Knittn’ Kitten, and Other Recycle Shops May 8, 2011

Knittn’ Kitten
7530 NE Glisan St.
Portland, OR 97213
www.knittnkitten.com

Knittn’ Kitten is a really great craft supply thriftstore on NE Glisan, in Portland. My friend Nichole took me there a couple years ago, and I’m hooked. They always have a really great supply of buttons and beads, fabrics, sewing notions, yarn, and knitting needles at really amazing prices, often mere cents. A lot of the fabric, buttons, and notions are vintage. I always come out of the store with a whole bag of stuff, and never spend more than $15.  The last time I went in, they had a ton of little animal noses, and I had been wanting to make some little crochet dogs so I bought them out.  The store is always extremely clean and organized, small things are bagged up and labeled, and fabric is always measured out and wrapped up. The store is run by a mother daughter team who are both friendly and helpful!  I also just feel really great not only supporting a small business, but recycling craft supplies too!

During my last trip I also came out with this really great bias tape, that I am still pondering how to use. I was thinking a guitar strap for my SG would be super cool. What do you think?

East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse
4695 Telegraph Ave.
Oakland, CA 94609
www.eastbaydepot.org

When I lived in the east bay, there was this other amazing store called the East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse. (This is an old pic, they have since moved locations. But whenever I think of it, this is the store front I see.)  They always had a huge mish mash of potential craft and art project supplies – huge drums of old vacation slides from the 70’s, mountains of fabric samples, pallettes of little corked bottles, old binders, paper, a whole section of old magazines and national geographics… the store was usually crowded and things were thrown around but it kind of added to the atmosphere. I went in there many a weekend with friends, and a lot of the things I bought went into projects for school or boredom-sucker projects. The guys that worked there probably thought I was a crazy hoarder, (well, let’s be honest, I kind of am) but it seemed like everytime I went up to the cashier, whatever I had was always $3. Always. How could I resist making routine weekend trips?

SCRAP!
(School & Community Reuse Action Project)
2915 NE Martin Luther King, JR Blvd
Portland, OR 97212

I’ve only been to SCRAP in Portland once, and it was long ago before they moved to MLK, but I am always hearing great things about them, and I had a great time there back in the day.  I think the only reason I haven’t visited more often is because my craft hoarding has sort of gained a tunnel vision away from paper and odds and ends, and prefers yarn and sewing supplies like at KK.

SCRAP (Scrounger’s Center for Reusable Art Parts)
801 Toland St
San Francisco, CA 94124
http://www.scrap-sf.org/

There is another SCRAP in San Francisco, which I have heard equally great things about, but never had the pleasure to stop by.  It’s probably better, as I’m running out of craft storage space as it is…

If you ever stop by any of these stores, leave a comment or pics with your awesome finds! I’m also interested to hear about any other shops in the area similar to this!

Aunt Irma’s Prized Poodle September 13, 2010

On a recent scouring of Goodwill, I came across this absolutely stunning piece of handiwork, which my mom was happy to model with. It appears to be needlework/latch hook worked onto canvas which was then attached to a carpet sample and mounted on a round plaque. Please notice that the dog is tethered by a gold chain that is attached to a real piece of driftwood.

Do yourself a favor, and click it to view fullsize.

Yarn Grab-bag, & Tribute to An Unknown Talent July 20, 2010

On a recent scouring of Goodwill, I found this bag of yarn for $8. The craft aisle at GW is usually hit or miss, there’s either nothing good, or a lot of things I want but have to limit myself.. this was one of those rare, good times.

Based on several bags of expensive, beautiful yarns, and half finished projects – some with the needles still attached, like below – I can only deduce that a great crafter either randomly threw in the towel and dumped all their projects into the Goodwill bin… or she passed away and her belongings were scattered to second hand shops. Unfortunately I had to limit myself for lack of funds, but there was a ton of great stuff.

I chose this bag specifically for the thinner, sport weight yarn it had. This kind of yarn is really great for projects like embellishments and special touches. There are tons of great colors, especially the variegated yarns. Also, most of the skeins with tags on them are foreign! I think Swedish. Most look vintage, and it’s all wool, high quality.

These two projects came inside the bag, still attached to their yarn bundles. This one still has the needles and stitch markers attached!  The only way I would abandon a project like this is out of frustration… people just.. don’t knit like this anymore. The stitches and carry-overs – just looking at it is enough to make my head spin. wowwww!! I’m so impressed with this work. I think I can safely say I could never do a project like this, especially as it seems to be the startings of a sleeve, so there was a whole intentional sweater involved here. I’m just speechless.

Another really beautiful abandoned project. The colors are just amazing! This one was pulled off it’s needles, so it could unravel at a mere breath.  I’m planning to save these beauties and repurpose them into something I can use – for the second, I’m envisioning a small change purse or drawstring sack. Since I have the original yarns, I can just slip the stitches back on a needle and cast off with one round.  I can’t decide what to do with the first project, any suggestions?