Black Friday& Cyber Monday 2014 Haul!

This post contains the totality of that i've picked up during the Black Friday & Cyber Monday sales this year. It's mostly yarn, although not only... no need to say that all this will aid my yarny addiction greatly.

Walmart had the Red Heart with Love yarn on sale for $1.97 this year, so i had to at least check it out. I don't recall using or trying out this yarn before and when visiting the store, whether i chose to buy(or not) was all up on my impression of it. I decided it would work; it's a true worsted weight(maybe even aran?) which is my preferred.  With Love is a 100% acrylic yarn that comes in 6oz/315yds a skein. I picked up 3 balls/skeins in Chocolate(brown) and Pewter(gray) which should be good sweater size quantities(specially with pops of other colors incorporated). I also picked up 2 skeins of each in Daffodil(yellow), Peacock(blue) and Aran(off white). I visited the store after the morning rush and it worked out perfectly; plenty of yarn to choose from and no waiting in line. WIN. Check out my yarn addiction video here.

Knit Picks ran their 'Big Sale Event' during black friday week. I was iffy about purchasing since i'm a rather newbie customer to knit picks as i tend to levitate towards the more inexpensive yarns; however i thought i would jump in as the sale prices seemed pretty fair. I got 9 skeins of Wool of the Andes Bulky in the Bluebird colorway, which is 100% wool and 137 yards p/ skein ~ this colorway is gorgeous. I also got a sweater quantity(10 skeins) of Wool of the Andes Superwash in the Camel Heather colorway, which is 100% superwash wool and 110 yards p/ skein. I plan to make some awesome sweaters with these, all thought i've yet to fall in love with any specific pattern. For detail(or perhaps for another project all together) i got a couple of Superwash skeins in the Indigo Heather colorway, also very pretty. Last but not least, i got one skein of Hawthorne Fingering in the Laddy's Addition colorway, another amazing pinkish orange to grey colorway. Love it! I purchased all this yarn for $50.20; no shipping cost(over $50 on their website)...making it a win at $2.28 a skein. View my  yarn addiction video here.

My browsing Knit Picks wasn't over however. After their 'Big Sale Event' they offered free shipping with a minimum purchase of $30(rather than the usual $50) and i saw they had quite a lot of their fiber on sale. If you guys haven't heard yet, i very recently purchased a spinning wheel and couldn't NOT jump in on this. Check out my spinning wheel blog(and video). I took advantage of the discounts on their Wool of the Andes Roving and purchased 4 Natural/Bare bunches(I lack the correct word for this, lol) which would pair up nicely with any color, and/or can be dyed if needed. I also got one bunch(lol) of each of the following 5 colors: Hot Rod heather, Salsa Heather, Dill Heather, Tidepool Heather and last but no least, Sapphire Heather. Each 'bunch' is 3.53oz/100grams. My total order came to $35.09. Check out my yarn addiction video here.

I also made a purchase from Tasteless Designs on etsy(check out the shop here). These weren't on 'sale' i believe, but due to my purchase of the wheel i couldn't resist the beautiful colorways... and since purchased around the same time i thought i would add them in. Aren't these gorgeous? Both are 4oz of Superfine Merino. The gray/yellow colorway is called 'Spellbook', while the one with red is called 'Berlin'. I'm really looking forward to spinning these up.


Last but not least, the spinning wheel! I purchased a Babe(spinning wheel) from woolery.com and it's quite exciting and awesome at the same time. Check out my related blog here and/or check out my spinning wheel assembly video here. This year has been filled with lots of new things to feed my yarn/fiber stash. I'm looking forward to using some up while at the same time looking forward to purchasing some more to fill the void...lol.

Uh-Oh ~ Spinning Wheel Assembly!

This year i really went all out and bought myself a late birthday(Nov. 4)/early holiday gift for myself. I've been looking at spinning wheels for quite a while and finally decided on a Babe. It's one of the most(if not THE most) inexpensive spinning wheel brands i've found and from my research, they are quite amazing and versatile. They are made from PVC pipes which is part of the reason why they are inexpensive, yet this makes them very lightweight and the no fuss assembly makes them ideal to travel with.

I purchased a production spinning wheel, double treadle(2 pedals) in white. I assembled mine in about 30-45 minutes; not too bad for such a newbie as myself. I have tried a spinning wheel once in my life(not the best experience) and haven't been around many at all, so for a novice like me that's not too shabby. It took about 2 weeks for it to arrive(quicker than i expected actually) and it came neatly packaged in a rather compact box. From what i recall(from their website), the wheel itself is a wheelchair wheel. I purchased mine from woolery.com, however Babe does sell them directly from their website at babesfibergarden.com.

