The Last Minute Lands

The yarn lot I bid on at the last minute just arrived, and I got an exotic vibe just opening the box.

Someone was a collector of fun fibers for sure -- and I love the medieval-looking copper basket.

Here are the eighteen skeins came with the basket, and most are unused and still have labels. The majority are wool but some are synthetics and a few are very exotic.

The basket itself isn't ancient, of course, but just made to look like it is (the green patina is actually paint.) It's still charming, and I will definitely put it to good use.

As I suspected, the yarn is very rare and pricey. I looked up info on what had labels, and nearly everything was discontinued and now being sold for exorbitant prices. These two skeins alone are worth $21.50.

This skein of Tahki Chinchilla imported from France is a mohair blend that I've never before seen -- about $10.00 a ball.

I added up prices on everything that was tagged or had labels, and added $5.00 per skein for what didn't, and the total value is $147.43. I paid $23.00 for the lot.

The one mystery that came in the lot is this hank, which I did not price. At first I thought it was human hair, because it resembles it, but from the texture it is definitely roving made from a natural fiber or fiber blend that closely resembles human hair. My best guess is a silk and alpaca blend, but the next time I run into the Orlando Weavers I might ask them. :)

Comments

T-minus Day

This was our little Thanksgiving dinner last year, when it was just the three of us. Time keeps whittling down my favorite holiday; this year it will be just me and my guy, and we likely won't even have a turkey.* That will be a first in 35 years. I feel about Thanksgiving the way other people do about Christmas, and while it's a lot of work it's my favorite holiday. Of all the Thanksgivings I've had in the past sixty years, only three were truly terrible: one when I was a kid that I don't talk about (#1 most miserable); the time I roasted two turkeys together and hosted fifteen people whom I cooked for and served with zero help (the largest and #2 most miserable); and the one I spent in basic training (the #3 most miserable.) I have no pictures of any of those, thank heavens. In addition to doing all the cooking I'm the one who takes all the pictures, washes all the dishes and puts away all the leftovers. I suppose no one else cares because to them it...

Fell Off the Wagon

I did cut up that plastic dollar tote to make into something stronger, but got caught up with work and set it aside. Then last night some hand-dyed silk and pretty threads called my name, and, well . . . Felt SO good to do some handwork, except my neck began hurting about an hour into it. I tried changing the way I sit and work, but it's pretty obvious that the doc is right.

Old Loves & Such

My guy kindly bought me my favorite Chinese take out the other night, and my fortune cookie offered up an interesting story starter: This sounds sweet, right? Only the first thing I thought of was an old love coming back from the dead . . . . must be October. In other lovely news, my favorite hand-dyed thread artist, Lorraine from Colour Complements , is moving her business from Etsy to her own web site. Many of my favorite sellers on Etsy are leaving due to the whole "free shipping" coercion debacle, which has also soured me on the site. To show support I did a little shopping at Lorraine's web site and got in these: I love her threads and trims; you simply can't buy anything like them anywhere. Her work makes my specialty thread box look like a treasure chest: At night I'm spending just as hour working on quilting the scrap project runner, and I'm making slow progress: I'll keep quilting the runner while I try to decide on a design for t...

Valerean

Search This Blog