The El Segundo Slipt Stitchers knitting guild had our annual holiday potluck and fire sale this past weekend.
I had taken Like A Payer shawl with me to show Brandi, the raffle/yarn queen. I figured if anyone would come across the right kind of yarn to finish it, it would be her.
While mingling and taking photos, I decided to peruse the fire sale – like I really need more yarn! Well, guess what I found? Some “Tuna” to finish Like A Prayer. Ha ha ha ha ha!
So, I will frog the linen and replace with Tuna! Ha ha ha ha ha!
They know so many wonderful people knit and crochet for good causes. They’d love to hear your stories and help out!
They’ve partnered with Bernat Yarn and Patons Yarn to give 12 individuals and groups a total of $2000 worth of yarn to use towards their good works.
Since they get requests from all over, and they’d like to do something nice for our neighbors, this is open to Canadians and Americans.
Here’s the yarn they’ll be giving away:
1 x $500 of yarn to a Canadian group who knits or crochets for a good cause
1 x $500 of yarn to an American group who knits or crochets for a good cause
10 x $100 of yarn to Canadian or American individuals or groups who knit or crochet for a good cause
All you need to do to apply is fill out the form below and tell them your story. What will you use the yarn for, what impact has this or previous projects had, and anything else important to your story.
Started today after a stumble on the Stairway To Heaven, which has turned into a real pain in the ass, just like in real life. So, considering how easy Union of the Snake was, I decided to follow up with a quick crochet project for the next misstep on Stairway To Heaven.
That brings us to You’ve Got Your Troubles and a knitting dilemma/question:
Using my new WPI info I learned from the June El Segundo Slipt Stitchers guild, I wrapped an unknown yarn around a ruler for one inch and got 24! Yet, there is no 24 WPI yarn on Ravelry. Neither is if one of the yarn weights without a WPI number: light fingering, fingering, lace, or cobweb!
In my humble opinion the yarn pictured in the featured image is more similar to a sport or dk, but that is 12 and 14 WPI.
Reclaimed from Feliz Navidad Wrap with a solid red trim. It was one of my first knit project made from fine wool. It never sold and has exceeded my profit margins I have frogged it now and reclaimed the wool for another project.
I almost did not get to go because CSNanaCat is going out of town for the entire month of May and she has been preoccupied with cleaning and packing. Luckily, I knew that KTia had plans to go and had left her a message inquiring about accompaniment. She returned my call and we made plans to go on Sunday.
My Budget: USD $100.00
Stop 1: Alamitos Bay Yarn Company
I love going there, though I’ve never bought anything. I never seem to “find” anything that makes me impulsive enough to spend the money. The one time I almost bought something, I had already spent my allocated money. Today nothing grabbed me. I was thinking distance may be another deterrent…hm?
Stop 2: Jennifer Knits and Needlepoint
2018 Los Angeles Yarn Crawl Gift To Me
I love this store, having worked there before as a crochet instructor. Now that the clutter aspect has been removed the store has a very open atmosphere with lots of lovely light. After four years of crawling, I finally consulted my patterns before making any purchases. The shawl I am eager to make most – right now – is the Meadow Grass shawl by Heidi Alander. I had the assistance of a friendly and knowledgeable associate that pointed out to me their prepackaged kits: their yarn crawl special. Each kit contained two skeins of Baah La Jolla and a coupon for the Local Yarn Shawl pattern by Casapinka, as a free gift from the store. This made color choice easier. If you know me, the brighter the better and the minute I saw the orange (Sunshine) and yellow (Gold Rush), I thought sun. Nothing gets much brighter than that! The bonus was Baah! yarn: a yarn I have coveted since I met it when I worked at The Local Yarn Store Which Must Not Be Named.
USD $65.00
Stop 3: L’Atelier
Mother’s Day Gift Option 1
We ran into Ms. Sara from the El Segundo Sliptstitchers guild, knitting with here new yarn on a new project. I loved the braids of 17 skeins/hanks that were hanging from the wall and discovered that it was not a new display strategy, but a project to make an afghan. Nice! I also discovered this little piece and thought of mother. I know mom likes pink, but they had zero skeins. I was told it could be ordered and discovered today that it comes in 50g balls (minimal yardage)/USD $30.00. That means the piece pictures is USD $90.00! I don’t think so, as mom want’s a longer piece, as seen at Twist. Well, now that I think
Stop 4: Twist Yarns of Intrigue
Here I saw my favorite piece of the day. Unfortunately, having already bought some yarn, I could not justify the USD $170.00 “Twist” yarn expense to make it. The color – pink, mom’s favorite – got me thinking about her. I could justify the expense of some cheaper yarn to make her something.
