| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
Elaine in NJ
Gabber Extraordinaire
584 Posts |
 Posted - 12/18/2005 : 11:14:29 AM
|
Went to Smiley's yesterday (my mom lives in Queens). I think I had been there before, and my mother certainly had been, but I really didn't remember it. Well, it's a huge room full of huge skeins of acrylic yarn. I asked for natural fibers, and it turned out that they had one type of alpaca and two types of pure wool. I bought some alpaca in shades of browns to make a Fair Isles sweater for my older son, and some red wool to make him an Aran sweater. The alpaca seemed similar to Frog Tree and was $4 per skein instead of $6. The wool was $3 per skein (about 100 yards). Seemed pretty good quality--similar to Galway. Actually, not cheaper than Galway now I think about it, which I believe is over 200 yards and $6 per skein!
The fun part was when I went to pay and it turns out that they take cash only. I was as flabbergasted as if they'd told me I had to stand on my head and whistle Dixie before I could buy yarn! Also, all sales are final. I think I'll stick to high-end shops, where the selection is much better and I can return things if I change my mind.
Life is too short to waste it on acrylic. |
|
|
Boogie
Permanent Resident
USA
3073 Posts |
|
|
Elaine in NJ
Gabber Extraordinaire
584 Posts |
Posted - 12/19/2005 : 08:15:43 AM
|
Yup--same Smiley's. That's why I went there when I was nearby. I've seen the website cheap cashmere and alpaca. But everything on the website is off brands, weird brands you've never heard of, as is the wool and alpaca I bought. I thought I'd give it a try, and if my son ruins the sweater I won't be so upset! Although I wish I'd thought about the actual price of Galway while I was in the store--I wouldn't have bought the red wool.
Life is too short to waste it on acrylic. |
 |
|
|
Boogie
Permanent Resident
USA
3073 Posts |
|
|
Elaine in NJ
Gabber Extraordinaire
584 Posts |
Posted - 12/21/2005 : 09:28:55 AM
|
Yes--they did have the Lopi in the store. Should have mentioned it--that made 3 wools in the store, not 2! But I don't like Lopi, so I forgot they had it.
Life is too short to waste it on acrylic. |
|
|
|
Boogie
Permanent Resident
USA
3073 Posts |
|
|
desi_knitter
Gabber Extraordinaire
507 Posts |
Posted - 12/22/2005 : 4:05:36 PM
|
I like Smileys for small things like stitch holders, markers and so on. Thankfully, you don't have to pay $4 for a stitch marker just because someone gave it a cute name and put it in a pricey store that carries cashmere. I also bought some Patons classic wool and Lopi Lite for felting. They had a lot of Debbie Bliss books the last time I was there.
But what I liked best about Smileys was the atmosphere. There was no "oh my god knitting is so hip and so are we for being here" sense there and it was not trying hard to be in and fashionable. And it was doing very brisk business, I had to wait a long time in line to get my order completed.
Visit my new blog:
http://desiknitter.typepad.com |
|
|
|
knitnerd
Gabber Extraordinaire
USA
423 Posts |
Posted - 12/30/2005 : 1:22:05 PM
|
| I just went to the Smiley's website to check the date of the next store sale and looked at the online websale. Most of the yarns I splurged on at the hotel sale were there at lower prices than the hotel sale. I feel slightly cheated but if I hadn't bought them,I would never have seen them again. |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
| Knitter's Review Forums |
© 2001-2013 Knitter's Review |
|
|
|
|
Topic Locked
