I was behaving well. I visited Jimmy Beans Wool in Reno over Christmas and despite having finished the mittens I brought along to work on, I bought nothing. Today, I wasn't even in a yarn shop. I would not normally ever shop for yarn in the big box craft stores. I'm a bit of a yarn snob and don't like the froofy acrylic "novelty" stuff and the dishcloth cotton I associate with the chains. I was in Craft Warehouse (nicest of the chains IMHO) shopping for frames. I won't say buying frames, because I was saddened to find out that what I imagined to be a standard size, alas, was not. Frustrated because I now am having to custom order one, I stomped around a bit looking for some miracle to bail me out of my dilemma. I did pick up some acid-free foam core because I am perpetually and inexplicably out of it. One day I will figure out which bookcase I slide the sheets behind and I will find 20 sheets, along with 800 missing ball point pens that had slipped down behind as well.
So there next to the framing department, while I waited for the gal to fetch the foam core, I saw giant bins filled with bagged yarn and signage declaring a grand mill ends closeout. The only think I like less than plasticy novelty yarn is bags of novelty yarn.
Met and started chatting with a lady there who searching for the right color of yarn for a Star Wars character in a bin of loose balls. When I asked if she meant something like a Yoda amigurumi that I had made from a pattern on Etsy, she said "Yes, Yes!" We had a lovely discussion of which yarns would good Ewoks, and how challenging it was to find the perfect Yoda green. And then I put my hand in the bin. The black eyelash yarn would be great for making soot sprites (from Totoro and Spirited Away) for Hannah. And a ball went into my basket.
We then discussed a strange netted yarn called Starbella that can be used for making really simple ruffled scarves. And a ball went into my basket. The rust and green and black on used in the example on the link.
Then I looked closer at the bag yarns. They had no labels, no information, no fiber content listed, no weight or gauge info, no hint of brand. They were packaged as 1 pound bags for $8.39. They had to be total crap yarn, right? Mostly yes, but I saw a bag peeking from a few layers down that looked, to my surprise, like Noro or Knit Picks Chroma. It looked like a wool blend, single ply with the color shifting and tweeding a bit. I had bought some Noro Sock yarn a few years ago that was $20 for a 100 gram skein (over $80 for a pound.) I knew this couldn't be as nice, but damn, it looked good and was an amazing deal. A little more sifting and I found several more bags, including some in a heavier (worsted?) weight.
Plop. Plop. Plop. Plop. (That was the sound of four bags landing in my cart.) I had to stop myself from taking them all. Besides, without being able to properly fondle it bagged as it were, I may not like it at all. Not all the balls in each bag were the same color, which will be important to figure out when It comes to scheming up a project. Also, whoever bagged it was conscientious to ensure there was at least a pound in each bag. One had 6 oz above and beyond! The good news is that unbagged, it looks and feels like quality yarn. How did this happen? For under $40? In a chain store?
So I blog this score as both a rationalization of an unneeded purchase and the confession of a yarn hoarder. Besides, It was nice meeting someone from the Tri-Cities who actually knows what amigurumi is. Time to turn my attention back to things that I actually need to do, rather than rambling on and on.
