Afghans in thrift stores

[anoramaxsis]

For the last couple of years my daughter-in-law and her mother go to yard sales and the thrift stores and browse.They have found afghans and bedspreads. The one bedspread was a full size and done in Irish crochet. These two women love handmade things and value them dearly.Neither one is in to any type of craft. A few weeks ago Amy's mom went to an out of the way yard sale and paid $2.00 and walked away with several beautiful tableclothes. Our local thrift store stays loaded with beautiful handmade things.Sad yes. But there are people who appreciate these lovely things.

[Ninn]

I find gorgeous afghans at our little corner store regularly. Lately, I've been buying them and washing them all. Then I soak them in cheap hair conditioner to get them super soft. These can be donated to homeless shelters and battered women's shelters. Some of the police forces will give them to kids they have to pick up at night, too. It's a small thing, but it's easy to do and can make traumatic times in a person's life a bit easier. Even a totally ugly blanket is appreciated by someone, somewhere.

[leaette]

dont' forget animal shelters too. if you find a lap-ghan or a baby afghan, that would be perfect for doggies/kitties at shelters. so they can lay on it instead of the cold floor in their cages.

[CeeJay]

I'm glad I'm not the only one! I feel so bad when I see them there. They need to be loved by someone. The way I find peace is hoping someone buys them that can APPRECIATE having something hand made...someone who doesn't know anyone who could make them one....but they want one, so they buy one. That makes me feel better!

[DCMerkle]

I find gorgeous afghans at our little corner store regularly. Lately, I've been buying them and washing them all. Then I soak them in cheap hair conditioner to get them super soft. These can be donated to homeless shelters and battered women's shelters. Some of the police forces will give them to kids they have to pick up at night, too. It's a small thing, but it's easy to do and can make traumatic times in a person's life a bit easier. Even a totally ugly blanket is appreciated by someone, somewhere.

 

Ninn,

I didn't know that you could soak them in hair conditioner. Couldn't you soak them in something like Woolite?

 

DCMerkle

[greatgrammy]

Hi,

I've seen afghans at so many thrift stores that I go to and as sad as it may be, I'll buy the afghans and if the yarn seems to still be in good shape, I'll take it apart, wrap the yarn into a ball and try to put in my color matching totes. I figure it's better to recycle the yarn into somethng else like another afghan than to see it sit in a thrift shop collecting dust. Not many people buy them anyway and the stores will only keep the stock for so many months even after the price has been lowerd. At that point they are shifted to another store and sit there until they are shifted again. I love knowing that what ever I use the yarn for it's being put to the good.

DCMerkle

 

I do this also. In fact, a couple of weeks ago I bought two lapghans on sale at Savers for half price. One yarn was red Red Heart which is right now being made into a frilly scarf which I will donate to the Orphans red scarf project this year.

 

The other yarn was a funky kind of cotton which is beautiful. I have no idea who made the yarn or what I will do with it, but I just love it.

 

In regards to all the donated afghans, I make sure I pet them when I go by and tell them they are still loved . I was encouraged yesterday when I saw a lady buying an older afghan, so I know it will go to a loving home.

[Vicki loves yarn]

When my mother passed a way I took all her yarn that was in the house and the old yarn basket that she took from her mother when she died. It went into a storage bin and added to my yarn stash. When we were packing up our house to move to Texas my husband found the tote and all he said was "Great. Just what we need. More yarn. Do you really need all this?" YES! I do need it!

[DCMerkle]

I do this also. In fact, a couple of weeks ago I bought two lapghans on sale at Savers for half price. One yarn was red Red Heart which is right now being made into a frilly scarf which I will donate to the Orphans red scarf project this year.

 

The other yarn was a funky kind of cotton which is beautiful. I have no idea who made the yarn or what I will do with it, but I just love it.

 

In regards to all the donated afghans, I make sure I pet them when I go by and tell them they are still loved . I was encouraged yesterday when I saw a lady buying an older afghan, so I know it will go to a loving home.

 

greatgrammy,

I'm so glad to hear that someone else uses old afghans the way I do. My sister saw me unraveling an afghan one day and I thought she'd fall down dead!...lol She just couldn't understand how I could undo someone else's work. She said that all that time and effort it took to make something like that was just terrible for me to be taking apart.

