BIGGEST SCORE IN THE WORLD!!!

I've not been well lately, due to medical issues but I'm not going to bore you with that.  What I will bore you with instead is a 'special' find at my local second hand store recently.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I'd find what I did last week.
I walked into the op shop and usually the first thing I do is head for the crafting section.  Well that's what I call it anyway.... it can be as big as a whole corner full of stuff or one lousy small basketful.  But on this particular day, I spotted a MASS of knitting wool and nearly had an aneurysm.  The impact was so intense that I nearly blacked out.  

At first my sight went a little blurry and in the span of just a second or two, I thought to myself 'I must have walked into an up-market wool store by mistake?!'  But then I realized that there aren't any yarn stores where I was.

So I got closer to the HUGE MASS of wool and I stood there with glazed eyes.
There must have been 3 huge plastic tubs full of it and I honestly didn't know what was going on.  Was I dreaming?  Was somebody playing a practical joke?  WHAT???  It was like I was going through the 5 stages of grief.  I've also seen it as the 7 stages of grief, but let's stick with 5 for the sake of keeping it shorter and sweeter;

Denial
This can't be happening.  This is can't be real.  Am I in an op shop or did I mistakenly enter a high priced wool shop?  Is somebody going to jump out from hiding behind a clothes rack and shout 'SURPRISE, YOU'RE ON CANDID CAMERA!!'  No, it's a big mistake, I'm quite sure of it.

Anger
I swear if ANYBODY tries to touch that wool, I'm going to knock their blocks off.  If anybody more than looks at it, I'm going to..... well I don't know what I will do but it will be very nasty.

Bargaining
Gee, I can't afford to buy ALL of this wool.  I've got a good amount on me but it's mostly for food shopping.  But gee-wiz-golly.... if I don't buy what I can now, I will regret it.  Self, look at it this way;  if you buy a heap of this wool, it will last you for years to come.  You won't have to buy more for a really long time.
Go on, you know you want to.  

Depression
But, but.... oh it's food money!  We will probably go without eating for a week or two, get all thin and gaunt and we'll become very sickly.  It's a sad, sad situation.

Acceptance
A sigh of relief.  The truth is that it's only money and I can steal, beg or borrow more money for food if I have to.  LOL.

Dear friends and those who aren't, I forked out $145, and mind you there is only 90% of it showing in the photos.  The other 10% was still in my car from lack of room: 

Can you see what it is?  Click on each photo to see!  Do you know how much all this wool is worth new?  Some of it is discontinued, some you can still find.
Example: one ball of Rowan kidsilk aura could set you back $8 per ball.  And there are ones in there that you'd have to fork out more that $10-15 per ball/skein.  The whole lot would have cost me closer to $1000 if I had been in some swanky, snobby yarn store.

-Rowan, including cashsoft, wool, wool/cotton, silky tweed & fine milk.
-Alpaca Silk
-Classic Elite Yarns
-Malabrigo

Maybe now you will understand what all this hoopla-hoo-ha was about and why I'm ranting and raving.  I think the only people that would appreciate this find, are the knitters and crocheters out there, and those that understand the worth of beautiful, luxurious yarn.

I shared my find on facebook (crafting group) recently.  I could tell there was a little jealousy, even though nobody said so but some were actually over the moon happy for me.  One lady said she went to her local yarn store to find some Rowan, just out of curiosity to see the prices.  She was gobsmacked.  She told the store attendant of what I found at the op shop, and she didn't believe it.  Apparently NOBODY GIVES AWAY EXPENSIVE WOOL TO AN OP SHOP, IT'S IMPOSSIBLE!  IT DOES NOT HAPPEN!

So there you go, I'm a liar.  It never happened.

But do you think I'm worried whether people believe it or not?  All I care is that I found it and I'm very happy - it was a deal of a lifetime find!  And I have sore feet from all the little happy dances to prove it.

I think I've just turned into a yarn snob.  ;)

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:

Wednesday

Yummy yarn, found for $1 per ball;

Acrylic, but surprisingly soft.

Mohair, or at least part mohair and feels lovely to the touch.

Pure cotton, it's nice, soft and not like those horrid stiff cottons.

And now for the obligatory let down. I didn't pay $1 for this next ball of pure wool, but rather 50 cents.  I really don't know why I did not carefully check it whilst at the op shop, I must have had brain mush at that particular moment (yes, it happens to the best of us).  After I got it home, this is what I found;

I think there must be about 10gm more or less, of short and long strands.  Thankfully the rest was ok.  Ugghh!  Please check your yarn thoroughly before purchasing at the op shop!

Tuesday

Latest yarn found for $1 each;

One of my favorite yarns - Cleckheaton Country 8ply, but not for sweaters.  This is great for warm and cosy blankets.  Yes, I guess some people use it to make sweaters but the last sweater I made with this, I only wore once because I found it heavy and hot.  Hence, why it's great for blankets.  :)

Anchor Magicline Cotton.  

I'm loving the groovy colours!

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...

Saturday

After collecting yarn for a few years now... I still don't get bored of finding a bargain.  Sometimes I know what I'll use it for, sometimes I don't.  Either way, it's all good and I will probably keep collecting it until the day my eye sight is no more.  I say that because my eye sight has diminished rapidly this past year and I fear the worst.

