Wednesday, March 12, 2008

I think I'm a fiber-snob

It's either THAT or...
I've picked up a habit that's too expensive for my penny-pinching nature.

Maybe both.

First, the penny-pinching...
I went to Knit 4 Together in Dunlap yesterday. I knew it would be small...that didn't bother me. I guess I thought I would find a different selection. Oh yeah, there was wool, alpaca, the OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive buffalo...$75.00 for 100g!!! I just wasn't finding what I wanted. There was superwash merino...but only in 50g balls..and at ~$4-5 per ball, I wasn't going to shell out that much money (I'd want to get ~200g or more). So I ended up in the bargain bins. Not much there. I almost got some sock yarn just cuz it was on sale...even tho I REALLY didn't care for the colorways. Almost got a ball of merino...again didn't like the colorway. Finally, I settled on two balls of fingering weight alpaca/tencel/nylon blend. It was white & super soft. I figured I could use it to make some stuff for Kirsten's twins (coming in May or June). Of course, I needed a smaller circular needle but couldn't find them so picked up some bamboo #1 DPN's. Spent ~$16 total. Found the circulars as we were walking out the door, don't ya know >:(

Had to fly out of there cuz we'd already spent too much time & J had to get back (he took a long lunch to come with me so I didn't have to lug/chase Owen).

Now the fiber snob...
So I would find colors and weights that looked attractive, but I wouldn't like the texture...too scratchy. I was excited to see Liecester Longwool, but the twist in the plying made it really rough. Very disappointing. Lots of goofy, fluffy, impractical stuff for foofy ladies sweaters or wacky scarves...not interested. HUGE 8oz skein of very bulky, soft wool...but didn't come in a color I wanted...always looking for purples :) No luck. The white baby alpaca was VERY soft, but again was in really small skeins...WHY??? Some very nicely dyed 4 oz skeins of machine washable & dryable...but $13 each (oops, penny-pinching again). The Cascade 220 looked nice and was softer than I expected...but I can get that from TONS of places (especially the internet).

I think I'm going to have to take a trek to Glasford to the Fiberstation...and maybe get out to the Black Socks Farm to feel their roving. Not sure I'll ever find what I'm looking for. May have to "make" it myself.

Hmmm...there's another yarn store in Morton :)

3 comments:

Leeduck said...

I think you'll find the store in Morton more to your tastes. It has a much bigger selection and a lower proportion of "novelty" yarn

MunchkinMama said...

Thanks :)

SallyN said...

Yeah... the store in Morton... you might want to save up for that trip... I see you walking out of there with bags of yarn. :D

I need to hook you up with my friend Stephanie... she's a yarn snob to the utmost!