I decided to set it up in my basement; it's where i had the most room for assembly and will have the most privacy(for plenty of practice). You can call it our family room, it's where all the game systems are set up. Since my husband isn't much of a gamer, you can call this my spot...and now even more so :D.

 This wheel really had a very easy assembly. It was rather self explanatory and not many parts to put together at all. My favorite part was the pedals, i just loved how they snapped onto the base as well as have the velcro straps for extra security(why i love them, i don't know lol). The real 'assembly' part of it i would say is the 2 screws it came with...that's it(a screw driver is required for this)! It did take me a few tries to get the drive band on(it goes around the wheel itself as well as the bobbin) and it did take me a second to figure out how the flyer mechanism works(did i use the correct terminology there? The whole bobbin/hooks section).

While i had my doubtful moments where i wondered if i got it right(regardless of reading the directions) there was actually a YouTube channel that i found very, very helpful. It was the only one, actually, that showed in some detail how a Babe spinning wheel actually works...and even if 'assembly' wasn't really the point/take of the video, the information provided did help me quite a bit. Check this spinner out at Expertly Dyed. She's a spinner/dyer/knitter that i've been following almost since i've started my own channel, and she has tons of information that other spinners/dyers will find useful i'm sure.

The video i made isn't really to take you step-by-step in how i put the wheel together, but rather it's just to share my experience. It's sped up quite a bit(not sure anyone would really want to sit there and watch it in real time!) and i did cut out a few sections here and there, specially when i took my time reading directions before going further. I had a chance to play around with it for a couple of days now, i would say about 2-3 hours so far. I found that my hands get cramped after about half an hour of spinning, but that's understandable since it would take some time to get used to repeated movements you're not used to(ie drafting). I'm getting better at multi-tasking with my hands while my feet are busy pedaling as well.... it will take some practice but so far so good!

Mail Time & Yarn Addiction Mash-Up!

This could be about nothing else but stash enhancements(aka more/new yarn).  I got mine via mail, hence the theme mash-up. Was i on a yarn diet? Yes... but that's ok. I'm back on the horse until November.

What did my yarn haul consist of? Other than a couple of Red Heart skeins for one of my current WIPS, this enhancement came from Ron Strong's De-Stash(check out his YT channel, in vid description box). He has some awesome yarn i must say, let me list it for you...

• Rowan Felted Tweed in Red Brown
• Rowan Felted Tweed in Pine
• Rowan Felted Tweed in Brown
• Rowan Felted Tweed in Taupe
• Berroco Vintage DK in Purple
• Berroco Vintage DK in Olive Green
• Berroco Vintage DK in Taupe
• Berroco Weekend DK in Pink
• Rowan Creative Linen in White
• Rowan Creative Linen in Yellow
• Cascade Yarn Ultra Pima in White
• Misc. Skein in Variegated Yellow

Now that's what you call yarn enhancement, right? Are all the colorway names correct in my list? Of course not, since(if you watched my vid) none of these actually had the colorway name on their lables, just the number. So i made those up lol... but they fit the bill for my purposes ;).

Also, if you guys haven't heard yet i'm currently running my 500 Subscriber Giveaway(click for vid) and it's open until Sept. 6. If you haven't done so already go check it out and submit your entry. I do have an update for that this coming weekend as well, so stay tuned!

Another Yarn and Book Haul!!

This is the last one in a good long while...or so i promised myself. I have to work on downsizing the stash!! All these new books & mags only means i have plenty of patterns to use it up, just got to get to it. I think a post about that would actually be ideal....This been a holiday weekend(July 4th in the states)
 it would be the perfect time to shop from my stash(go through your stash and pull out yarn rather than purchasing for specific patterns). Gives me something to look forward to; how exciting!

Now for the haul, i purchased a number of yarns - various skeins per colorway. Enough to make a project(i told myself), all though i didn't have anything specific picked out for any. Ideally the place i purchased from also had a special going on - spend $50 and they throw in a goodie bag. It wasn't my main reason for purchasing, but it was definitely an incentive. Was it 'worth' it? Hm, perhaps?

During my last haul i listed all the books/mags along with links for those interested. I didn't purchase quite so many this time but i think i'll do the same. Here ya go!

