Thrifty Crochet

I decided to try making another hat, this time from a Caron cupcakes skein that was also included in that no-bidder lot. I also tried a new-to-me pattern that someone recommended to use with this yarn. This is an acrylic #3 DK weight yarn, quite light, that is self-striping with long sections of different colors. The texture is rather like unwashed Red Heart Super Saver so I hope it softens up after it's laundered. The pattern worked up fast with only one design issue. I had to join each round instead of crocheting in the round without stopping, which leaves no jolts in the stitches. Both of the hats I made this week had this issue. Here's the finished hat. I added about six additional rows to the pattern to create a flip-up brim, which I prefer over brimless. I also made the largest size of hat from the pattern and still had a good amount of yarn leftover. The pom pom is on the small side for a hat, but I attached it with no problem. The other i...

This time last year I was working on a little quilt I made from a vintage embroidered napkin and a bag of thrift store scraps. This past month it gave me great pleasure to finally hang up this quilt in my home office. I think it's probably the best totally improvised art quilt I've ever made. At present I'm working on preserving some crazy quilted fragments with my calendar project, but I haven't been quilting much at all this year. My hands have gotten so crippled it's become basically impossible to hand stitch, and I'm still having trouble mentally transitioning to machine quilting. So I've been crocheting -- a lot. I'm currently working on three crochet projects at the same time, beginning with this throw version of the Ocean Tranquility pattern in a pretty sea glass light green for a friend. I'm also crocheting a scarf with superfine yarn for the very first time, and slowly getting the hang of that. There's a third project ...

Future me here. Yes, I got too far ahead on my prewritten posts again, so I'll be doubling up until I use up the extra. Golly, I love to write about crochet. :) The lot I just won with no bidders has already arrived, and among the other delights and surprises it held was a sealed Lion Brand Keppi hat kit. Here's everything that was in the kit: The instructions, a skein of yarn, a plastic 5.5 mm crochet hook and the pom pom for the top of the hat. The pattern for the hat was a simply bottom-up design that I had never before tried, so I decided to make it that night. I picked the largest size of hat in the pattern, which I planned to donate to the local church thrift if it turns out wearable. The skein barfed up a bit of yarn when I tried to find the center pull, but otherwise no issues there. I did try the plastic crochet hook for one row, but oy. It proved very slippery, and a couple of times I thought I might break it in half (admittedly I am heavy-h...

I got this lot at the online auction for a song on the last day of bidding because no one bid on it or challenged me for it. The shipping and handling fees were reasonable, so that left me scratching my head. It's true that only a few skeins have labels, and there's a bit of a tangle going on, but still. Here's why I bid it: what appears to be an unused skein of Wool Ease which currently retails for $9.99 at Michael's in my area. Altogether I count about 22 skeins and balls of yarn, one is definitely Homespun and two are cakes. The Caron Cupcake is discontinued and runs about $10.00 retail. The other cake is a Sweet Roll, I believe, which retail for $5.99. I also didn't think I would win the yarn for such a small bid, but you never know. Doing the math for this lot is easy; the resale value is at minimum $100.00. I paid $9.99 for the lot, or .45 for each skein. I'll post again when it arrives and see what I really got for less than ten bucks...

I wanted to try out a new yarn organizer to see if it was worth it, so I invested in this six-tier clear plastic over the door hanging organizer , for which I paid $17.97. It's nice and sturdy, and has pretty deep sections for my yarn; assembling it took two seconds (you just pop the hanging hardware through two top loops, that's all.) The measurements are 55.12“ x 14.57” x 6.69", and it holds up to 44 lbs. of yarn, which is quite a bit. I liked the depth and width of the five big pockets; I don't think I'll use the three small ones at the very top because they're hard for me to reach. Here you can see how bigger cake-style skeins fit in the pockets, quite nicely. I even got two of my largest Caron Crystal Cake skeins in the bottom section, and topped them with a bag containing three skeins of Serenity Chunky. The organizer is simple to install, super easy to use, and holds a lot of yarn. That's what I wanted so I'm happy. Highly r...

I just finished putting in a bunch of overtime on the day job so that I could write two weeks ahead of schedule (a hurricane season habit.) This means working eight to ten hours a day plus weekends to produce double quota for two weeks, and it's not easy. That's why I give myself a reward when I go above and beyond like this. I was tempted to order Mary Maxim's Mystery Box so I could review it for the blog. Only the price plus shipping was a bit more than I wanted to spend, so I went looking elsewhere. Then I got an offer from my shopping platform that made the shipping for the box basically free, so I went ahead and ordered it. The order just arrived, so let's dive in and see what I got. Here's everything: fourteen full-size skeins of yarn, two crochet hooks and four patterns. The London Kaye crochet hooks are plastic, have twisted handles, and came in two sizes: small (9mm) and large (20mm). I don't think I have a 20mm hook so that...

The most mysterious lot of yarn that I've ever bid on just arrived, let's see if my gamble paid off. There was so much yarn in the lot I'll have to show it to you in two pics; here's the first. Here's the second. Lots of skeins, hanks and balls of yarn, along with some unfinished projects. Only three skeins still had their labels, so I'm going to guess this was someone's practice and scrap hoard. About 20 of the skeins are only lightly used if at all, and the rest are remnants of various sizes. It's triple what I expected. Since the lot weighed 7.6 pounds, or 121.6 ounces, I thought there might be anywhere from 24 to 34 skeins of yarn, but in fact there are 59. Much of it is acrylic, but there is also a fair amount of pricier yarn, including some Wool Ease, mohair/wool blend, rug yarn, thick roving, Homespun and art yarns. Of the lightly used there are two skeins of sashay sequinned mesh ribbon. These are discontinued and run any...

You may remember this lot from my under ten trio, which I won for a very low bid. It arrived a week later, so let's see if it was worth what I paid for it. Do you remember? Ha. I'd say oh yes, and then some. I received 26 skeins and balls, most unused, most still with their labels, and all in excellent condition (they don't even have the usual storage smell.) This brand new Yarn Bee Sugarwheel Cotton Sparkle is labeled $5.99, but currently retails for $8.49. That's more than I paid for the entire lot. I Love This Cotton in white, which I've never before used, currently retails for $4.49. Red Heart Super Saver variegated in Ocean retails for $5.99 per skein. I have two. This Wool Ease Thick and Quick Metallic in Mystical might be one of the discontinued colorways; it's wound with a thin thread of metallic blue around the yarn, and retails for $8.79 a skein. I'm thrilled to have it. My estimate for the total value of the lot is...

Just out of curiosity I decided to chase down prices on two lots that I thrifted this month. This is when I find out how much it would cost to buy these yarns at retail/resale sources, and I can get a better idea of the value. The first lot, for which I paid $27.00, had 42 skeins. I estimated it to be worth $240.00. Just these three skeins alone are worth $27.00 on the resale market for discontinued/vintage yarns (Dazzleaire has apparently become collectible.) These two balls of eyelash yarn currently run $20.00 a ball, which dumbfounded me. The total retail/resale I would have to pay to purchase the entire lot is $289.54. This 22 skein/ball lot is one I paid $7.99 to acquire, and estimated to be worth $77.41 resale value. Some types of Red Heart Super Saver yarns are pricier than I thought. In order to by it retail/resale I'd have to pay almost twice my estimate: $147.05. I know I'm out of touch with retail prices for yarn -- my trip to Michael...