stash acquisition
It’s a Major Award! I won it!
I am sitting here at Friday Night knitting waiting on all of my knitters to show up. Good thing I got this new keyboard for my iPad…I can sit here and kill time pretending I am writing a script or something while I enjoy my tasty adult beverage.
My friend Ashley had hit me up on twitter and asked why I hadn’t talked about my award. A few posts back I had mentioned that I had won first place in a Flickr photo contest for Yarn Crawl L.A. After kicking around a few emails, I coordinated with the Yarn Crawl folks to pick up my prize at one of my local LYS’s. Ashley had also won one of the Yarn Crawl drawings, but had coordinated to pick it up at a different yarn store…so you know what that means…two yarn stores is twice the fun!
On a Wednesday afternoon, Ashley and I headed to pick up our stuff. First we stopped at the yarn shop closest to us. I picked up my prize and, luckily for me, was the first person to do so and got my choice of color. Gray. Of course, it’s always gray.
But here is the rub. My ‘major award’ was a set of 16″ Clover circular needles and a Rowan Kid Silk Haze scarf kit.
I’m allergic to mohair.
You can’t really see it, but I am holding my yarn with salad tongs. Thanks Ash for the suggestion!
It is so damn beautiful, but I can’t do anything with it unless I want to suffer horribly.
They handed it to me in a cute little mesh bag and I tried my hardest to not touch it at all. It was really hard, but I avoided all actual contact with it.
We walked down to the local Porto’s and had some lunch. We sat outside to knit and eat. Inside, on the opposite side of the glass, were two older women who were admiring our knitting. They had finally gotten Ashley’s attention and decided to start asking her questions about her sweater… through the glass. It was amazing. I am not sure if they understood that I had absolutely no idea what they were saying. I’m not sure Ashley knew what they were trying to say either.
Lunch.
From there we headed to our next shop where Ashley picked up the knitting bag she had won and I sat on the floor agonizing over their signature yarn. If I couldn’t knit my prize yarn, I think I need to compensate by inflating my stash with yarn I CAN knit with.
I ended up buying the skeins on the left and in the center.
Yarn Crawl LA, Day 3 (the photo edition)
Outside Alamitos Bay Yarn Company. Still pinned!
Feather yarn inside L’Atelier.
The floor inside L’Atelier.
I bumped into Doctor Gemma at Wildfiber!
Turkish Delight at Zoe Zeynep Knit Studio on Melrose.
Yarn Crawl LA, Day 2 (the photo edition)
Phebie’s NeedleArt in Claremont.
Our Chucks.
Just outside Phebie’s.
Colors 91711.
Ash getting her passport pinned to her shirt so she doesn’t lose it…again…at The purlSide.
Outside Compatto. We squeaked in right before closing time to get our stamps.
The alley behind Knit Culture.
The owner of Gather DTLA handed us her dog.
Yarn bombing outside Gather DTLA.
Inside Gather DTLA.
Yarn Crawl LA 2013, Day 1 (the photo edition)
Our first stop to pick up our passport and bag…The Knot Garden.
Court and Ash outside A Close Knit Circle.
Ang, me, Ash and Court inside Abuelita’s in Pasadena.
Ash and Court inside The Yarnover Truck.
Inside Unwind in Burbank.
Yarn Crawl LA 2013
You guys….YOU GUYS! Yarn Crawl LA was amazing!
3 days, 32 stores (2 were visited twice)! I feel like this was some sort of Olympic sized yarn event…and it was so much fun!
My Yarn Crawl La Passport.
I didn’t go into this with any real yarn “wish list”, so that helped me to keep to a budget. I ended up with quite a haul though! The good thing is that, while I am stashing yarn, I have a purpose in mind for most of it.
The contents of my yarn crawl bag.
We met some really great people and got to explore quite a few stores we had never been to before. It was definitely an adventure! I am hoping it helps inspire me to get over my knitting funk.
I have a ton of pictures…so be prepared for more photo heavy posts!
The Annual Super Bowl Yarnstravaganza!
