Thrifty Crochet

Finding actual useful crochet-related items for $10.00 or less seemed easy, until I considered what I really needed versus things that would just be more stuff to deal with. That's why I went over budget a little and invested in Hunrung's rectangular canvas storage basket for $10.79. Project baskets are something I need all the time, and I wanted a bigger one to hold yarn for an upcoming blanket project. This collapsing basket is 14.9" X 10.2" X 9.05", and comes in 22 fun designs. It's quite sturdy -- much more so than the Dollar Tree basket I bought a while back -- and comes in a big ziplock bag which I can also use for project storage. I easily fit twelve skeins of Serenity Chunky Tweed I have earmarked for my project inside it. I squeezed in a few more to see what the basket's capacity was, and it holds up to 15 skeins of bulky yarn as you see here, which is rather a lot. If you wanted to make a gift of yarn for someone, this basket wou...

A couple of months ago I donated a bunch of the throws and blankets I've made to our local church thrift. I really can't keep everything I make, and I like the thought of the profits from selling my work going to help people in the community (among other things this thrift store provides free food for the needy.) Among the throws I donated that day were the Iris throw and the star blanket I made for a friend's challenge -- second and third from the left. Fast forward to June. My guy and I like to walk antique malls because there is always something fun to look at. I do pay attention to the crochet being sold, as I love the old doilies and threadwork, and I'm always interested to see what old throws and blankets are made of, and what they sell for. We went to one about an hour away from our house, and as I was browsing I spotted a throw that looked awfully familiar in one of the booth cubbies. It was made in the Ocean Tranquility pattern, and had a border of d...

In the no-other-bidders lot I got this ball of mystery yarn. I thought at first glance it might be a magic ball , but there were no joins. This was apparently a variegated or self-striping yarn dyed in black and primary rainbow colors. I began making a granny square with it. The yarn is acrylic, and not especially soft, so that told me it was probably Red Heart and likely a Super Saver. I did wonder if it was one of those Red Heart Super Saver All in One Granny Square yarns , as the colors are pretty classic vintage granny square. Only the color variations were all the same length instead of increasing as the All in Ones do. That solved the mystery for me. Here's the finished granny square, with just about a yard of yarn leftover. Aside from the roughness of the yarn, another problem it has is dye spillage, which is not uncommon with self-striping yarns. The black spills over into the primary colors and makes them look soiled, as it did here with the yello...

When I spotted this pile of fourteen cookbooks at the online auction I saw three about grilling that I wanted, and put in a low bid. I figured I wouldn't win the lot -- only I did. Nearly all of them are titles that appeal to me, and I think I can learn a lot from them. Well, not so much from the Keto cookbook, but the rest, sure. :) The cookbooks are in very nice condition, and would probably bring in at least $70.00 resale; I got the lot for $9.99, or about seventy-one cents per book. Hopefully we can find some new recipes to inspire our summer cooking.

You may remember the lot of yarn that I won for my first and only bid because no one else bid on it, yes? I know, they're all starting to blur together now. But this one just arrived, so let's dive in and see if I was right about it. From the listing photos I estimated there were about 22 skeins and balls in the lot. There are in fact 34, mostly skeins, unused or only partially used, plus three kits and not one but two skeins of Wool Ease (which is why I bid on the lot.) I am collecting Wool Ease Thick and Quick for a winter project, and this Deep Lagoon skein is gorgeous! Getting another skein in worsted weight in Seaspray was a lovely surprise, especially as it is discontinued. I know off the top of my head that just these two skeins retail for about $20.00. The three hat kits are just adorable. The Caron Cupcakes in Tutti Frutti is discontined and currently costs $14.99 on eBay. The Pom Rox runs $9.99, and the Keppi kit is $10.00. The Keppi kit eve...

Since I have a lot of bulky weight yarn in my stash now I thought I'd try to make a few projects with the limited quantities of some of it, which led me to start with one full and a partial skein of Baby Bee Sugar Pom Pom yarn in My Fairytale that I thrifted. This yarn line has been discontinued, and was also sold exclusively by Hobby Lobby (the only craft store at which I never shop for personal reasons.) I picked a little toiletries basket pattern and hoped I had enough to make it. It was a slog, frankly. Bulky yarn can be a bit unwieldy for someone with dexterity issues like me, and the tight single crochet produced by the stitches and small hook the pattern required added to that problem. I'm gradually learning that if I want to work with bulky yarn, I need to use patterns with looser stitches and relax my tension more. About halfway through the project I realized I didn't have enough yarn to complete the entire pattern, so I tweaked it by eliminating seve...