New Shrug and Yarn Bargain

I finally finished my Retro Redux Shrug over the weekend and my DH took pics last night. This was a fast, fun project, and I can definitely foresee making more of them.









The brioche lace kept things interesting, but it was still simple enough to do in the car or while watching a movie.









The short rows on the collar were fun to work, but the ribbing did start to get old by the end, perhaps only because I was anxious to finish and see how the shrug turned out.








This is the first knitted project I made for myself since January of 2007.
Although I enjoy making gifts for friends, family and teachers, and want to continue, I hope to change my self-gifting track record. Possibly very helpful in my endeavor is the impromptu yarn purchase I made yesterday at Hancock Fabrics. While purchasing a zipper for the still unfinished Tomten for my friend's son, I saw that certain colors of Wool-Ease Thick and Quick were on a clearance shelf. The Thick and Quick is actually the yarn suggested for the very cool Green Gable pattern in the most recent Vogue.

I have to admit that I have been a Wool-Ease yarn snob ever since my Grandmother-in-Law made me a gorgeous cabled cardigan out of worsted Wool-Ease and I literally wore it to pieces in a much shorter period of time than it should take for a handmade sweater to be worn down. I still wear it, and still get compliments on it, but I was less than impressed by the sturdiness of the yarn.

I saw that the yarn was marked with a green sticker, which according to the chart, meant that it was 30% off. And I thought, okay, about $2.10 off - and I need 6 skeins - so the sweater will cost about $30. Then I thought about the Louet Riverstone Bulky I saw on sale at WEBS, which would probably be better quality, but the available colors were not compelling, and I liked the grass green and pumpkin orange in the Wool-Ease. After a bit more waffling, both about which color to get, and whether I should give this yarn a chance or hold out for something else, I decided to buy 6 skeins of the green. When the cashier scanned the first skein, I was pleasantly shocked to learn that the sale price was $.50! Long story shorter, I now have 12 skeins of Wool-Ease Thick and Quick - 6 green and 6 orange. This means I could potentially make 2 sweaters for $6.30! Of course, if I do, I'll probably end up giving one to my sister.