Frolicking Again: The Frolic Haul

You may or may not have noticed how I managed to sneak by without actually discussing my yarn haul (except of course for the bird nest yarn). I had a rather high cash limit allotted to me, but I still overspent.

Part of the problem was that I didn't find exactly what I wanted at the Frolic (I did not see Headwaters Wool among the booths, and I was counting on them to have the mohair I was looking for), so I got some colourful stuff that "would do" in a pinch. (If I had known the wonderfulness that awaited me at Romni Wools, I would have held back. Maybe.)



But at the Frolic I grabbed myself some stuff like this lovely Organik, by the Fibre Company (a blend of organic New Zealand wool, baby alpaca, and silk) in three vibrant colours. I don't know what I was thinking. How could I include this luxurious fibre with the various acrylic/mohair yarns that currently make up my shawl?

A little closer to the mark, some mohair from Wellington Fibres (a local place that, ironically, I went all the way to Toronto to buy from).



That's actually a bright orange, not the intense red that it appears in the photo. Again, it's real mohair, but pretty expensive for my purposes. Not that I mind supporting a local business, it's just that that's really nice stuff compared to the thrift finds, scraps, acrylic blends, and donated leftovers that make up the rest of my shawl.

But it wasn't all about the shawl. I mean, I had to get some fun stuff "just because" too. Like this Sea Wool from The Brown Sheep. [EDIT: I mean, of course, The Black Lamb. How I got The Brown Sheep out of the The Black Lamb, I don't know. But I got it wrong. It's definitely The Black Lamb.]



For my purposes, it's not essentially different from Handmaiden's Sea Wool, although it was two-thirds the cost. Now, to be fair, I know that the dyeing is different and Handmaiden may in fact be superior in more ways as well, but I was still glad of the chance to try this Sea Wool from The Brown Sheep [Ahem! The Black Lamb].

One of the show specials I got (from the Purple Purl booth) was a couple of skeins of Manos del Uruguay in the 106 colourway. If you recall, I was only able to get one skein of it at Yarnopolis when that store closed. I would have bought more if it had been available at the time.



So I have possibly increased the number of patterns I could knit with it, simply by increasing the yardage I have in my stash. Now, I know Karen at Shall We Knit has recently added Manos del Uruguay to her stock, and every Friday night at the Knit & Chat I seem to stand and ogle it, but I don't think I've ever seen the 106 colourway. And I do look. Every time. So either I have missed seeing it every time, or else Karen doesn't have that particular one. (At this point, it really could go either way.)

My other frolicky purchases were a needle waxing kit, and a bottle of Soak.





I have always wanted to try Soak, but I've been using up an ancient, dusty old bottle of Eucalan that I picked up at Len's Mill in my early knitting days.* Even sitting on the shelf in Len's it was so old that the price tag was faded and peeling off. (Compare current Eucalan with the bottle I have.) That old bottle has done well by me, but it was time for an upgrade.

So that was the Frolic haul. I will discuss the Romni haul in a future post.

* About a year ago.