Stash Enhancement 101:
First, go to the source. Mom and Dad were vacationing in Lake Lure, NC, and I came up to visit for a few days. Beforehand, I had noted that the Peaches N Creme mill outlet was located relatively nearby and printed out directions from their vacation spot. My mom and I decided, while my dad went to play golf with a friend, to explore the area and find it. So, off to Old Fort, NC we went. After about 45 minutes, my nav. system, brought us right to the front door of cotton yarn heaven!
Second, know what you're getting into. We walk into this tiny waiting room, complete with knitting magazines for your reading and drooling pleasure. The lady at the window (I later learn is named Jamie) asks us how she can help and I reply that we were here to visit the store. We wait for a few minutes and a man comes to show us back. We walk through a couple of rooms, offices really, and come to the smallish room with a wall of sample cones, balls, and patterns. On the other wall is a big window looking out to the yarn storage area. I had heard stories about there being bins of castoff yarn, imperfects, if you will. And, yup, there they were next to the window! Three big laundry bins of yarn balls and cones just thrown in. I am a lover of outlet "stuff" and a little imperfection here and there never hurt anyone. He gives us a little orientation and told me to write down anything I want from the samples on the wall. So, for about 10 minutes, we dug through the bins and found some really nice stuff. The samples on the wall could wait.
Third, have a connection, even if it is just a name from the internet that you have seen on the Ravelry Peaches n Creme forum. All the time we're searching, I'm wondering which of the ladies in the office was Flo. Now, Flo has worked at Pisgah Yarn for 34 years and is one of the administrators of the Ravelry group. Everyone who comes to the outlet meets her. I hadn't asked for her, simply because I was a little overwhelmed at first. I was going to give myself some time to settle in and figure out what I wanted, when who walks through the door, but Flo herself, wearing this fun knitted top in a brown leatherlike material!! She asks us if we knew about everything, and I told her "sort of." She rolled her eyes a little and said, that she'd take care of that, with a big grin! I asked if she was Flo, and she exclaimed she was! Well, Flo explained EVERYTHING to us and more... I can give a great orientation to the outlet room, let me tell ya! She probably spent 45 minutes with us as we gabbed along about yarn and knitting. After a while, she left us to decide on our purchases, and we continued sorting through all the fun stuff.
Fourth, have a box. A big box. A little while later, the man who initially showed us around popped back in to see how we were doing and to see if I had a list for him of what I wanted him to pull for me. I gave him my list and he brought out a box for us to put what we had gathered from the bins so far. I had picked out a few cones and a bunch of ball remnants. Mom had gotten a few balls, but she isn't a big knitter (yet). Then, he started bringing out the yarn! Cones and balls of fun yarn! Yay! It was so much fun :-) We filled the box.
Fifth, bring your credit card. So, it was eventually time to ante up. Mom probably only spent about $4.00 because a pound of imperfect yarn (whether in ball remnants or per cone) is around this price. I'm not telling how much I spent. But it was under $100... such a good bargin for so much yarn!! Here's some of what I got :-)
These are the remnants:
I would have gotten more remnants, but I ended up just deciding on full cones of the colors I had found. No sense in getting a cone and also a bunch of imperfect remnants. Now that I look back, I would have gotten more remnants of the colors I did get. They are really pretty!
Before we left, we chatted with Flo for another 30 minutes about colors and websites. We learned that her husband created their website and that they are considering some new colors. I have some ideas so I need to post them on Ravelry! Maybe I can get my perfect color combination of yarn!! That'd be fun :-) Then, I can get more yarn!
So, that concludes my lesson on stash enhancement. Just remember the key - no stash is too large for enhancement! Next, I will teach a lesson on destashing. Maybe ;-)
First, go to the source. Mom and Dad were vacationing in Lake Lure, NC, and I came up to visit for a few days. Beforehand, I had noted that the Peaches N Creme mill outlet was located relatively nearby and printed out directions from their vacation spot. My mom and I decided, while my dad went to play golf with a friend, to explore the area and find it. So, off to Old Fort, NC we went. After about 45 minutes, my nav. system, brought us right to the front door of cotton yarn heaven!
