Today I'm going to share some of my favorite sites for on-line shopping, places I get my supplies that have excellent service and reasonable prices. I don't mind paying for what I want but some places just aren't worth the shipping expense to receive the items.

Ice Yarns

They're in Turkey but anytime I order, I have it shipped DHL whose price is more than reasonable considering I get the product in three days. From Turkey. I know right? I order from the U.S.A. and it takes two weeks to clear customs. But three days from Turkey. Weird.

Some examples of yarns I received from Ice Yarns

Sign up for the newsletter. They have Tuesday Promotions and Bargain sales that have UNREAL pricing. I highly recommend buying from these sales and you'll get your yarn way cheaper than anywhere else, even with the shipping costs.


www.iceyarns.com/


Expression Fiber Arts

Chandi is hilarious! She is also extremely enthusiastic about her product and her craft. She is in Alaska and product has to travel from there to California before proceeding to Canada (Doh! Don't they know Canada is in between?) so be prepared for it to take awhile. Patience! Customs also seems to like to really examine her packages but they do finally arrive with "yummy goodies" as Chandi would say.

This is Autumn and I both modelling the shawl I made with the Yak/silk blend in Calico that I purchased from the May yarn club Chandi runs. Surprise yarns! What fun!!!!


www.expressionfiberarts.com/


Urban Yarns, Vancouver

These are the people who sold me my first Mini Maiden yarn and started my obsession. Nice people to deal with, their packages are wrapped in tissue paper and a personal card that's a joy to receive, just like a parcel at Christmas! I live in Eastern Ontario and it only takes three days for parcels to arrive. That's pretty efficient. Their pricing is right on target and their selection is really good. If you order something online and they've run out, they will call you to see if there's a substitution you'd like just so they can get the package on the way quickly. Super nice people to deal with.

www.urbanyarns.com/

Colorsong Yarns

They carry Handmaiden/Fleece Artist yarn only but...they have clearance sales. Woohoo! Bob and Nancy are great to deal with and they have a HUGE selection of my favorite yarns. They also have discount codes for various knit and crochet alongs on Ravelry which can also help save money. Again, they ship from the states so it can take up to three weeks to arrive, depending on how long customs holds up the package, but that is not a fault of the company. I think border services just don't like the word "yarn" on the package. It seems to make them suspicious for some reason. WARNING: If you order over $100 in product, you will have to pay duties and taxes when the package arrives. Better to keep your spending under this threshold or it'll hurt.

Yarn and sliver I purchased from Colorsong Yarn







colorsongyarn.com/


Mr Yarn

I have one thing to say....BULK DISCOUNT!!!!! That takes me to my happy place. Add their more than reasonable shipping and the fact that they seem to be the only people who can get across the border quickly ( must be the Mr that gets them through fast :) ) and they are one of my go-to places to shop. They have a nice selection and their stock is always rotating so check back often.

www.mryarn.com/

So these are my standard places for now, but I'm always shopping around to find other suppliers with unique items. Where are your go-to places for supplies?

They trained a Ninja!!!!

I'm making progress on my organization of the stash! Not quite on schedule but I'm pleased so far.

 

So last night as I was sorting the top basket of the rack, I heard a noise. I figured it was the cat, looked around, but I didn't see her. So I went back to sorting, bent down to load up my small suitcase with the next batch of yarn to be balled and what do I see?

Apparently those neat balls of yarn make a very squishy, comfy bed. I just can't figure out how she snuck in there. That's the third shelf up and she's not a quiet, coordinated cat. The yarn must have been teaching her ninja skills. The real fun started when I had to try and pry her out of there and she did not want to go.

So this is my next mini stash to clean up:

And here's a better shot of my progress so far:

 

It does look so much nicer like this it inspires me to push on despite the sneaky plans of cat and yarn.

Tamsin

 

Day Four of the siege....

The yarn is fighting back. They found an ally for their horde and she is formidable.

Don't let that cute, innocent look fool you. She's a terror, grabbing the neatly wound yarn and running away with it, liberating it from the constricts of organization.

I'm weary from the fight, wondering if I can indeed win this war. I see my progress but is it enough when everyone seems against me?!

Truthfully, things are going well, kitty cat interference aside.

The sight of all that neatness gives me hope....and tells me I have room for more yarn. Bwahahaha!

The dirty word...

...organization.

Anyone who knows me will tell you my form of organization is more hack and slash than actual organization. But I think if you can reach into the center of a pile and pull out what you want that it's organized! Right? Maybe? Okay so that totally isn't organization.

I'm really trying so hard to tame this horde with organization that I've started the pages for my fiber book.  That's right, a complete list with samples of each yarn so I'll know what I have.

 

Not perfection but better than nothing.

I have to admit this is taking way longer than I thought it would. Waaaayyyyyy longer. It's the tangles that slow me down but I remind myself that's why the yarn is still sitting there and not crocheted into something amazing. I NEED to do this and I can't let myself get discouraged. I have the month...and maybe next month? to get this all together. Keep my eye on the prize and remind myself how much easier it will be when I can walk up to my stash, grab a skein of yarn and just start hooking.

And in the mean time, I need to luxuriate in all the fabulous yarns I do have, remind myself why I love my horde even if they are wild and untamed right now.

Soldier on!

Oh what a tangled web....

I'm making some progress taming the horde even though that progress is just confirming how much more I have to go. But I am determined! This will happen! The yarn will not win!

The yarn is rallying though. Last night while I slept the horde gathered and laid some traps for me.

 

 This is what the horde did.

I persisted but it did slow me down substantially. Little did they know, I just put a tidy skein on the automatic ball winder and untangled this. So multitasking made some progress.

 I want the whole rack to look like this!!!!

I'm pretty sure I know who the ring leaders are in this battle. That would be my luxury yarns because they want me to only love them.

Don't they look guilty? I swear the brown mix Applelaine yarn is whistling. 

As I'm working this project and whipping (or in this case, balling) the yarn in shape my dearest other half utter words that made my blood run cold. "Why don't you just throw that out instead of wasting all that time untangling it?"

WHAT??!!!! Throw it out??!!! NOT my babies!!!!!!!!

I have never been able to throw out even the smallest end of yarn but perhaps he has a point. If there is yarn I'm never going to use I could throw.....donate it. There. I can donate it. Put it up for adoption to be loved by someone else. I will add that step to my plan.

And I think I need to use that Mini Maiden at the front of the luxury yarns. :)

Taming The Horde (spelling intentional)

So like most fiber users I have a stash. A stash that has grown and gotten messier until it organized itself in to a horde. I swear it did.

I was lying in bed one night and I could hear the silk whispering to the acrylic to give it more room. The acrylic complied because it was silk asking after all. But that meant the cotton had to give way. The bulky yarn wasn't giving up its comfortable home, so the cotton went after the baby yarn. There was much scrambling, pushing, shoving and even a few lines dropped over the edge to search for new homes. In the end my horde ended up like this....

Yes I am ashamed I let it get this bad. I should have sent them all to military school at a young age. So my first goal is to sort out this mess, corral the yarn that has run to other sections of the house just to avoid the conflict and get this under control. I have this beautiful rack that I picked up at an auction for $10 (score!!!) and I intend to put it to good use. Who rules this house, me or the yarn???? (Please let it be me.)

So rather than tackle everything at once, an overwhelming prospect if I've ever heard one, I've given myself the month of March to complete it. I'm starting with a mini horde, the outriders if you will.

With my trusty ball-winder, I'm going to whip these bad boys into tidy cakes, ready for stashing in a new, regimented hoard rather than horde.

Wish me luck!