 

I think that after I explained to her that whatever I was going to reuse the yarn for it would be going to the good. Otherwise the afghan would have just continued to sit and collect moths. I was spreading the good around by making a cap, smaller afghan or anything where I could doante it to. She still cringes when she sees me unraveling something, but I just hand her some of the yarn and tell her to rip away...lol

 

DCMerkle

[DCMerkle]

When my mother passed a way I took all her yarn that was in the house and the old yarn basket that she took from her mother when she died. It went into a storage bin and added to my yarn stash. When we were packing up our house to move to Texas my husband found the tote and all he said was "Great. Just what we need. More yarn. Do you really need all this?" YES! I do need it!

 

Vicki,

I live in a small apartment, so my space is limited to what I can store. I'd rather put away my knick-knacks if it meant more space to put my yarn. I have a wicker basket full of all different colors of yarn in my bedroom. My son walked in one day and wanted to know when I was going to get rid of the yarn? I asked him when he was going to get rid of all the video gaming systems, games, computer accessories and wires? I also reminded him that when he wants me to make him something all he has to do is pick a color and I can whip it up in no time. He now has a littel more respect for my yarn...lol

 

DCMerkle

[tani-lai]

I have to admit, I was always saddened when I would see the afghans at the second hand stores. After reading through this thread, however, I feel a lot better! I hope they all find good homes.

[~Kel~]

I've bought afghans at goodwill before and taken them apart to make other things, often smaller rugs or blankets to use in the reading area of my classroom as my students fight over the ones I have. It does make me sad to see them though.

[head2toepets2go]

As I'm reading this post, I'm looking at the "cat beds" which are simply pieces of fleece with snaps about 3" away from each corner. Once you snap it up it makes into "bed". I'm wondering if this would work on afghans (snaps, ties, sew a stitch) to make them snugglier for animals too. I'm also wondring if some of the more worn afghans wer backed with fleece or flannel if they'd be more useable ... hmmm, I will have to pick up a well-worn afghan the next time I'm at a thrift store or yard sale to try it. Thanks for the inspiration ladies!

 

 

Fran

[Ellie 13]

I would rather see afghans in thrift stores than on a trash pile . I got 2 afghans and a box of granny squares that was put out next to the trash. I wonder, if I didn't take them, would the trash collector save them ?

Ellie 13

[texasredhead]

I made a lovely afghan for a neighbor when she was pregnant and had a girl. My daughter had a blanket just like it and used it until she was about 6 years old. A couple of years later I saw the blanket that I had made in the neighbor's garage sale. It looked like new. I really wanted to buy it back, but I was embarased to do that. Now I wished that I had, because it would have made a nice gift for someone else's baby. Some people just don't appreciate the work that goes into a gift.

[DesertCrocheter]

Some people just don't appreciate the work that goes into a gift.

 

Maybe she didn't like the color or the style or her daughter didn't like it and she was too embarrassed to tell you? I have certainly been at the receiving end of gifts that were not my style at all, that I took with a gracious thank you and never used. And yes, have either passed on, regifted, or donated. Doesn't mean I don't appreciate the thought, just that orange, for example, on me looks horrific, and no matter how much I like the giver, I am not wearing orange, no how, no way.

 

I think we all need to remember a simple lesson: Please don't jump to the conclusion that someone doesn't appreciate a gift just because they didn't use it to death or in the way you would have liked them to. Remember, a gift is a gift--once it leaves your hands, the recipient can do whatever they want with it. If you feel this strongly about your handiwork, than don't gift items you've made. Give a store-bought item or a gift certificate and let it go at that.

 

Patty

[Snoopysteph]

I am the only person on both my mom and dad's sides of the family who has learned how to crochet. My grandma on my dad's side is still alive and makes granny square afghans as gifts for her great-grandchildren. She taught me how to crochet almost 3 years ago and she told me that I am the ONLY ONE in her whole family who has taken an interest in learning. She has all her mother's old hooks and creations (including beautiful crochet thread doiles and table runners) and I hope someday that it's all passed down to me. I can't imagine all that stuff going in the trash! My great-grandma on my mom's side passed away 3 years ago and my grandma supposedly still has all her crochet stuff...and again, I am the ONLY ONE on that side of the family who has taken up crochet. I keep bugging my grandma about getting my great-grandma's stuff (whatever is left of it, she was in a nursing home for years) but I have a feeling my grandma tossed a lot of it. I still have a v-stitch afghan my great-grandma made for me when I was a kid - and it still looks brand new! She was incredibly talented and unfortunately I never realized this until I learned how to crochet a few months after she passed.

