Who Loves a Bargain?

It's so nice to add to my Rav stash page as I do it so infrequently--and it helps me stay on top of everything.  Love how Ravelry looks through your stash and makes suggestions about which yarns might work for a pattern you're checking out.

Then I realized I hadn't yet shared my "bargoons" from Romni Wools. My budget was limited because I'd already spent a fair amount at LK Yarns when we were in Halifax a few weeks earlier.  Thankfully Romni Wools' lower level has a huge selection of discontinued yarns. And bonus:  there was a 20%-off-everything sale in the entire store.  Talk about lucky!

Lang Yarns sock yarn

First I checked out the sock yarns--and there was no shortage of colours, brands or fibers.   Decided on a brown mix called Lang Yarns Super Soxx Jubilee Denim.  Not sure about its regular retail rate, but it was marked down to $9.00 with an additional 20% discount at the register.  Not bad for over 450 yards--enough for a pair of socks.

Regia Lace

With the Regia Lace, I scored another great buy.  At over 600 yards, it was marked down to $9.90 with another 20% taken off.  Talk about value!  So much knitting fun for so little money.  And of course, I just love the rich colour.

Fritidsgarn in yummy colour

Then I spied more colours in the Sandnes Garn Fritidsgarn.  At $3.00 a ball plus an additional 20% off at the register, it was a steal.  Perhaps these can make a lovely woolen beret for one of my nieces.  Although both balls look identical, they have different colour and dye lots on the label, but I honestly couldn't tell the difference. 

Yummy candy colours . . . 

The Sirdar Baby Bamboo wasn't really an impulse buy, as I'd hoped to find some yummy colours to pair with some existing stash bamboo yarns in green, lilac and orange for a pretty multi-colour item: perhaps a scarf, shawl or shrug?  I'll figure that out later.  With or without the 20% off, these two skeins were still a great buy because they'll help me use leftovers from other projects.  Don't the colours look great together?

Colourful novelty yarn

My final purchase was a total whim--and whether it's folly or not remains to be seen--but I couldn't resist this fuzzy novelty yarn. The whimsical colours of Alessandra Filati Frizzante caught my eye.  At two bucks a piece, how could I not buy a couple of balls?  Maybe a funky hat for one of my nieces?

Yup, pleased as punch about my finds.  And honestly, it was all about the colours.  The prices were a bonus.  Thank heavens I don't live near Romni Wools, or else I'd be over there, rummaging through the basement bins, on a weekly basis. 

Perseverance, Progress and Patience

Every crafter, including me, needs the three Ps: perseverance, progress and patience.  What do they mean?

Finished afghan with completed border

1) Perseverance means eventually I will finish a project given the appropriate effort (i.e. not leaving it in the bottom of a basket hidden in the back of the closet!).  For example, my long languishing Bernat Mystery CAL from 2010 is finally finished!  Yup, got the border done and am now slowly working through the finishing process (i.e. weaving in all those pesky ends--lots of ends!!).

Detail of border/edging

2) Progress means that work continues on current WIPs.  For example, my Cashsilk Fern scarf continues to grow.  It's almost 20 inches which is nothing to sneeze at.  I continue to peck at that daily, even though it's slow going (go figure that thin yarn takes longer to grow, but grow it does).

Halfway for Cashsilk Fern scarf

3) Patience means having to wait before I embark on a new project.  On our last foray into the big city, we visited LK Yarns .  Having been there before, I knew the shop had products at many price points, but some lovely Handmaiden's Mini-Maiden tempted me.  It's ruby colour and soft silken feel whispered in my ear until I could resist no more.  At $30 a skein, it's some of the most expensive yarn I've ever bought (I bought 2 skeins).  Based out of Halifax, Handmaiden Yarns makes luxurious hand-dyed yarns that command a luxurious price.  Lucky for me, most of the Mini-Maiden was discounted, and I suspect it might have been because the labels were missing (So really I saved money.  And periodically repeating that to myself assuages my guilt, LOL). 

Handmaiden Mini-Maiden in Ruby

Special yarn needs a special pattern.  After many hours spent searching for the right pattern, I decided on the larger shawl version of Ashton Shawlette .  Although the pattern was highly recommended by knitters at Ravelry's Beginning-Lace-Knitters Group, I feared the project might be a wee bit above my skill level.  Even with all my lace experience, my projects tended to have simple lace stitches with simple rectangular shapes.  My only shawl project was a simple garter-stitch shawl.   

