thrift shop yarn

i have these supremely lucky phases in my life when the yarn gods smile down on me and reward my super feeble knitting efforts with piles of lovely yarn at bargain prices. i'm in the midst of one of these periods now and soooooo enjoying it. a few weeks back i found some great scores at the salvation army in bendigo:


2 balls of ridiculously soft vintage alpaca, some of my favourite cleckheaton slubby wool and a wee bit of super fine merino (plus two other balls of acrylic stuff that i chose not to photograph) plus some new needles all for $2


and a great score of pure wool in a lovely grey shade, the wound ball is pretty dense so there is quite a bit here, really. again, all for $2 including the buttons! love it.



saving the best coup for last, over 20 (!) assorted balls of vintage mohair and angora from an op shop in williamstown, all for $5! this one was especially exciting because they were all crammed into an opaque shopping bag so i could only see one or two through the tie in the top. when i got out to my car and opened it up, i almost hyperventilated. all beautiful and high quality yarn in some of my favourite colours. granted, i'm not really a fan of bright greens so these ones might have to be traded but the blues and greys - love.

the problem, however, is how to best use all these treats. i'm thinking about knitting tons of 10" squares and then sewing them together to make a patchwork sort of blanket. it sounds great in theory and would be a great chance to try out some different stitch patterns, i was also thinking about felting the squares for a toasty, thick felted blanket. who knows. i started the first square last night, look for an update in about 10 years when i have the other 50 or so done!