Saturday

It's July already?  You've got to be kidding me.  

It's a little bit of a frenzy for me this time of year.  This is the time I organize our tax affairs, preparing everything for our accountant.  And not just any accountant for us!  We've been using a great accountant for over 5 years, that specializes in real estate.  They do a fantastic and thorough job, but I still get nervous.  I feel I need to check and double check everything that needs to be passed on and sometimes TRIPLE check everything - and let me tell you our paper work is usually a few inches thick!  This year it measures only 1.5 inches thick which actually relaxes me somewhat.  Not as bad as last years 2 inches thick - lol!

But I always think I've missed something, or haven given enough information.

This tax year was trying for us, as 2 of our investment properties were vandalized.  Thankfully our insurance came through and everything is fine again.

Our other 3 investment properties are much easier, thanks to the nicer location that they sit on.  WARNING: Always, but always get landlords insurance if you intend on investing in property.

Enough of my boring life.... and onto some goodies that I found a few months back.

Ok, so this HUGE sweater set me back $7, but I got over 1kg of yummy 100% wool after frogging.  I love it!

After frogging the whole thing, I made a swatch.  It knits up beautifully and is so lovely to work with.  I scored good with this.  :)

2 machine yarn cones found for $3 (for both).  Riverhart Summit 3ply....

This booklet has some daggy designs, but just as many nice ones so it was well priced at only 99 cents:

Friday

I was amazed to find these cones of sewing thread for 50 cents each, and they are quite large.  I'm guessing I won't run out for a very long time!

This 1968 book called ' Knitting Pattern Drafting by Charts for Knitting Machines and Hand Knitting ' set me back $1.  Full of vintage information and even more vintage style!

 A  yummy ball of mohair for 50 cents.

And $1 each for these...

Monday

 3 new spoons found for $1 each;

Love-er-ly brass frame with a love-er-lier lady inside for only $4;

And a nice little vintage crochet / knitting booklet for 50 cents;

Knitting on the cheap...

Loving my 50 cent knitting magazine.  This early 1980's mag is a valuable source for me, believe it or not;

 

Yarn at 50 cents each - bargain!  It has a little alpaca and mohair amongst the acrylic and polyester, and I think it will make a lovely scarf for next winter;

I found this furry yarn also for 50 cents and it's exactly what I needed because it appeared in front of me the day after I decided to make the Yultide Gnome knitted toy.  If you know what he looks like, you'll know I need this for his big beard.  How's that for destiny?

Cheap habedashery

Found all these items for 50 cents each!

Cover your own buttons... pity one was missing but still very usable of course:

Loving the cute engraved design on this crochet hook:

And by the way.... that Cleckheaton bamboo yarn you see at the back was only 20 cents!!

Woman's Weekly knitting magazine from the 1980's and believe me, I wouldn't have grabbed it if it didn't have at least a couple of cute designs in there.  The sweaters on the front cover are NOT one of the cute favourites:

Finally, I don't know how large this beautiful piece of fabric is (possibly 2 x 2 metres-ish and is thick enough for what I need it for), but I know it's way more than enough for a project I'm trying to finish:  

Free Knitting and Crochet Patterns

As the title indicates....  on rare occasions I find free stuff at the op shops.   They dump it all in a cardboard box and you can rummage and pick and choose to your hearts content.   They're good patterns in reasonable condition, a little on the vintage side with surprisingly minimum pages missing from some of the booklets.  Yay for free!