Adventure: Fabric World

At kitting group this past week I heard about this place called Fabric World that is essentially a Big Lots for fabric. Apparently they had a ton of remnants selling for 25 cents apiece, much of it designer fabric, going fast. It sounded like a dream come true. This place was literally calling to my thrifty soul.

So when I was let out of work a bit early on Friday, I knew just how to kick off Memorial Day weekend. I took the 30 min drive over to Stone Mountain to check it out for myself.

And it did not disappoint.

While they had a few things on bolts, most of the store was table after table of fabric remnants. It was just the kind of treasure hunt I love. The signs around the store were layered, so you could see how the fabric started at $2.00 per piece and then worked its way down to 4/$1.00.

The cashier told me that people had been coming in and buying two or three carts of fabric at a time! I can't really blame them - it was the deal of the century, especially if you are a quilter. I also overheard several women talking about how this was their second and third trip, and that the remnants were starting to get picked over. I don't know what they were talking about - there were still gems like this to be had:

I am not much of a stash person (in my mind I still live in our tiny 650 sq ft apartment in Tampa, where clutter is the enemy), so I tried to be a bit choosy, focusing on finding larger pieces of fabric and knits.

An hour or so of digging and $4.77 got me all of this!

I got knits to experiment on as I learn how to use my serger better, some fun cotton prints for project bags or whatever, some lightweight cotton for a summer scarf and a couple of things I have no immediate plans for but thought were nice. I think I'm most excited about these geometric prints that I'm going to make into a tote bag and purse:

Okay, maybe I am a bit of a stash person after all. It's a good thing Fabric World isn't right down the street, or my closets would explode, but it's definitely nice to have an inexpensive alternative to Joann's.

Work in Progress: Mrs. Darcy Cardigan

I've been working on my first sweater, the Mrs. Darcy Cardigan from the book Knits that Fit. I have sleeves!

Clearly I have a ways to go, but I'm pretty proud to have made it this far. Now that I'm looking at this picture, they seem a bit short, but I can add on a few more rows before I do the raglan shoulder.

The finished product will hopefully look like this:

Source

It's a bit terrifying because it's knit from the bottom up, and I am not using the recommended yarn. Back when I decided to start this sweater, I lived in Florida, where there are about three days a year cold enough for a wool sweater. Cotton seemed much more practical, so I went with Knit Picks Comfy Worsted in Peony.

So far, so good! I'm off to my Thursday night knitting group. This has been a great project to take along because stockinette is so mindless I can chat away without worrying much about mistakes. I've already started the body, so my goal is to finish the whole sweater by the end of the summer. Of course, I'll be taking a break for the Ravelympics (Team TARDIS!).

An award and a parade!

First I would like to say thank you to my dear friend Kristen over at Glitter, Gloss and Glaze, who awarded me the Liebster Award. This is given to new bloggers with less than 200 followers.

Kristen is one of my Tampa Bay friends that I sadly had to leave behind, but I love keeping up with her blog.
 
Anyway, I'm very honored and I'd say that this calls for a parade! Kidding, kidding. This past weekend I went the Inman Park Festival, a neighborhood arts and crafts fair known for it's quirky, anything-goes sensibility. It was a lovely day, and I was able to cross off several things from my Atlanta bucket list: taking the MARTA train, eating a King of Pops popsicle, trying a new food truck (well, in this case a 70's camper-van called The Pickle). Best of all, there was a parade. Oh man I love a good parade. In all honesty, I care more about the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade than the food afterward.

And this parade did not disappoint. There were kaleidoscope marching bands:

...boxy cardboard superheros....

...an LGBT marching band with sparkly outfits. I didn't get a picture of the baton twirler because I was so mesmerized, but trust me, he was working it...

...a Chinese dragon...

....whatever these are...

...the Bridesmaid Brigade...

....Elvis....

...cross-dressing....

...and dozens of gnomes! Apparently they were trying to beat some kind of world record. Many had funny signs ("I'm sexy and I gnome it") or a clever spin, like the "Gnomeland security" group.

It was all just so delightfully eclectic. Added to fun was the group of drunk guys next to us that cheered for literally everything that came by, no matter how absurd, ranging from summer camp to termite protection. By the time the parade was over, I was sunburned but satisfied. Inman Park, you know how to throw a party.