Mother’s Day Gift To Me
I love “Twist” yarns and colors! I understand they are “hand-dyed.” While I love them, I am a price-based person and cannot justify the additional cost just for color unless the color was a “custom request.” Having typed that, please be advised that I am still rationalizing the cost of yarn to make that, now elevated to – cue the choir of angels – shroud! :D
Mother’s Day Gift
I had such a pleasant time talking with – again, can’t remember her name – that I found a cheaper option which would allow me to at least pay homage to such beautiful yarns. I had seen the Malabrigo Sock colorway Aniversario at Jennifer Knits and Needlepoint, but didn’t buy, wanting to space out my purchases for best browsing/pricing options. Even cheaper than Baah!, I was able to double my goodness by adding Light of Love. I think my choices may be to bright for mom’s taste, we might have to go back so she can see what else is available.
USD $40.00
Stop 5: Needlepoints West
2018 Yarn Crawl Goodies
OMG! Guess who I saw here? Carina! <3 And, of course, Carrie! <3 It felt like a reunion with Kathleen present, as well. And lest I forget, Billy came into the store later.
I also got to meet Alexandra of Alexandra’s Crafts Yarn. I had purchased the Black Butte to finish Over The Rainbow. The more I think about it, I would like to frog the Olive lace and re-knit with a celery or dark silver color. We talked of yaks and taboo.
I also met Miss Purl, who made that wonderful little fish tin, pictured above. I was searching for a chihuahua with no luck. My crawl partner was nice enough to trade with me, as this was the only other ideal choice. Later, I learned that if I sent her a picture, she would make custom tins. Aha! Great gift idea, right? Sh!
Because I did not have cash and had to use plastic, I had to throw in some other items – Cascade Nikki, color #32404; Euro Night, color #201; Sirdar Dune, color unknown – to meet the limit. I was having a blue and brown moment. :) I also found another interesting shawl pattern that I may actually purchase. :O
USD $25.00
Stop 6: The Local Yarn Shop Which Must Not Be Named
Kathleen wanted to go, but I think she was hesitant, concerning my feelings. I told her straight out that I would not mind if she wanted to go. I could wait in the car and knit, as I always have a project with me. In the end, she changed her mind.
Objective: [One Way Or Another I was going to] turn a cone [ROCHELLE DYERS – PROD DATE: Jan 19, 1998 – LOT #: 1857 – COUNT: 1/16 – COL: FAIRWAY ROYAL – BLEND: A/P – P.O. #: MP11-14D] of 1-ply, natural fiber, thread into a 4-ply natural fiber thread to match a 3-ply, presumed natural fiber, grey thread.
I’ve spent more than half the morning trying to accomplish this.
Aiyaa! The minute the cake flew off the winder, I knew I was in trouble.
When my 2-ply cake thread broke, I resorted to winding a second cake.
Upon my final 4-ply, I kept pulling up clots, which at first I broke and knotted. After getting too many in succession, I figured I would just make a knobby thread, but that won’t match. I will just cut off excess.
The picture shows my waste on the left. I dare anyone to try untangling that much thread.
This will be my new carry-along project, which I will create with a simple repeating stitch and no pattern.
In the end, I discovered that the presumed natural fiber grey thread was actually a man-made fiber…aiyaa!
I have recently become affiliated with Neighbors by Design, a community-centered design project that uses design as a tool to bring neighbors together and in the process create products made out of materials donated by the neighbors. I have already participated in a pop-up yard sale, where I had an opportunity to sell some of my fiber products and sit-in as a hands-on instructor for the associated pop-up work shop.
I had previously been aware of their mission – to use the resources of our community by recycling and creating products made out of materials that otherwise would end up in the landfill. Most of my product is project based, but I do enjoy “up-cycling” yarn scraps to create something new. As such, I am starting a new line: ODDBALLS . . . up-cycled products hand-made from “up-cycled,” odd balls of yarn . . . from which a percentage shall be donated to a charity/cause, amount and organization to be announced at a future date.
I am hoping the El Segundo Slipt Stitchers will allow an announcement in their newsletter, as I only have scraps from my recent history of stuff I’ve made, and which have already been “up-cycled” into other projects. If they do, I am sure I will have enough to start working on something immediately and then throw a design into the queue with my other projects.
