Score!

I love thrift stores, even though 99 times out of 100, I find nothing of interest. It's the 100th time that keeps me coming back. This week I hit the 100, finding this lovely stash of Knit Picks Palette. I count 16, maybe 17, full balls plus some extra bits. For $10.

Now the question is, what shall I knit?

Thread Stash

Some days you just get lucky. A recent trip to a local thrift store resulted in a purchase of I'm-not-saying-how-many balls of Cebelia DMC thread, size 10, in four different colors, at 30 cents each. 30 cents! Most of this will end up at an upcoming knitting retreat.

Yes, I left some at the store.

Really.

I did.

Score!

I love thrift stores and used books stores. Not every visit results in a big score, but one did — two 1985 "Knitters" magazines. I especially enjoy reading the articles by or about some knitting legends: Barbara Walker, Lizbeth Upitis, Mary Walker Phillips and Priscilla Gibson-Roberts, for example. The articles are still relevant and most of the patterns are as wearable today as they were 22 years ago.

I wonder whether knitters in 2029 will say the same about today's knitting magazines?

Doily Discovery

Yesterday was a good day for treasure hunting. At a library book sale I found a 1984 issue of "Magic Knitting." It's from a French publisher, although the magazine is in English. I was pleasantly surprised to find this doily pattern, which the magazine describes as "a bouquet of arum flowers." No attribution to a designer is given — does it look familiar to anyone? It's full of twisted stitches and mesh, which could make it an interesting project. And it's charted — hooray!

It doesn't seem like the mid-1980s was a high time for doilies, which makes this an unexpected find.

At my favorite thrift store, I found a skein of tweedy Rowanspun for $4 (original price $13.50), which will make a nice hat for someone, and six skeins of Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool for a grand $3.