My life feels like a cliche! I just got back from 6 days in sunny California and now I’m back in Portland where, you guessed it, it’s raining. I was hoping for a few more weeks of summer but it seems like autumn is really here.
California was fun. We saw the grandparents and sesame did really well with all the traveling and sleeping in different places. In addition to all the family, we saw my dear friend Rebecca (who really is like family too) and had a great time out at the coast!
As I was packing, I brought some etsy custom orders to work on but didn’t have room for any knitting. I’ve never traveled without anything to knit and I almost threw in a baby sweater I’m working on but there just wasn’t any room. With extra stuff for the baby and an airline that charges for checked bags, I had to leave it at home.
That was a good thing because I got tons of yarn in CA! Mike’s dad has a hauling business in a wealthy area so he gets paid to take perfectly good things away. So many people just can’t be bothered to sell things themselves, or take their stuff to the Goodwill so Jeff hauls it away and then Mike’s mom sells the good stuff on Ebay or Craigslist. So a lot of times they make money off of things they were already paid to take! It’s pretty crazy. Our visit was timed really well because while Mike and I were staying with them, Jeff did a hauling job and was paid to take away a cabinet full of someone’s yarn! 
It’s mostly small balls and remnants but there are really nice yarns (including a bag full of cashmere!) and plenty to make some sweaters for the wee one or fun striped scarves for the winter. I love free yarn! I also got several pairs of J Crew and Banana Republic pants for free from a family that regularly gets rid of clothes that they’ve hardly worn. It was a pretty good score!
I got some freebies from my side of the family too. My cousin is a tattoo artist and one of her clients is one of the editors of Craft Magazine so Jen gave me some mags that her client gave to her. I love Craft but don’t buy it because it’s kind of pricey. Yep, free stuff is awesome! Maybe I should take more trips to see the fam.
Yay for free yarn! But what really made me smile is the picture of you and sesame and Rebecca! How fun that you could get together–but man, I miss you guys!
It’s nice to see that people (like your dad) take other people’s wastefulness and turn it around! Tell him to keep up the good work! And to always save yarn for you, what a steal