Fabulous Felted Hand-Knits
Knit Simple - Winter 2012
Knit Simple - Holiday 2011
Knit Simple - Holiday 2012
Knit Simple - Holiday 2010
Creative Knitting - Fall 2009(wasn't able to find this one :( ..)
Itty Bitty Nursery 
New Knits on the Block

Yarn Book Haul

So, it's happened again. Another yarn related book haul to expand the library....not that i don't have enough XD. I'm sharing them with you via my latest Yarn Addiction update, and am including a list at the bottom with links via Amazon if you're looking to purchase any of these. Enjoy!

This Haul consist of:

Big Girl Knits
Fitted Knits
Mission Falls Goes Crochet (wasn't able to find this one in Amazon)
Alterknits
The Natural Knitter
Son of Stitch & Bitch
Baby Knits
Curvy Knits Cambride
Knitted Gifts
Shibori Knitted Felt
Not Another Teen Knitting Book
Araucania Designer Mini Knits - Book 4
The Knitter's Year
Knit.1 - Fall 2007 (magazine)
Noro Kids
Twinkle's Town & Country Knits
Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines

Monster Haul; Bernat Mosaic

Yep, i did it again. A few weeks ago yarnfactoryoutlet.com had a flash sale of Bernat Mosaic(and a few others). This is one of my favorite yarns due to the awesome colorways and the color transitions. In all seriousness, I'm not affiliated with this company/website in anyway and purchased these for myself; i just wanted to share the wealth and perhaps encourage you to like/subscribe to your favorite brands or website etc, as sometimes it really pays off.

The flash sale was $7 for a pack of 3 skeins, making each about $2.33 a piece. At their 'original price' they offer the 3 pack for $9($3 a piece) which is not bad in itself. My purchase was 10 colorways or 30 skeins(!!) for $81.95 including tax and shipping, making each skein about $2.73. That's some amazing savings. The lowest price i found for this yarn was Walmart at $4.22 a skein(price varies per colorway). Yarn Factory Outlet is based in Canada i believe and i'm in the US(not sure if they ship worldwide) ~ i can say i found their shipping to be pretty comparable and quick.

Last but not least, the grab bag aka surprise bag. Didn't quite meet my expectations but then i wasn't really expecting anything. It's great for a freebie; i really wouldn't have picked the yarn out for myself otherwise.

So, expecting this shipment i had to skip another amazing sale that happened this last Mother's Day weekend. Michael's is now selling online(was that always the case?) and they had their Loops and Threads yarn on sale for $1.29(i think that was it). That's pretty amazing and probably a better sale than the above. It took some major self control but i managed it, my stash is monstrous enough as is. XD

Don't forget to check out shop.sheknits.com and browse around. She makes some awesome yarn and has the patience to do so(unlike me lol). Also check out Dalequan's youtube channel and website, all links will be included in the video description.

MD Sheep and Wool Festival Haul!

I attended on Sunday and it was pretty awesome(yet tiring) . Not only did i not get to visit all the vendors but i also didn't get the few things i really wanted(like a shawl pin(s) and perhaps another yarn bowl). I did come home with a small yarn haul however, which obviously, include some of my fave yarns. I was also pretty tempted by fiber and had to remind myself a number of times that i don't quite enjoy spinning(via spindle) and i wouldn't enjoy them to the fullest. There were some gorgeous spinning wheels i wouldn't mind trying out sometime. I really have to meet others who enjoy needle crafts around my area!

                                                     

     
 
                                                                       

     

Uh - Oh...Yarn Haul!

Resisting a good yarn sale is pretty hard....hence this yarn haul. I visited yarnfactoryoutlet.com  and have come up with this.

I have a pretty good size stash(as you can see from my videos, most of my stash makes an appearance as the background) and all though i'm working on using it all up, sometimes adding enhancements is inevitable. I recently discovered this site which is pretty neat and has good prices. The only downside i would say is the lack of colorways, as it's pretty limited to what they have available.

Amazing? Yes. Too much? Perhaps.
These are the yarns i have come to obtain:

Patons Shetland Chunky Yarn in Bronze x6

Bernat Mosaic Yarn, Ninja x3

Bernat Mosaic Yarn, Psychedelic x3

Brand New Mosaic Yarn-Sunset x3

Bernat Baby Jacquards Yarn in Macaroon x3

Patons Kroy Socks Yarn in Grey Striped Ragg x9