Portmeirion Pottery Jar - Magic City by Susan Williams Ellis
This was about £4 I think, bought a couple of months ago. The design is from the late 1960s and I think it is a storage jar that originally had a lid. It's a bit chipped on the bottom and not in perfect condition by any means but it makes a great vase/jar thing and I love the design.
I had a rare charity shop wool bonanza - finding good condition and good quality wool in decent quantities and nice colours. These balls of Patons chunky wool (interestingly called Double Double Knitting) in mustard were 50p each and would make a good hat or cowl.
My tips for buying charity shop wool are to examine closely for any signs of beasties (moths particularly) and if in doubt, leave it. It's not worth bringing infested yarn home. I also freeze wool and woollen items for 48 hours. If you can do this at least twice this is ideal, then storing my stash in a series of zip-lock plastic bags ensures that any damage will be minimised.
My final find is a real win. I was looking at the mens' jackets section for a black jacket for a Hallowe'en costume. I never normally check that section but stumbled across a tweed jacket:
A look at the label.....
Brought together like this, my recent finds look pretty good. I am lucky to have access to some great charity shops but I still find that 9 times out of 10 I leave them empty handed. There is a lot of luck involved but also persistence.
Have you made any good finds recently?
K x
Some great finds, but my favourite bit is the reference to Current Husband, makes it sound like your keeping half an eye open to finding Charity Shop Bargain New Improved Replacement Husband!
ReplyDeleteHa ha, it is his name of choice. He didn't like the alternative blog names like 'Mr Kestrel' so he's been solidly referred to by that name on my blog for a couple of years :-)
DeleteOh excellent finds! I'm almost never lucky enough to find wool, normally just the odd ball, I love the name though! Also a good tip about freezing it, I'll need to do that next time :)
ReplyDeleteI love a bit of Magic City and we always snaffle Harris Tweed, used to be cheap as chips in the olden days but not so much now. Great finds! x
ReplyDeleteI usually look for tees for working out since those need to be relatively disposable. Usually crafty stuff is hard to find but I do sometimes find 70s and 80s with the occasional 60s sewing patterns. Those are cheap and usually 50 cents. I love the notes the original owners sometimes add, makes you wonder who they are.
ReplyDeleteI haven't found a charity shop sewing pattern haul in months. Always great though!
DeleteOoo! What great finds. I love the jar and the turquoise yarn.
ReplyDeleteWe definitely share the same taste - I would have picked all these items without a doubt. As you know i don't knit but the colours of the wool are super. Christmas has killed my charity shop habit (for now!) but last time I went I bought a sparkly beige top and a black beaded cardigan to wear during Christmas celebrations. I am not generally a wearer of sparkle so I don't like to spend a lot of money on special Christmas outfits - sorted for £6!
ReplyDeleteSounds like perfect Christmas wear. Sequins and sparkly clothing never go out of fashion at this time of year so definitely no point buying new.
DeleteGosh that's a good haul! I pretty much only buy lamps, to enable my lampshade making obsession. If I started into anything else, there'd be no end to it!
ReplyDeleteI've never made a lampshade before. What do you do with them all, as I imagine there are only so many you need for your own home. Do you give them as presents, or sell them?
DeleteGood going with that lot. I especially like the knitting wool; I never find any that good as the ones I come across always look manky!
ReplyDeleteGood work Kerry, especially that jacket. On a completely unrelated note, I thought of you and your Current Husband whilst watching the excellent Darts documentary this week! x
ReplyDeleteI love that jug! My boyfriend has recently established himself as the king of finding cool second hand furniture in our local charity shops, and my sis in law got an awesome 70s dinner service for a fiver the other week. I'm feeling quite left out of the lucky finds, which I'm going to have to do some serious digging to rectify!
ReplyDeleteI believe golfers use those pens too... but more likely the bookies ;o)
ReplyDeleteI can't believe you're thinking about Halloween already! And there was me thinking the shops were pushing their luck with Easter stock :-P Harris Tweed, though. I'm very jealous. Oh, and Argos use pencils so you can rule that one out ;-)
ReplyDeleteDon't worry, it was for Hallowe'en 2014, just a bit out of date by the time I posted! In the end I didn't even dress up at all, that's how committed I am :-)
Delete