additions to the fabric stash

There are two Big Box Craft Stores in my town. One of them I rarely visit - the customer service is non-existent and the one time I looked for quilting fabric the choice was very limited! They used to have a wide range of Australian-made knitting yarns but over the past few years they have introduced their own range - all made overseas!

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, the other Big Box Store had a "30% off all floor stock" sale. How could I resist? LOL

And, because many people I know speak in derogatory terms of this Big Box Store, I have to say this: the last three times I have bought something in the store, the staff have been friendly and very helpful; yes, that's right fellow Aussies, I got customer service with a smile! And not just me - every person who approached the fabric counter was treated very well. On the other hand, I can rarely find anyone in the knitting/craft department. Usually they are at the "party" counter and don't know anything about knitting or craft. But the ladies at the fabric counter know what they're talking about and share their knowledge willingly!

So, on Monday, after class at my LQS (where I bought enough wool/polyester batting to make twenty four more string blocks), I visited the Big Box Store. One of the reasons for my visit was thread but I forgot to buy any! It took me ages to decide on a colour for the sashing for the Wonky String blocks. I think I auditioned every solid or near-solid on the shelves. Finally I settled on this one. I had to photograph it between two blocks to get something approaching the right colour. It is actually more purplish than shows here; I call it "royal blue", the fabric label calls it indigo".


The Wonky Strings quilt is a collaborative effort between DD and I. She wasn't able to go to the store with me so I had to make the choice alone. If DD doesn't like it (which would be unlikely since blue is her favourite colour), I'll keep it for the Scrappy Strings quilt.

I also picked up half a metre of each of these five fabrics. They were already discounted to $6.00 a metre, but I got 30% off - what a bargain!


And finally, I bought three metres of this purple fabric for a quilt idea I want to try. More about that later!


So, quilting has resumed at Never-Too-Hot-To-Stitch!

Speaking of which, do you like the new look (and the modified title)? 

Lace weight yarn

A week ago I had none! Zip! Zilch! Nada! Still I joined A Long, Lacy
Summer. One can knit lace without knitting lace-weight, yes?

On Saturday DD and I went, as usual on the third Saturday of the month, to Knitters' Guild. This month should have been no different; no alarm bells were ringing. In fact, we were having no workshop, just spinning for anyone who wanted to try this mysterious form of fibre art! [Not me, baby, pedalling that thing causes pain in my knee. Besides, why go all the way to a Guild meeting when a spinning wheel lives in my house - albeit only for another fifteen weeks or so?]. What made this Saturday different was the retail member invited for the afternoon - Virgina Farm Woolworks. They sell fleece and spinning wheels [that's where DD got hers] and dyes and ... you get the idea! But this week, they had lace weight yarn - merino - in an off-white, ivory colour. Guess who has an ivory wedding dress? Guess who wants mum to knit a lace stole in fourteen weeks? So, yes, two skeins of Artisan lace weight merino in ivory came home with us.

On the Knit4Charities message board I read that Tapestry Craft was having a sale - a minimum of 30% off everything. The sale commenced on Saturday 18th October. Since we were already going into the city for "My Fair Lady" we stopped in for a visit - and I'm glad we did. I bought DD's Christmas present - it's what I had always intended to buy her, it was just a pity she was there with me! WM bought me a new wool winder - I don't know if it's a Christmas present so perhaps I shouldn't be saying anything. *sh*

Out of character, on a whim, I bought myself two skeins of Filatura di Crosa Centolavaggi lace weight merino. Those of you who've been reading my blog for a while would know that I generally knit for charity in inexpensive [some would say 'cheap'] yarns and rarely buy more expensive yarn - not for me or anyone else. But I fell in love with the colour and softness of the purple skein and bought the white one to dye a colour I'd like some time in the future [when I know what that colour will be]. In the meantime, I need to look through my lace books and see what the yarn wants to become!! *drool*

And, as if that wasn't enough, yesterday I got home from work to find a package addressed to me [packages don't often arrive here and rarely for me]. This was from Deb - I had won the prize in her Blogiversary draw. Guess what it is? Yeah, don't be smart - what colour? What brand?

I wasn't going to open the package, I was going to wait for DD to come home and share the joy and excitement but, heck no, she was out with her fiance and I was at home alone and feeling a bit down. I opened the package. I read the card. I put my hand into the post pack and felt what was in there - soft, smooshy, squishy, yummy! I pulled it out. A skein of Re Fa Baruffa - pure wool merino laceweight! Thanks, Deb, I love it!

From nix to five skeins in four days! I think this summer was meant to be for lace knitting - whee-hee!!