I was out shopping today with one of the girls and my Sister-in-Law Kelly, in what Sam calls "VV Boutique" (Value Village – it’s a chain of secondhand thrift shops) and not only did I get a brown skirt for about $5, but as Kelly was cruising the book aisles, she saw this.
That’s right. It’s the big time. One of my books in a thrift shop. That’s a first for me.
Also interesting? Shelved next to a book called "A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers." Think on that for a while. I wasn’t bothered (at least, not by the book going to the VV, the dictionary for lovers thing still has me a little bothered) my book was discarded along with Barbara Kingsolver , Margaret Atwood , Alice Walker , Mary Lawson and a copy of The Thorn Birds , and I love all those books. Probably, as Kelly cheerfully pointed out, someone with great taste in books died and all their stuff went to the VV. Yeah. That’s it.)
Besides, I didn’t think about it much, because something more shocking was happening on another shelf.
Three seasons of Stargate SG-1 …
and the whole first season of MacGyver .
Obviously, someone has a way bigger problem with Richard Dean Anderson.
This is clearly the best thrift store ever.
Did you buy macguyver?
Did you buy macguyver?
Rewatching the 7th season of Stargate-SG1 myself right now. MacGyver complete is on the shelves. (Can you tell I’m not on Netflicks yet?)
Your VV Boutique is so much better than the one in Kitchener!
P.S. another excellent way to spend time with children of any age. Shopping the second hand stores. Shows them thrift and you can find some really neat things cheap.
I’d have snagged the SG-1. I already have all of your books, though, so I’d either have given that one a pass or bought it for a friend. ^_^
Also notice that your book is near ‘profitable playwriting’. Maybe this is a karmic way of suggesting the next step in your life?
mmmm mmmm Macguyver….
So, did you pick up the Stargate series (or maybe do you already own it)? I have a thing for Richard Dean Anderson. Don’t know why, except Macgyver came out at a happy moment in my life (pre-husband, pre-kids, nice income as a lawyer). Oh, the good old days!
Gotta love Value Village! It is my oldest daughter’s favourite place to shop. Finding one of your books there would be what I would consider a great find!
Did you sign the book? Did you buy the Dvds? Curious minds want to know.
Next time maybe sign the book,
“Dear VV, enjoy saving money while getting your knit on.”
OMG! MacGyver! Your VV is much better than the one here! Stargate too????? Hope you bought it…
Oooh, I’m with Sue B.: did you sign it? That would be such a treat to find at a thrift shop!
And I’m jealous of this whole VV Boutique thing. Apparently they haven’t yet made it to Cape Cod…
It’s a compliment in the highest form!
Um…who is Richard Dean Anderson? Does he knit?
Times are tough! People are selling their most prized possessions!
I always feel like I’m rescuing good books from thrift stores! And I’ve only ever found one of yours that needed rescuing…
Until your post I did not realize that McGyver and O’Neil were played by the same actor. I loved both series!
I would so buy the Chinese dictionary. I love buying them, the odder the better. Even though I don’t speak the language in HS I bought a Portuguese to Portuguese dictionary from a flea market just because!
How fun to find your book! That is when you know you’ve been around for a while 🙂
Did you buy the DVD sets or do you already have them?? I would have snagged them all. lol.
Love your VV. Wish we had one as good!
Wait, there are people who don’t like Richard Dean Anderson? How is this possible??
So, you’re classing up the joint?
Those look like really good books. You are in good company.
We are stinkin’ with Value Villages in Seattle. We call them La Village or Vay Vay (VV en francais). I look for yarn, but am rarely successful. Otherwise, I’m not much of a shopper, thrift or otherwise. But, my friend LOVES her some VV, so I go to watch her troll for bargains.
“A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers” isn’t actually a dictionary – it’s a novel about a young Chinese girl who studies in England to improve her English. I read it while I was teaching in China. It was interesting, but not fantastic. I think the odds of that are kind of hilarious – one of my favorite knitting authors ending up on a thrift shelf in Canada next to a random book that was left in my tiny rural town in China by the teacher before me. Weird!!!
