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Sunday, February 10, 2008

How I Did

I think I did pretty well yesterday at the festival; for the most part, I stuck to my plan to buy only yarns that I couldn't get locally. All told, I got a lot of yarn for my money. Wanna see? Picture-heavy post follows ...

First up, yarn I technically could get locally, but I got it at a better price:

Two skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, in the colorway Vera.

This next yarn drew me in because of the yardage for the price -- 400 yard for $12:

This is called Aussi Sock. It's 90% superwash Aussi merino, 10% nylon, and the colorway is called Faded Valentine.

This yarn I looked at, considered buying, and then walked away. But I came back about 10 minutes later to buy it because I kept thinking about it.

100% superwash merino, hand-dyed sock yarn from Knitting Notions. The colorway is called Hydrangea. I'm going to use these two skeins (approximately 840 yards) for a shawl.

This last batch of yarn was the real steal. It was from the booth from the Otter Creek Store (which is now closed) and was a steal at 8 skeins for $40.

This is all Cascade 220 Heathers, destined to be a seamless yoked (stranded) Elizabeth Zimmermann sweater for me, but not for a while.

Although the shopping was fun, the real highlight of the day was the beginning spinning class. I had great fun and kind of got the hang of the wheel. Here are my first handspun yarns!

This is a two-ply yarn from the 100% wool batt that we started with. The instructor told us after the fact that this wool was probably the hardest things to spin.

This is a two ply from a wool-alpaca roving. I was especially pleased to discover it was well balanced when pulled off the niddy-noddy.


This singles yarn was spun from alpaca pencil roving. It's definitely the softest of the bunch, and it was far and away the easiest to spin.

So, what's the verdict on the spinning? I won't be buying a spinning wheel -- yet. But as soon as we buy and move into a new house, and I've saved up a bit, a Lendrum Original single treadle is going to be mine!

16 comments:

  1. Looks like you got a good haul. Knowing everything that was there, it's amazing that anyone could narrow it down to just a handful of skeins!

    Your spinning looks great. That will be the course for me next time for sure!

    I'm not having any buyers remorse and that always feels good!

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  2. Anonymous6:25 PM

    Great haul!

    Nice looking spinning you did there!

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  3. Anonymous6:31 PM

    Good yarn purchases. It looks like you stuck to your plan well. I can't wait to see the Aussi sock knitted up.

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  4. Anonymous6:53 PM

    You did GREAT! I love all of those yarns and I can definitely see why you purchased each of them. Looks like some beautiful socks and sweater in your future.

    Are you sure that's your first handspun? That looks amazing! You may be a born spinner!

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  5. Lookit all the pretties! I especially love the color of the Hydrangea.

    Nice job on the spinning!

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  6. I don't know anything about spinning but the yarns you brought home are beautiful. Nice job on not going overboard at the festival.

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  7. Ha! So you'll be giving in to the call of the wheel after all? ;)

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  8. Great purchases! I have some of the LL Shepherd Sock in the Vera colorway, too. I just love the colors!

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  9. Killer score, love the Vera especially!!

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  10. When I got home, I patted all my yarn and I really wanted to lay down and take a nap in it.

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  11. I'm in love with the Hydrangea yarn!! Very nice haul there, SJ!!

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  12. I bought a skein of the Knitting Notions sale sock yarn, then fell in love with two of her greens when we were breaking down yesterday (they were poking me in the tummy, since I was standing in her booth to dismantle our cubes). I bought too much stuff (Brooks Farms, anyone?) but had fun. Back to reality! :)

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  13. What fabulous additions to your stash!!! Your spinning is wonderful--but I have refused to learn how to spin because it would take away from my precious knitting time. Have fun with your EZ stranded pullover and the heather Cascade 220.

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  14. Sarah, your yarns look delicious, sounds like you had a great time! I wish I had been to it... Your spinning results look great, take it with you to the next meeting so we can see it :-)

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  15. Thanks for your comment on my blog. Yes, my husband has finally "gotten it" about knitting. He really appreciates and loves this sweater!!

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  16. yay i found a knitting blog! very pretty...

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