We all love a bargain. Some of you may know that I love thrift shopping, yard sales, and flea markets. I wanted to share some of my finds. Most are for crochet and fiber-related things and others were re-purposed.

I volunteered at a Seattle Children’s Hospital Thrift shop years ago. I had the best time, with my sales background it was a good fit. I met many people there and learned so much. Some came in for a deal out of necessity, some came for a steal to flip to Ebay, others checked with us before they drove all the way to the big mall (an hour away). My favorites were customers looking for something outside the box. For example, a gal came in looking for a lace tablecloth, ok, but she was using it for a photoshoot of a bride on a horse and needed a long veil, another came in for a coat for her goat. Her goat was attacked by another animal and needed a sling to recover. These things taught me to look outside of it’s intended purpose, to look around the whole store and get creative, like the pipe stand below.

The doily above was found in my local thrift shop, of all places in the bathroom. I grabbed (saved) it for $5. Someone, probably a grandmother made this, and maybe the daughter framed it. That’s what I like to think anyway. Doily repurposed as art.

Here is a gallery of my finds. The first three are repurposed.

1. Is a pipe stand found for $2, It is the perfect (almost) hook stand and stitch marker keeper, especially for my jumbo hooks. I posted about this here https://www.instagram.com/p/BqU4Z3Rl2tw/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

2. A heavy statue found in a storage unit garage sale, spray painted and used for keeping and photographing hats and scarves.

3. We have a beauty school nearby, I see these all the time in the shops, $5. She’s a great model and has a good haircut.

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4. A Bagsmith project bag, has a shoulder strap and stands great next to my chair. Retailed for approx. $45, grabbed in out of the handbag section of thrift shop for $5.

5 and 6. Can you guess what they are? I found the checkered one in a Goodwill in with the thermoses and coolers, maybe they thought it was a wine carrier. The other found at a garage sale. They are vintage yarn totes. Notice the hole at the top for the yarn? Some also came with scissors attached but these did not. Sometimes I find things in the wrong place at thrift shops. I’m sure they were a couple of dollars. I like to think their history is of a knitting or crochet group that meets weekly and they used these totes.

7 and 8. This adjustable mannequin was being thrown out by a neighbor. The original covering was dried out and falling into dust. I brought it home and You Tubed re-cover mannequin and found a very easy tutorial with just knit fabric and spray glue. Yes, I took the whole thing apart carefully, cleaned it up, covered it, and put it back together. It is not my size but the size most yarn companies and magazines want for the sample model piece. These can cost over $100 new.

These are a few finds, not to mention the many crochet books, new and vintage I have found. Hooks and needles, of course, https://www.instagram.com/p/B2-AC_WpVbO/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link. I once bought 6 hanks of Berroco Vintage in Goodwill for $5, that hasn’t happened in a while. Although I do see crochet thread often. My thrift shop currently has an adjustable mannequin for $10 no stand, I restrained myself.

Happy hunting. Do you have any thrift stories to share? comment below, I would love to hear them.