Second, know what you're getting into. We walk into this tiny waiting room, complete with knitting magazines for your reading and drooling pleasure. The lady at the window (I later learn is named Jamie) asks us how she can help and I reply that we were here to visit the store. We wait for a few minutes and a man comes to show us back. We walk through a couple of rooms, offices really, and come to the smallish room with a wall of sample cones, balls, and patterns. On the other wall is a big window looking out to the yarn storage area. I had heard stories about there being bins of castoff yarn, imperfects, if you will. And, yup, there they were next to the window! Three big laundry bins of yarn balls and cones just thrown in. I am a lover of outlet "stuff" and a little imperfection here and there never hurt anyone. He gives us a little orientation and told me to write down anything I want from the samples on the wall. So, for about 10 minutes, we dug through the bins and found some really nice stuff. The samples on the wall could wait.
Third, have a connection, even if it is just a name from the internet that you have seen on the Ravelry Peaches n Creme forum. All the time we're searching, I'm wondering which of the ladies in the office was Flo. Now, Flo has worked at Pisgah Yarn for 34 years and is one of the administrators of the Ravelry group. Everyone who comes to the outlet meets her. I hadn't asked for her, simply because I was a little overwhelmed at first. I was going to give myself some time to settle in and figure out what I wanted, when who walks through the door, but Flo herself, wearing this fun knitted top in a brown leatherlike material!! She asks us if we knew about everything, and I told her "sort of." She rolled her eyes a little and said, that she'd take care of that, with a big grin! I asked if she was Flo, and she exclaimed she was! Well, Flo explained EVERYTHING to us and more... I can give a great orientation to the outlet room, let me tell ya! She probably spent 45 minutes with us as we gabbed along about yarn and knitting. After a while, she left us to decide on our purchases, and we continued sorting through all the fun stuff.
Fourth, have a box. A big box. A little while later, the man who initially showed us around popped back in to see how we were doing and to see if I had a list for him of what I wanted him to pull for me. I gave him my list and he brought out a box for us to put what we had gathered from the bins so far. I had picked out a few cones and a bunch of ball remnants. Mom had gotten a few balls, but she isn't a big knitter (yet). Then, he started bringing out the yarn! Cones and balls of fun yarn! Yay! It was so much fun :-) We filled the box.
Fifth, bring your credit card. So, it was eventually time to ante up. Mom probably only spent about $4.00 because a pound of imperfect yarn (whether in ball remnants or per cone) is around this price. I'm not telling how much I spent. But it was under $100... such a good bargin for so much yarn!! Here's some of what I got :-)
These are the remnants:
I would have gotten more remnants, but I ended up just deciding on full cones of the colors I had found. No sense in getting a cone and also a bunch of imperfect remnants. Now that I look back, I would have gotten more remnants of the colors I did get. They are really pretty!
Before we left, we chatted with Flo for another 30 minutes about colors and websites. We learned that her husband created their website and that they are considering some new colors. I have some ideas so I need to post them on Ravelry! Maybe I can get my perfect color combination of yarn!! That'd be fun :-) Then, I can get more yarn!
So, that concludes my lesson on stash enhancement. Just remember the key - no stash is too large for enhancement! Next, I will teach a lesson on destashing. Maybe ;-)
*ETA* My first project was a Beach Ball dishcloth made from the Lemonade colorway. Here's a pic of my first project made from remnant Lemonade yarn:
3 comments:
I don't know which of my blog buddy's vacations I am more jealous of, yours with the stash enhancement, or Laurie's (http://knitwitarmywife.blogspot.com), who went to Paris. Tough call.
I go to scrapbook stores to "get a fix" since I have long considered myself a junkie for scrapbook supplies. I now have a more dignified term for buying additional supplies I really do not need: STASH ENHANCEMENT. I hope my husband likes this new term.
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