here is a pic of the first 31 that were donated by the Orlando Area Knitters, West Orange Knitters, Knit or Knot, and Knit Wits groups:
I expect we'll have 12-20 more by next week for the final shipment! Many thanks to Borders (who sponsors the Knit Wits group) for covering shipping for these!
Oh, and since I'm in such a sock mood, I also finally took pics of the pair I completed for myself while I was in NY...Oh, and the nosy little brat smelling the bottoms of my feet is Smokey...
I must say, the newest pair I like even better, since the cuffs are tapered to accomodate calf size, and the feet are snugger. Well, they're a little snug on me since they were made to be a size smaller than my feet, which means they should be PERFECT for their intended recipient ;)
Ok, that's all the "quick knitting news" I can fit in for now...it's midnight and I haven't even caught up on the knittyboard posts yet!
In other news, I just MIGHT have finished a particular recent project of some import that I have been working on of late at this evenings meeting... but I'm not tellin'!
Worked on the final scarf as well this evening...was totally in a knitting mode! This scarf will be #10 of 10 for the Red Scarf Project! Here is a pic of the first 31 that were donated by the Orlando Area Knitters, West Orange Knitters, Knit or Knot, and Knit Wits groups:
I expect we'll have 12-20 more by next week for the final shipment! Many thanks to Borders (who sponsors the Knit Wits group) for covering shipping for these!
Oh, and since I'm in such a sock mood, I also finally took pics of the pair I completed for myself while I was in NY...Oh, and the nosy little brat smelling the bottoms of my feet is Smokey...
I must say, the newest pair I like even better, since the cuffs are tapered to accomodate calf size, and the feet are snugger. Well, they're a little snug on me since they were made to be a size smaller than my feet, which means they should be PERFECT for their intended recipient ;)
Ok, that's all the "quick knitting news" I can fit in for now...it's midnight and I haven't even caught up on the knittyboard posts yet!
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Trips, Fiber Days, and Exchanges
Wow...so much to say, and so many pictures to put up...and so little time! I owe you all SEVERAL long picture laden posts...but in the meantime here's a synopsis...
- Spent an AMAZING week in NY with my DB and DSIL and my adorable baby niece!! I've shown the pictures around to everyone local, but I promise I'll post some soon!
- Distaff Day was GREAT! Wonderful turnout, and though I brought and set up my wheel and did not spin a lick, I did some knitting, spent lots of quality time, and netted a gorgeous ball of Koigu in the swap.
- On my trip up north, I also managed to hit two great LYS's. Both were having sales! Picked up my first pair of Magic Loop needles (Addi Turbo #2's, 40" - I think my next pair should be #1's), some lovely yarn to go with the Koigu from above, as well as 4 more pairs of socks worth of yarn.
- Am doing the Knitty Sock Exchange! Socks are coming along really well...Mokolua and I have both agreed that we like surprises however, so no pics till after she receives them - they're going well though!
- SP8 (my first full length SP round!) matches came out today! I've claimed and been claimed...Hooray!
- So far finished 9 scarves for the Red Scarf Project! We turned in 31 scarves today, representing nearly a dozen knitters and four different knitting groups in the area! Expect another dozen scarves to be collected next week (I cast on #10 today - thought it was a nice round number!). Pictures of that coming soon too...
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