Any Excuse is a Good Excuse

The thrift store closest to where we live is, sadly, in the opposite direction from our usual driving routes, so whenever I have excuse reason to go that way I try to allow time for a visit.

I’m so glad I do because I recently scored! It’s not a Big score, but a good one nonetheless. For a mere $2.00 I gathered three knitting magazines, a Heavy ball of mmmm, sport-weight cream yarn and a skein of Lion Brand ‘Moonlight Mohair’ in the colorway Purple Mountains – yumm, pretty!

A burn test proved the 10 ounces of cream is 100% acrylic. I’ve already added it to the appropriate charity stash box.

I thought I recognized the mohair so I went rooting in my natural fiber stash. I’m excited that now I have three ounces of Purple Mountains!! – the ‘new’ 1 3/4 oz. skein, plus a partial older one. Surely this is enough to make Something Wonderful! lol.

After reading the Ravelry project notes of knitters more familiar with this yarn, I’ve concluded that its metallic accents make it too Scritchy for either a cowl or scarf. I found only two other small projects made using this yarn alone that appeal to me. Warm Wristlets can be made from one skein and Mabel’s Iris Shawl from two. But there are many, many projects with it used as an accent or mixed with several other yarns, so I’ll just have to give this mohair a little more thought. Maybe I’ll weave something with it!

My ‘new’ magazines had to wait for a few days. I didn’t want to even open them until I had time to not only bookmark, mmm, magazinemark?, the patterns that interest me most but to leisurely research each one in Ravelry.

My top pattern picks are 1. Stripes Go Round, a simple lightweight short-sleeved top, so Cute!, designed by Lana Hames. 2. Camisa by Kat Coyle, a v-necked cap-sleeved top with basket weave texture at the waist. And 3. the Central Park Hoodie by Heather Lodinsky. This incredibly popular sweater jacket pattern, affectionately called the CPH, has over 4500 project pages in Ravelry!

What do you think of a woman who’s fast approaching the Big 6 – 0 wearing a hoodie? Beware, at the rate with which I knit for myself I probably wouldn’t get it finished til I’m 65! lol.

Other pieces that appeal to me, but are beyond my present knitting skills, are Madli’s Shawl by Nancy Bush, a beautiful piece designed in the style of Estonian lace and the Fair Isle Bag by Beth Brown-Reinsel. Oh My! – that pattern comes with such a long list of ‘featured techniques’, it makes me think I’ll probably never knit it. But there’s also the beautiful Streaming Leaves Shawl by Cat Bordhi. Trusting that Cat will have written an extremely clear pattern, I think I could knit us a Streaming Leaves Blanket. . . someday.

It’s been fun sharing my newest thrifty treasures with you! I hope you’ve enjoyed peeking into my shopping bag. Thanks for stopping by.