Drops Fabel in Sunset for first lace shawl

What to do?  Use less expensive yarn (I'm looking at you Drops Fabel) and attempt a simplified shawlette to learn about shawl construction.   The Oaklet Shawl with its stockinette body and lace border should fit the bill nicely.  It'll be my traveling/airport/try-not-to-freak-out-on-the-plane project.  Then when I feel more braver, I can use the expensive stuff.  

More Stash?

Squinting in front of Baadeck Yarns

Yup, another road trip resulted in a visit to yet another yarn shop . . . This is Baadeck Yarns in the lovely town of Baddeck on Cape Breton Island, off the Bras d'Or lakes-- a lovely and scenic part of Nova Scotia.

Waterfront View of Baddeck

The shop, which is located at the back of an old home, has lots to offer!  Nice selection of pretty handcrafted buttons and pins, tools, and of course lots of fiber and yarn, including Debbie Bliss, Malabrigo, Fleece Artist and Noro.  The staff were helpful and we even chatted with the friendly owner (and just an aside, even the Yarn Harlot loved this place when she visited in 2004).

Pretty Nordlys from Viking of Norway

On this excursion, I couldn't resist this bright fingering with it's rich saturated colour!  Even though it's sock yarn, this soft wool is meant to be something special: perhaps a shawlette or pretty lacy beret?  Must peruse Ravelry . . . 

Road Trip!

So we're on our first week of vacation, and we haven't been home . . . 

Yesterday we ventured to the big city and visited our favorite places: yarn shop for me, comic book stop for the boys and music store for hubby.  And of course, we hit the bookstores . . . !!  Fun was had by all.

Needless to say I added to the stash: sock yarn, double pointed needles and some lovely chunky stuff with awesome yardage.  Squee!

Sock yarn from Drops Fabel

Marble Chunky at over 300 yards!

If you're ever in the Halifax area, check out LK Yarns.  The staff was friendly and helpful (feel free to browse, even with hubby and kids in tow).  The selection was great: lots of different yarns at different price points.  And sweater quantities too!

I am one happy crafter. :)

Yarny Goodness

So even though I didn't get to visit many yarn shops whilst in TO, I still managed to acquire a few tools and some yarn.  First off, I finally got a stitch gauge along with a bamboo circular and two cushioned crochet hooks.

Some Crafting Tools

These I purchased at a Mary Maxim shop at Yonge and Eglinton.  Although small, the shop carried a variety of fibres from acrylics to alpaca, silks and wool.  Lots of brands such as Rowan, Noro, Sirdar and Debbie Bliss, as well as basics like Patons and Mary Maxim's house brand (remember that there's no real yarn shop in my hometown, so for me there was variety). 

Mary Maxim Store in Toronto Mall

I also found a large Michael's outlet in Newmarket.  I love acrylic and acrylic blends and was happy to see a variety of brands from Red Heart to Lionsbrand along with Patons, Bernat and Michael's house brand.  My only purchase there was a set of Susan Bates crochet hooks.

Set of Crochet Hooks

Perhaps the most exciting excursion for me was a visit to Romni Wools on Queen St W in Toronto.  This was yarn heaven!  I must confess that if I lived in Toronto, I would be down at Romni Wools every weekend (even though it took about an hour and a half to venture down to the city).  

Yarn Heaven

It was two full floors of yarn (you name it, they had.  And honestly, if it wasn't there, then chances were you probably couldn't get it in the city).  Downstairs the store carries all discounted brands and discounted colours at discounted prices (I believe it was an automatic 20%).   Staff were ready to help, but I just wanted to browse and savour the yarny goodness because there was just soooo much! 

Upstairs was brighter and yarns seemed to be grouped by fibre (all sock yarns were together, all cottons, etc).  The variety was staggering!

Back of Store

Check out the photo above: that only represents one aisle out of four (and its not even the entire aisle 'cuz I was standing in the middle of the store).  Below is a section to the front where you'll find summer yarns and lots o' knitting books and magazines (again, that's only half of the front 'cuz the entrance and cashier are not visible).

Front of Store

And I'll confess that I didn't even see everything because there was too much to see.  If I had the time, I would have come back on my own (sans husband and children, although I was a good sport and waited patiently while they perused action figures at the comic book store or plucked guitar strings at the music store).

I had promised myself a lovely skein--just one.  I ended up buying two: 400+ yards of a pretty silk-wool worsted blend (regular $30 and on sale for $18) and 400 yards of super soft alpaca in fingering (only $10). 

Alpaca Fingering



Silk-Wool Worsted Blend

Mmmmm . . . . yarny goodness at its finest :D