Yarn Extravaganza

My dad came down from upstate New York on Thursday, and on Friday we went to the Renninger's Extravaganza in Kutztown, a gigantic flea market. We'd been planning all week -- what time we'd get up, which route we'd take to get there, how much cold water we'd need. Hat? Check. Sunglasses? Check. Cash? Check. Checkbook? Check.

It ended up being a bust.

Having walked the show twice over, we were ready to leave by 11:00 with nothing to show for it. We didn't even buy a bag of Kettle Korn (tm). The Extravaganza has become what many flea markets have become these days -- a kind of shabby, down-in the-mouth affair full of depressed people and their goods. Blame it on eBay, blame it on the economy, blame it on whatever. Flea markets just aren't what they used to be and this was clear proof. Back in the day, Renninger's was one of the best-known flea markets and everyone went to the Extravaganzas.

As a consolation prize, we drove to Adamstown, "Antiques Capital of USA" [sic], and trolled a couple of the antique malls there. My dad spent $5.00 on a figure for his train set, and I spent $9.00 on a bag of vintage yarn. Here it is laid out on my table. No real duds, I was happy to find. And only one skein, white, that has some rust stains I'll see if I can get out.


Behold.


This angora is so soft. There's only a little bit of the turquoise left, and some white. But it's enough to use as a highlight in a stranded project.


I love the old labels. Here, Opalette, a blend of wool and rayon. And mothproof!


Pure Shetland from Brunswick. The blue is my favorite. Too bad there's only one skein of it.


Coquette!


And the softest 100% wool yarn from Reynolds, which is inspiring me to think about knitting argyles again.

So, even though we failed at the Extravaganza itself, I feel like I hit it big with this little Yarn Extravaganza in a bag. Extravaganza, with the letters v, x, and z, is such a nice word.