Earlier in the week I came across an attractive cotton yarn with a sparkly thread running through it. I thought that it would be lovely to make some glamorous string bags with this yarn, but the choice of colours was very limited and so I didn’t buy any, thinking I might be able to find a better range on-line. As it turned out the shop that I had seen it in had the entire range – navy, white, black, pink, turquoise and lilac was pretty much it, so I didn’t buy any hoping that the manufacturer might expand the choice later in the year.
Yesterday, however, a dear friend of mine gave me this:
An old chocolate box… what could be inside?
She told me that it had belonged to her grandmother and that she’d had it for 15 years. She said she wanted this to go to someone who would make use of it. It’s exactly the sort of box I use for crafty treasures, so I suspected it would contain something lovely. And I wasn’t disappointed:
A box of all sorts of colours of shiny thread… ideal for combining with some plain cotton yarn to make glamorous string bags. What a fabulously generous gift! On my way home after receiving this treasure chest, I called in to my favourite yarn shop and bought some lovely colours of cotton so that I could start making a thank you:
Hook out straight away when I got home!
The picture really doesn’t show up the sparkles very well, but in real life it will really add some shine to any shopping trip. I also got these colours:
I think these bags are going to be in demand!
So, west Wales is going to be full of lovely shopping bags – saving the environment and brightening up our lives.
The Snail of Happiness 
wscottling
/ June 8, 2014The sparkle shows up very well when I enlarged the picture. I think it looks great. What a nice present your friend gave you! 🙂
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The Snail of Happiness
/ June 8, 2014Yay – I’m glad you can see it! I’m really touched that Mara decided to give me this box, after all, it did belong to her granny and so, as well as being lovely, it has sentimental value. I’m very lucky to have such a generous friend.
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itwasjudith
/ June 8, 2014lovely threads and shades 🙂
I also like the wooden bobbins very much (I kind of have a little collection of them).
Amazing present!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ June 8, 2014Yes… I forgot to mention that extra bonus!
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davidprosser
/ June 8, 2014I agree, the larger picture shows the thread up nicely. I’ll have to keep an eye open for shoppers sporting these little beauties.
xxx Huge Hugs xxx
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The Snail of Happiness
/ June 8, 2014I’m hoping to start a trend!!
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katythenightowl
/ June 8, 2014What a delightful present to be given, and a lovely gift to be making in return 🙂
The strangest thing of all, though, is that I’m presently half-way through making a market bag myself – though it won’t be as pretty as your’s, as I didn’t think to use the sparkly thread, that I’ve had for an age in a drawer, to pep things up! 🙂
Do show us the finished bag, won’t you? 🙂
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The Snail of Happiness
/ June 17, 2014Nearly finished a second bag for Mara who gave me the thread… I’ll be posting soon!
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katythenightowl
/ June 17, 2014Can’t wait to see the results 🙂
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narf77
/ June 8, 2014A lovely and most sustainable way to use that gorgeous shiny thread. I would have been satisfied with the ginger chocolates let alone that wonderful haul 😉
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The Snail of Happiness
/ June 17, 2014Too right… so nice to have a way to use something that has been much treasured but unused for so long.
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narf77
/ June 17, 2014🙂
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quarteracrelifestyle
/ June 8, 2014Gosh, they are beautiful! What a lovely surprise 🙂
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The Snail of Happiness
/ June 9, 2014They are, aren’t they? I’m very lucky
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katechiconi
/ June 8, 2014Oooh, suffering from thread envy! I especially covet the lime green one, such a fabulous shade.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ June 9, 2014I’m going to go a natural cotton and lime green one next…. so lovely to be able to play around with different combinations of colours.
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katechiconi
/ June 9, 2014Oh, lovely! I’d personally love to see the lime green mixed with a nice chocolate yarn. So many ideas to play with, so little time… Sigh.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ June 9, 2014There wasn’t a huge selection of colours in the cotton yarn and I bought the richest ones that Jude had… I think I’m going to have to resort to online shopping for a wider colour variety… I like the mint-chocolate idea a lot.
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frivolousfluffy
/ June 9, 2014You are so lucky to receive all that great sparkly. I’ve never had any trouble
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frivolousfluffy
/ June 9, 2014You are so lucky to receive all that great sparkly. I’ve never had any trouble knitting with it. It also helps garments keep their shape. Sorry about that little hiccough. Dottie decided to walk across my laptop.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ June 9, 2014I’m toying with the idea of some sparkly knitted fingerless mittens….
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frivolousfluffy
/ June 9, 2014Sounds great!
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fallfromgrace349
/ June 9, 2014aw what a beautifully sparkly stash 🙂
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The Snail of Happiness
/ June 9, 2014I just love them!
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