One dollar Koigu

It's possible, my friends.

Oh, how I do love garage sales!

The kids and I stopped at a sale on Park Avenue that advertised craft items and yarn, yarn, yarn. I only saw a basket full of the chain store stuff, Lion Brand this, Red Heart that. Somewhat disappointed, I turned in another direction. And there it was. A basket full of The Good Stuff. I snagged a hank of Koigu Painter's Palette in a lovely blend of aqua, blue and green for one measly dollar. Even better? A super huge hank of rainbow-dyed merino and two super huge hanks of pink variegated alpaca from local spinners. The labels attached to each displayed price tags of $17.50. But we were at a garage sale, so all four hanks of lovely wool deliciousness were $4. As in total.

I was a little shocked at the price, and the homeowner looked sickish green as I forked over my Washingtons, even admitting that she hated to sell it for one dollar considering how much she paid for it. But she had to cut back her stash, so there you go.

Sam found some old crochet patterns for sea creatures, all purchased for a mere quarter. He and I have this thing where he'll design a creature and we'll try to bring it to life. He drew a pattern for a thing he calls "Guy", sewed it up, stuffed it and decorated it with permanent marker. It's pretty darn cute! So he was a happy camper with those sea creatures. Now if I can only dust off my rusty crochet skills and make my child happy!

I already put them up into center-wound balls, and they're ready to go become something. The Koigu will become something quite small, since I only have a little tiny hank of it. But the rainbow and pink yarn is in relative abundance, and E's claimed the rainbow yarn for a pair of socks.

E asked that I teach her how to knit the socks, too. But it's only the third week of summer vacation. I have to stretch out my patience until August, so we'll see.

We also returned to the sale off Ingersoll where we hit pay dirt the previous day. The homeowner was rained out Friday, so she marked everything down 50%. She was so happy to see us that she gifted Elizabeth an unopened box of embroidered hankies. How nice was that? So, we bought more, including the buttons I eyed Friday. I also picked up some beautiful red and green tea towels for the kitchen and some vintage linen.

On the way home, along Ingersoll where the road narrows into the Waterbury neighborhood, I spotted a deer statue at the side of a house, nestled in between the hedges. I thought it was an odd place to put a statue, being so close to the street, but whatever. As we drove closer, the statue MOVED. It was a real live deer, munching the landscaping, not four feet from the car.

I know there is no such thing as a carnivorous deer, but they spook me nonetheless. I'm accustomed to sharing my neighborhood with squirrels, which are essentially bushy rats. But for some reason, the sight of a deer, as ubiquitous around here as the squirrels, freaks me out. If you ever come across a deer and get the opportunity to look one in the eye, it's like they're plotting to take over the world. Sure, they seem all sweet and innocent and Bambi-ish. Call me paranoid, but I think they're plotting a coup.