As you could see from the last blog post, we ventured out in the cold morning to wait in line with a bunch of crazy knitters, with the hopes that we could score some beautiful yarn at a serious discount.
Sitting in line is always fun for me. It’s even better when I have friends around. This year we had a very solid team of 5 knitters with a serious plan, DIVIDE AND CONQUER.
Each one of us had a section of the store to dash to. We had an idea of what each of us wanted and in what quantities. We dashed, grabbed, and then met at the table in the middle of the store to exchange yarn with each other, each one of us getting exactly what we wanted without having to throw any elbows.
We received many compliments on our strategy. A few ladies even said they would love to join our group next year.
Meeting in the middle after our dash and grab.
These ladies were first in line. They had BAGS full of yarn.
My haul.
Now, I would like to say that I went into this whole thing with just the intention of getting that bright yellow yarn on top there. I had no other purpose for it other than to use it in both of my “Legacy projects”. Yes, I know I had said that I would only use SCRAP yarn, but I love this yellow so much…and I am of the tragic ilk that is unable to wear the color yellow. It is sad…I know…
I do have some happy news though (for me at least). I went in there and acquired a couple skeins of cash-silk lace yarn, enough fingering weight in a beautiful sky blue to knit a sweater, and some lovely grey yarn that is just begging to be a cowl. All in all, that bag of yarn…retail price…would cost me over $200. Between the sale price, the additional discount, and my store credit….it came to a whopping…..wait for it…..
$40.66
Happy Birthday to me!
When a good knitter goes to war…
This past Sunday was the Annual Super Bowl Sale at Unwind. For this particular post, I enlisted the help of my dear friend and wordsmith, Ashley Beyer:
A diary entry from a lone soldier going to yarn war.
I have been in this accursed line since 7:45 this morn. The sidewalk
is hard and cold. The lucky ones brought blankets and chairs. I am not
one of the lucky ones. I was told by my companion that store t’would
not open until 10 am. I wonder, dear reader, if I will still be alive
by that time. What madness brings us women, young and old, to wait in
the cold Burbank morn for a few measly scraps of sheep fiber? Surely
we have children and menfolk, pets and full DVRs that need our care on
the home front? All abandoned.
It’s 9:13 and my Starbucks is drained. The only warmth I have is from
my Batman hoodie and the scant body heat from the other knitters in
line. We have seen staff members appear in the shop. We watched in
horror as they collected yarn from the shelves and moved it. Now all
our strategies for yarn grabbing in the midst of the chaos are
useless. Damn them. Damn these women who hold the power, who pull the
sport weight strings and watch good women go to war.
My wireless connection is only down to one bar. I am cut off from the
outside world and can only half remember my life before this line.
With slow access to Ravelry, can I even find a purpose to this
sacrifice? Or am I spilling red blood and green money for yarn that is
destined to languish in a ziplock bag at the bottom of my stash for
months or perhaps, even years on end?
Courtney handed out Gobstoppers. The sweet heart-shaped candy was a
welcome distraction to the cold that has taken up residence in the
marrow of my bones.
I must stop writing now, I need to focus my mind before the doors are
opened and the battle begins. If I do not return, please tell Adam I
love him and that he must be strong and make his own hot wings from
now on.
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no
evil — only septuagenarians with heavy walkers and sharp elbows.
~Cprl. Ashley Beyer. The fifth day of February 2012 AD
Some brand new Madelintosh…
I completely forgot to mention that I decided to buy some yarn at the shop this past Friday. I know I haven’t done much talking about acquiring new yarn recently. Quite frankly, it is because I was on a self-imposed yarn buying fast. I feel like my stash is a little out of control recently. I’m starting to panic that my stash might exceed my life expectancy. That is never a good feeling. Especially when combined with the feeling of not getting a whole hell of a lot accomplished project-wise.
Madelinetosh Prairie in Lettuce Leaf. It wants to be a sweater...
And don’t even get me started on my fiber stash…
Last weekend’s stash acquisition
I bought this…
Berroco Seduce.
to make this…
Julia.
I am wanting to get some summer knitting done this year. I need to step away from the wool, I mean, I do live in Southern California after all…
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