Crafty shopping with your partner

I have seen them, in the stores, in the malls, in the coffee shop.

Spouses waiting for the other half to finish shopping. Finger tapping in the shoe store, feet shuffling in cosmetics, pacing in front of the dressing rooms.

And on the other hand, the females sighing heavily and looking at their watches in the tool section. Lack of interest in Tools R Us.

 But it doesn't have to be that way ladies.

I have just spent part of a day in four tool type stores and I hit the jackpot for craft stuff.

In one store, I found a neat little light weigh container that hangs on your belt. It was wrongfully advertised for putting a paint can in it. Well any woman could see that it was cleverly designed for carrying yarn while you knit.

 Even more interesting, it can double as a container to carry fleece to draw from to use for your drop spindle.You can then walk and knit or spin. Absolutely in the wrong store, absolutely.

The next store was a real bonanza.  WARNING RANT HERE......
 I had looked in the Thrift stores looking for rags to make rag rugs. Well at $14 a pair for jeans or $5 a T-shirt, it was obvious why these stores have signs outside sayings NO DONATIONS ACCEPTED, WAREHOUSE FULL

 Lower the prices Thrift store people to prices that the people who are tightening their belts can afford.
The $14 child's jacket that is half worn out, is the same price as a new one at the big box store.

 When we questioned an employee, I Forcibly told "we have bills to pay and payrolls to meet!!!!!!"
 hummm I volunteered at a thrift shop before I moved here.. What payroll. Folks need bargain folks.

 I scrounge thrift stores all year for sleeping bags and quilts for recovering and donating to homeless shelters. I look for yarn to knit for various charities..  But $3 for a partial ball of acrylic is no bargain.

Thanks to Joyce Wasden , of Joyces Knits   and her kind donation of yarn. I have enough to share for other charity knitters this year.

Oh dear I was ranting, sorry.

I was talking about my find for rag rugs.

 These functional attractive rugs are easy to make and are easy to care for.

 Imagine my delight at finding a whole 10 LB. pack of T-shirt material for $8.99.

That will make at least 3 or4 rugs. And the cotton can be dyed  with natural dyes like onion skin.

 Apparently this treasure was all new material from factories that were rejects and could not be sold on the  open market.

The other things I found for pennies were:  key separators in a variety of colour, that make yarn markers.
shrink wrap to mark different needles and make them immediately identified.,
heavy paper for warp on the loom.

Light weight plywood for sock forms.. absolutely free. And joy of joy, bubble wrap for Nanu felting, also free.
There were LED lights to put under the knitting machine to help when knitting with dark yarn. Or beside you to light up close work.

Work tables that work for sewing, cutting and knitting machines.

With a little imagination their is a treasure trove of  items that can be adapted. to our purposes

Storage containers.in all shapes and sizes, doweling to stack columns of yarn cones,

Really ladies, look forward to a shopping trip with your fellow. It is like being in Toy Land .

Then at the end of the day, there is this little gadget for less that $2.50, and it doesn't need an introduction.
Happy Shopping.