Thrifty Crochet

Thrifty Crochet's sponsor (aka my dear friend B) wanted me to review some more mystery yarn boxes on the blog, but I am reluctant to invest in any more of the yarn brand site boxes. I am curious about Premier's mystery yarn box, but it's always out of stock when I try to order it. I have more than enough mystery box yarn from Mary Maxim and Hobbii. After the mini macrame cord skeins I'm not inclined to try Lion Brand again. That's when she suggested I try some Etsy mystery boxes, and provided the funds to get them. This first mystery is from Onyxmoonartisan , and is described as containing tools and notions as well as yarn skeins. I ordered the extra-large The second is from TOOKuteKreationz , and is listed as a grab box of mostly acrylic yarn. I ordered the one-pound box. The third mystery set is from SouthernSkeinsYarn , and is worsted weight, which was the only option still available. The listing has since been taken down -- I assume because ...

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...

I was watching a video by Crochet with Tiffany where she went out to buy new yarn for $10.00 or less, and had some very good advice on how to get the most yardage for your buck. That got me to thinking: what can I buy for my projects that is ten bucks or less? I thought I'd try to find some bargains every week in June. Let's start with organization. I am still working on multiple WIPs this month, and this is how I store them -- usually piled in a box or a yarn bowl. I'd like something neater and more portable, so I invested $9.99 in the small size of the Togetrue yarn bag . This is a sturdy drawstring canvas tote (the small size comes in seven different pocket designs) and has a couple of neat features, including two grommets through which you can feed your yarn, turning it into a very portable yarn bowl. The two storage pockets on the front side are roomy, and handy tuck places for hooks, scissors and patterns. A zippered pocket inside can hold stit...

I've made a few amigurumi to date, including a couple from ambitious patterns. Aside from the expected problems with shaping, attaching limbs and following the sometimes confusing instructions I can't say I've had any real issues. I tend to be a bit arrogant that way. This cute giraffe is the latest little crocheted critter I've made -- but not the first giraffe. It's the second version of the same pattern that I made in May, because the first? Yes, my bright idea to use bulky weight chenille for the giraffe resulted in the monster you see here beside the second one. This is partly because I don't work with chenille yarn very often and have only a little experience with it, and I assumed a larger weight yarn wouldn't make that much of a difference. By the time I attached the head to the body I knew I'd made a big mistake, no pun intended. The giraffe flopped around as I worked on it. The terrcotta yarn, which I thought would be an okay sub...

While shopping in the Villages we stopped by Goodwill in Oxford, where I found a big bag of yarn and a jewel of a first book. In the bag were 16 skeins, bag scraps and balls of yarn, which cost me $5.18, or thirty-two cents each. Most of these are going into a specific scrap project for fall. The book I almost didn't buy, but I have a thing for little chapbook style publications, especially when there are illustrations. It was just ninety-nine cents, too. The author signed this copy, which I didn't realize until I got home and thumbed through it. Mostly True by Brian Andreas was his first book, and came out a few years before I finally got into the biz. Seems like he's had a very decent career as a writer and sculptor. A nice way to spend seven bucks. :)

After watching a Mary Maxim unboxing on Knotty by Maxine , I decided to wait for another decent sale or discounted shipping to try another pack, and to order some yarns I want for a project and to test. I wanted more of the Serenity Chunky Tweed, and from what Maxine got in her pack I thought I might get lucky again. When the site offered eighteen cent shipping I jumped on it and put in my order. The order arrived, so let's see if I was right. Whee! I loved unboxing yarns. :) These are the yarns I ordered separately from the mystery pack. On the left is Premier Puzzle in Acrostic (great colorway name.) This is a 100% acrylic #5 bulky yarn with 328 yards/300m/7 oz./200 grams, so they're very large skeins. I've been wanting to try this yarn for a while now but every time I try to thrift it I'm outbid, so I figured I'd just order a couple of skeins. On the right is a three pack of Serenity Chunky Tweed in Seaglass. Like the other Serenity skeins I ...