Good Will Hunting

Now, where were we? Yes, of course, the crazy Salvation Army find of July 2005. Quite a massive score, found completely by fluke.  The story and more details go quite simply like this:

Thursday morning, Anna still has laryngitis, and decides it's time for a medical visit.  Success!  Appointment arranged for 3:15 that afternoon.  Anna leaves work early to arrive on time for appointment, and finds herself at her doctor's office 20 minutes earlier than anticipated.  Rather than read magazines and watch soap operas in the waiting room, Anna notices a Salvation Army thrift store next door, and pops in for a visit.  Anna is somewhat of a retro board game collector who rarely misses an opportunity to scour for new games.  No board games to be found, Anna strolls through the store to kill time.  Past the old lamps and tapes and records, Anna finds a bin filled with 20 or so bags of bright coloured yarn.  Heart racing, Anna paws through the bags to assess.  Unable to determine which bags should be bought, and which bags should be left, Anna takes two bag-filled trips to the counter and gives the salesclerk ten dollars.  The salesclerk is speechless, Anna is speechless.

And there you have it.  Crazy, no?  There were so many surprises inside these bags, it just got crazier and crazier every time I put my hand in and grabbed a new ball.  Most of the bags were filled with wild-coloured Filatura di Crosa kid mohair and mohair lungo, and some Filatura cotton, but there were some real gems hiding in almost every bag. 

 
alpaca, mohair, and lots of orange superwash wool
 
angora!                                 cashmere!

I feel like I haven't even gotten to the bottom of it all.  So far I've come across a few odds and ends of angora in pink and green, and some full balls in brown (yes, brown!), a ball of purple cashmere, lots and lots of alpaca, lots of brown and orange superwash wool, some old Paton's Kroy in black (much softer than today's Kroy), and even some pure silk.  Crazy, crazy, crazy--what a collection, thanks a million to whoever donated this. 

I've been thinking lots about the origins of these balls of yarn, wondering how this strange collection might have come to end up in one person's stash.  Most everything has a german label, and I've been trying to imagine someone shopping in Germany picking out these things.  Mostly, I've been trying to get to the bottom of all the mohair.  Was fuchsia and orange mohair on sale one day, or was it carefully chosen for a specific project?  Are these remnants from finished projects, or the supplies for one or several projects?  I can't even fathom.  Time will tell what creations these will become through my hands.  I'm thinking 47 scarves and one cashmere glove at this point.  Any suggestions, especially on the mohair front, are appreciated.      

   
Clockwise from left: Neko Case, a Booga spotting in the market, fresh rhubarb.

I know for sure I'm not 100% knock-down dangerously obsessed with knitting because I was able to spend most of the weekend without thinking about this stuff too much.  I'll tackle it for real when things slow down a bit mid-week.  The weekend's been busy--former roommate, friend, and fellow knitter Miss G was up (hence the post plagiarizing yesterday--we laughed and laughed and laughed at how funny it is that I found so much mohair), and we took in some Bluesfest and Ottawa Byward Market offerings.  Thanks for the visit MG, I'll keep you posted on the Newport action.  Let me know when you're ready for a mohair showdown.