I've started wearing glasses to knit at night - something I shouldn't be doing because I make more mistakes when I'm sleepy/tired.  Thankfully day time is ok (notice I wrote 'ok' and not 'good').  Oh well, nobody can stay whole forever, this is true.  In the meantime I will enjoy finding yarn!  Found for $1 each (the Faith was both for $1) ...

Cheap yarn

I love it when I find balls of wool for 50 cents each:

Better still, I love it much more when I find bamboo for 20 cents:

Bendigo Colonial Wool

I scored 600g of Bendigo Woollen Mills wool.  I forked out $15 for the lot and it's the most I've ever paid for wool at the op shop.  I'm still unsure as to why I bought it.  

A little good news on a dreary day.

Good news is rare for all of us these days, isn't it?

I received some this morning and although it was a small piece of news, it made my day.  My bank has finally taken away the majority of their banking (including internet) fees.  As far as I can tell, the only fee they have is the coin counting & depositing fee at 5% of the coin amount which I've never needed to do.

So what's the catch, I asked my husband?  No bank has no fees, so there must be some hidden fees somewhere - I've yet to find them if they exist.  How are they making their money now, with virtually no fees from their customers?  Hubby replied 'furg knows'.  (We have our own kind language that we share, but what couple doesn't?)

So, we finally have a bank that has virtually no fees.  I never thought I'd see the day and I'm still a little apprehensive and want to find out for sure so I'll be visiting my bank in the very near future to see if they are as fantastic as they are making out to be.  In the meantime, I'll enjoy my good news.

Onto something different... Wool!

I have a section in my work room that is overflowing with yarn.  I also have a section the bedroom wardrobe which is overflowing with yarn.  Then there is under the bed... and the cabinet in dining room.  It's getting out of hand and I can't stop.  I'm not talking a shopping bag or two full in each room, I'm talking 9 or 10 bags and possibly more!  Soon I'll be throwing out food from the kitchen pantry to store yarn.  Yarn is like a drug for me and unless you're a knitter, you will not understand.  I have the bad fairy telling me that it's ok, you'll find more spaces around the house to hide it in and nobody will be the wiser.  Then I have the good fairy telling me to sell it and make a pretty penny from it all. 

Sell my yarn?? No way and no how... or at least for now.  I have a lot of vintage yarn without moth nibbles - thank you very much.  I'd never buy moth nibbled yarn because it's useless and chances are if you see a nibble on the outside of the ball, there will be a few on the inside.  So before buying, checking it thoroughly is a must.  Then I have yarn that's just old, maybe between 5 - 10 years old.  Obviously discontinued and cannot be found anywhere unless it's hiding in some other yarn hoarders home.  Then I have small amounts of the newer stuff left over from previous knitting jobs.  How can I get rid of them?  They have sentimental value because I made a pretty penny from those!  With more knitting work coming my way, this means more yarn in my stash and it's a bit worrying.

 And of course I find most of my older yarn from the good old op shop so who can pass up such great bargains?  Not me.  I have enough yarn to keep going for 20 years or so.  But I love it and wouldn't change my habit for the world.  It gives me great pleasure to buy and knit with it.  And that's all that counts.  

Approximately 500g of Patons f.d.k (part cotton, part acrylic) for $5 and 350g of Passionknit (part wool, part acrylic) for $6.

For the love of wool.

275g of 2 ply angora for $2!! Plenty for a yummy lace scarf.

500g (plus a bit more) of 12 ply crepe wool for $5!!  Definitely enough for a cozy sweater.

I love it when I'm in the right place at the right time. 

Oh so long ago.

I remember the first time I entered a second hand shop.  We call them 'op shops' here in Australia, which means 'opportunity shopping'.  And rightly so.  So many opportunities to find so many great things out there, it's overwhelming.  The problem is where to put all these great finds in the house, or as I like to call them... treasures.

Anyway it was over 10 years ago when I entered that dingy, old and smelly op shop.  I was at my local shopping centre with my mother and we saw it, entered it and we were amazed with.  I'm pretty sure it was my mothers first time also, hence the fascinating comments that came out of her mouth.  We had a quick look around and I found what I was looking for.  An electric blue silky shirt.  It was faux silk of course, but I just had to have because after all, it was a measly $2.  I wore the shirt a couple of times within the year, but then gave it back to an op shop several years later.  Not to the same op shop, because it closed down months later.  I got caught up in how much the shirt was, rather than actually really liking it.  Isn't that always the way?

The second time was in Bunbury, a good few hours away from home.  My husband was sent to do some work and I tagged along.  Found the op shop, entered it and it took me about a minute to look around, then left.  Why?  I didn't know what I was looking for, I was the only one in there and I was embarrassed.  Again, why?  To this day I do not know.  I was new to the op shopping experience and had a lot to learn.  And so it began.  My hunt for more op shops and actually looking for something worthwhile.

Found many years ago....
A bunch of yarn cones, small cones were $2 and large cones were $5.  The large ones are heavy and I thought they were a steal!

Mostly wool, some cotton, and an acrylic.  I don't normally buy acrylic, unless it's soft and is an appealing colour.   Still, was elated when I found these.