Yesterday, I discovered to my horror that I was nearly out of 2/28 silk, which has rapidly become my favorite warp, and was actually OUT of its matching weft, a 1/14 cashmere. Faced with the prospect of running out of my favorite yarn, I went online and bought 4.5 more lbs of silk and 3 lbs of a matching cashmere/silk blend. That should keep me for awhile. I also ordered some 22/2 cottolin (cotton/linen blend) for weaving placemats, and some white rayon chenille.
My New Year’s resolution at this point is a bit tattered, since (you may recall) I also just ordered 5 lbs of white cotton 10/2 yarn. But I’m not feeling too bad about it – the intent of the resolution was to keep me from randomly accumulating yarn that I wasn’t going to use. At this point I’ve done enough weaving to have a pretty good idea of my tastes in weaving, and my purchases have been pretty targeted at “staples” – basic yarns that I need and will be able to use.
Well, at least in theory. We’ll see how the rest of the year shapes up.
To make room for these, I have decided to weed out my “dogs”. You know, the stuff in your stash that you’re not going to use, and wonder vaguely WHAT you were thinking when you bought it. (The sort of stuff my New Year’s resolution was meant to guard against.) I’m going to donate them to SCRAP, an organization that recycles craftwork stuff. I may give them my rag bag from tutumaking, too – haven’t decided yet. I may find a use for the stuff yet.
Anyway, I feel a bit embarrassed at my over-the-top yarn purchases, but also feel thrilled at the prospect of having a new set of staple yarns to work with. Lady Di (my newly christened Leclerc Diana loom) should be arriving sometime in the 2nd week or so of June, which is some small consolation for missing AIDS Lifecycle this year. (It’s June 3-9.) I’m already ordering reeds for her, so I can get started right away. Can’t wait!
Where do you prefer to buy yarns of this type in such bulk?
I got the silk and cashmere from Colourmart– they buy mill ends in large quantities from the highest quality cashmere and silk manufacturers, and pass the savings on. The result: super high quality yarn at really low prices! The only downside is that they don’t have consistent color lines, you just have to take what they have. So when I buy, I usually buy a lot!
The rayon chenille came from Webs – they’re having a $10/cone sale on 4.5 lb cones of undyed rayon chenille. The cottolin is from M. Brassard – a friend of mine has a wholesale account with them and is ordering it for me.
But Colourmart is my favorite yarn shopping place, by far!