My local thrift store is called Park Avenue Thrift, so I always sound like I’m shopping uptown. I’m a complete thrift store addict, so VV Boutique sounds like heaven to me.
I’ve scored Kaffe Fassett, Rowan, and Alice (freaking) Starmore books at our local Value Village. Most recently, I picked up a copy of “Knitted Ganseys” by Beth Brown-Reisel for $3.
You are among giants my dear.
ROTFL!!!! Well, my book ( my dissertation actually)is shelved at five different libraries. The one at the school where it was written, they kind of have to put one in the stacks, and the other four libraries are places where I donated the book. (How self serving is that?) At least your book has been read and loved and passed along for others to enjoy. I’m thinking my books may still have intact spines and pristine corners. LOL!!!!
Hope you signed the book! “To the second buyer of this book, keep knitting!” or some such… 🙂
Did you buy it? The one time I found a copy of my own book in a used book store, I bought it. 🙂
I have that book AND I bought it from a second-hand book store! It is one of my favorites. 😀
Clearly, you’ve arrived. And you’re in excellent company author-wise. Not sure what to say about the Chinese-English dictionary business though…
I love thrifty ideas and I love thrift stores. Just think, someone thought enough of your book to donate it rather than toss it! AND it goes along with your environmentally friendly (tree hugger/crunchy granola) vibe. I bet I have furnished half my home and all four of us (clotheswise) with thrift store finds. On Ravelry, Thrifty Knitters is an interesting group with thousands of members. This find would have likely been digitally recorded in the most posted in section of the group “awesome finds”. I love me some thrift store goodness and would have definitely picked up your book! Love.
I have given many lovely books to the library and charity organizations for many reasons and none of them had anything to do with how much I loved the book. Actually, it is generally more about space.
Some lucky person is going to feel like the scored big time when they get that.
What is most important is that someone bought it the first time around!
Obviously they were making room for the next book.
I LOVE Richard Dean Anderson!!! And, it goes almost without saying, I love your books as well. 🙂
I picked up At Knit’s End secondhand, as well as your first book, through Better World Books. They raise funds for world-wide literacy, and libraries (like the one I work for) who sell their discards receive part of the profits. Also, they ship for a mere $0.02 “green fee.” It’s awesome.
That’s awesome and if I didn’t already own all the seasons of Stargate…all of them plus the movies I might have grabbed that…this is proof even the thrift stores are better in Canada than in Southern Oklahoma.
McGyver – my boys (all three: two sons and a husband) loved McGyver. To this day when we have a problem or semi-emergency, someone says, “Quick, McGyver, get the duct tape and a pocket knife.”
I saw your 2010 calendar, brand-new, at a church rummage sale last Friday. Almost bought it, but decided to spend the $ on sweaters to unravel instead!
Poor Richard Dean Anderson, what is not to love about that man. And he’s had two guest appearances on a new USA (the channel – not the country) show called Fairly Legal.
We have Value Villages in the great Twin Cities area(Minnesota). I love going there. I have found the best theater props at VV boutique. BTW-Dean Anderson is from Minnesota!
I think this story needs to be continued! What happened then? Did you surreptitiously sign the book? Did you buy the DVDs, or the dictionary for lovers?
Better to see your book at a Thrift Store than in the bargain bin at a regular retailer!
That particular book though- I would never part with!
I’m shocked that someone would give away one of your books! They’re obviously muggles (non-knitting folk).
I don’t think of those as unwanted discards. I think of them as released back into the world for new fans to find! I often pass along books and videos I love so new people can find them too (I seldom watch/read anything twice.)
I thrift many of my books – well, used bookstore, actually. Love books as I do, I still cannot give every stray book a home and stay housed myself. I’d think of it as someone who enjoyed a good read, possibly more than once and then decided to make it available to someone else rather than sending it to the landfill. And isn’t that cheerier than someone’s passing?
Yea… It’s rather unnerving to see one of your books in the used book section – in my case it was our first graphic novel in Half Price Books. I agree, someone with great taste died and their family has no taste. At least you were in with great company. I wish you had grabbed that Margaret Atwood book. 🙂
LOVE it!