[cindylou4516]

I know someone who garbage picks and he came across a house where someone had passes and they where putting everything out by the street. Well he gave me a very large garbage bag full of yarn, hooks, knitting needles and books. If he didnt take it and the garbage man came they would be in a landfill right now and that would be tragic and very sad.

[cindylou4516]

My mom bought some at a thrift store and was going to give them to me until she guessed I was going to take them apart and make other things out of them. My father was mad because he thought they were staying here and he didnt have to lug them back home. You should see the stack she has rescued from thrift stores.

[RusticOkie]

What a great point to look at it as an opportunity for someone else to be able to enjoy such a lovely treasure. Especially if they are low on funds or don't know anyone who is crafty. Thanks so much for that wonderful perspective. It really makes me smile.

 

My grandmother just passed away in January and I received all of her yarns and hooks. I am the one that always crocheted with her and she taught me when I was a kid. I am so happy to have them. Luckily my family immediately thought of me and made sure it all made it to me. I have one cousin who crochets and am going to put a set of them together as a gift for her for Christmas.

[Ellie 13]

Why should she care if you recycle the yarn, did she think you needed stacks of afghans . Tell her to send them to nursing homes, shelters, hospitals, etc. I've rescued some afghans that looked unused and sent them to Project Linus.

Ellie 13

[slicer]

Such a shame. This is why I try to only make things for people that will appreciate them. I hope I can pass on my skills as well as all my stash to someone when the time comes so they do not go to waste.

[Trinket]

You have us. Well, your friends here at crochetville that would love and take care of items related to crochet, and be a reminder of what you brought to us.

 

Wouldn't it be great to have a place to send hooks, yarn, patterns and even crocheted items, to be redistributed to women that already love the craft but yet have fallen on hard times or want an item from someone they have become friends with through the "ville. How many women here in the 'ville don't have the extra money buy a hook or yarn.

 

I didn't think of that. That's a good point, though.

 

There is this one little old lady that I've become friends with. She found me through a pattern I had made and posted for free. I forget if she was asking me for some help or just letting me know what she thought of it, but we started talking and have become email buddies. I've sent her a gift card to buy some yarn, but I'm intending to send her some other crochet stuff soon, too. She was affected by Hurricane Ike last summer, so she lost all her yarn and crochet supplies. So I have some yarn, some hooks and patterns, and a couple afghans sitting on a shelf waiting for her to let me know when it's okay to send it.

[flyinghigh]

That's pretty depressing. That's sort of why I'm too afraid to make things for people other than my family. I know my immediate family will love anything I make for them. My dad is a testament to that... he kept on using a book mark I made when I was probably 7 until I was in high school. My mom also keeps around an afghan my great-grandma made... even though the colors now are extremely outdated... oranges and browns! haha.

 

I just hope that in the future someone will appreciate what I make... and it makes me feel good that my grandma (who taught me to crochet) will have someone to pass her things onto who will love and appreciate them all.

 

Wow.. don't think I've been that optimistic in a long time.

[Gran]

I, too, find it sad to see handmade things tossed aside. My mother says that we should put labels on our crochet work. Quilters often have the loveliest labels on the backs of their quilts. Some are embroidered, some painted, some just written in archival ink on a fabric label and sewn on.

 

It's one of the reasons I don't give handmade things to people who think that "store-bought" is better.

 

Here's to giving all that love and energy to a good home!

[Debbi-a1]

I, too, find it sad to see handmade things tossed aside. My mother says that we should put labels on our crochet work. Quilters often have the loveliest labels on the backs of their quilts. Some are embroidered, some painted, some just written in archival ink on a fabric label and sewn on.

 

It's one of the reasons I don't give handmade things to people who think that "store-bought" is better.

 

Here's to giving all that love and energy to a good home!

hand made for you tags?

I remember just seeing that because I just recently found the ones I bought years ago and used a few... then I guess lost them:blush...