Lucky Craft Supply finds @ Hobby Lobby & Michael's Crafts
My shopping radar must be activated - I keep finding cool stuff to buy (that I really can't afford but get anyway).
I was at Hobby Lobby yesterday..., and before I went in I thought to myself I should check the yarn section again to see if they had received the "wool clue" yet.
You see, about 2 years ago, you could not go into a Michael's Crafts or a Hobby lobby and find 100% wool yarn, just lots of synthetic and cotton. Now that the knitting craze has reached the point of saturation, and added the "felted wool" knitting technique to it's list of cool things to do, the big box stores are FINALLY getting the clue and Michael's crafts started carrying Patons Wool yarn about a year ago. Then the other day I noticed that they were carrying a second brand of wool yarn... yay!
So I'm thinking about all this as I trudge into Hobby Lobby during my lunch hour. So I go to the needlework section and notice that the needle felting has filtered through, and they sell these six ounce packs (with six 1-ounce balls, each a different color) in varying color combinations, of WOOL ROVING...
Mmmm, I could use that to teach a handspinning class and give the students a choice of colors...mmmm, It as a little over seven dollars, so a little over a dollar per ounce. Not terrible.
So I start wondering,, if they have wool roving for needle felting, then do they have wool yarn for knitting up items to be felted. Lo and Behold they DO!
AND... they are carrying the new (to me anyway) Lion Brand "fisherman's" yarn. It comes in an eight ounce skein, for $9.82 with tax = $1.22 an ounce! It's carried in either natural white or in brown. PERFECT! I can dye the white any color I want. I just wish they carried a grey color. Cause you can dye grey yarn and get deeper shades. This yarn is affordable, accessible, and I can grab some up in a pinch for a class.
I bought a pack of the roving, and a skein each of the white and brown. I'll see how they knit up, and show you some samples. They we can felt them up so you can see how they do there as well.
I know, I know, I'm supposed to support small businesses. But I want the big box stores to carry natural fibers too. If I just buy wool yarn from them, and others do the same, they will hopefully see the opportunities in providing natural fibers. Hey, I can hope...
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PART TWO:
Today, I was again killing a lunch hour and trolled Michael's crafts and found in their clearance section, some fringed SILK VELVET scarves, suitable for dyeing. There were six of them on clearance for three dollars each. I bought them all.
They measure 11" x 60" each. So for for $19.71 (that is tax included), I got the equivalent of a piece of silk velvet that is 60" x 66" which is $6.46 per square yard.
Why is this such a big deal. Cause you can't find silk velvet in this town, you have to order it online. Could I get white silk velvet for that price? At two different places it came out to $8.56 and $8.64 per square yard BEFORE shipping.
So why am I so hyped about silk velvet scarves? Because our kingdom device is black and white, and a generously sized silk velvet kingdom tabard could be made using 4 white and 2 black silk velvet scarves. A $20 Silk velvet tabard ain't too shabby. (of course I'd be lining it with materials from my stash!)
Now it's all crushed, having been in a package, and I hope it steams out ok. But I'm using my wallpaper steamer which makes the most stubborn of stains fall out. The edges were cheaply rolled hems, lots of frayed edges, so maybe it will come out closer to 12" wide when unrolled.