At least the book wasn’t autographed, right?
Great deals you are finding. Besides the dead woman having her treasures taken to VV, you stumbled upon some early Spring cleaners! I have 2 sweaters and a couple household items I just put in my trunk for our local thrift shop. NO BOOKS, however… (and NO YARN. Wouldn’t that be mind-blowing?).
The best deal I have found was sterling silver candlesticks at a thrift shop in Montreal.
Well, you can have RDA – I’ll take Michael Shanks. He can eat crackers in my bed any day, night, afternoon or morning! I wish MY VV had such good deals – maybe I need to go more often.
Maybe you could use some old radio parts, the StarGate DVDs, some chewing gum and an extra size 2 DPN to build a mini GPS and stalk whoever buys the YH book.
You forgot to mention that “profitable play writing” was also found two spots over from your book. I wonder why anyone would throw away such an obviously lucrative handbook!
I am sad to say that the hubs and I finished the entire Stargate SG-1 series, last night. Boo hoo. Had to watch the last episode again today. We got the set for Christmas and have been watching several episodes each night since then…as far as your books being at VV go, they are in mighty good company :O)
WOW – that is really cool to see those sets of DVDs – my thrift store doesn’t have movies or books…
I have a confession to make. I once gave away a copy of your book.
…Having allowed myself to get on amazon.com while under the influence may or may not have had something to do with my ending up with two copies.
I think that person was paying it forward…allowing someone else who couldn’t afford to but the book at full price, have a chance to buy it at a more affordable price and enjoy it.
The person was just spreading the love.
So sorry that shop isn’t local to me, I would right there to shop — though I already own all the SG-1 discs. So did you sign your book? Think of the thrill for the new owner if you had.
Way to go! I hope you snapped them up like hotcakes. I love thrift and consignment stores for just that reason. You never know what you will find. There is a chain of used book stores in the US called Half Price Books and you can get the most amazing things there. (except books by the Yarn Harlot and Terry Pratchett interestingly, they never seem to be in stock).
You’ve been the big time for a long time! 🙂
I have visions of you being arrested for ‘defacing’ that thrift store book (when you try to sign it)!
And next to Paul Gallico is pretty cool, too. One of the great things about actual books is that we can pass them on, they can acquire heritage and a life beyond the original owner. I help run a large used book sale for our homeless shelter and service agency–if people didn’t donate good books, we couldn’t do it.
We may have better weather in San Diego but our thrift stores don’t hold a candle to yours.
I guess that is fair.
Nancy
I hope you bought those DVDs! They are quite the score. As would be your book for a browsing knitter.
Your thrift shops are so much better than ours!! When my Mum died, I discovered that we had many of the same books and so the treasured duplicates went out for new homes–certainly the only explanation here!
And the Die Hard Trilogy on the shelf underneath as well? Dude, we need a Value Village in Florida!
I wish my thrift store was this awesome. My thrift store usually just has naked Barbies and old records.
Too bad you did not buy the Concise Chinese- English……etc book . It is actually a pretty enjoyable novel and not at all what it’s title suggests. But darn it why can’t I find your books in the thrift stores I haunt??????
Suddenly my husband wants to go to Canada and shop your value village- it appears to have much better donors than ours! Was there any supernatural tv series, by chance? that would clinch it.
Uh-oh. Looks like someone might have raided my DVD collection and shipped it to a thrift store in your area.
oh em gee, you totally should have autographed that book! What a great surprise that would’ve been for the buyer!
Also – Mmmm….Richard Dean Anderson…
I love VV and introduced my mom & daughter to it this summer. We shopped at the one in Ann Arbor, MI. I hope you had a coupon!
Your VV has way better stuff than mine! I’ve never seen a full season of anything at mine, just a lot of videos I already have or don’t really want. But mine often has yarn, and sometimes it’s real wool and not acrylic (although acrylic is okay too.) I scored some nice real wool recently and made some warm gloves. There were no labels on anything though. That’s okay; the price couldn’t be beat, the colours were pretty and the wool is warm. (I know it was wool because every so often, there was a little bit of straw.)
Awesome.
To the person who asked if RDA knits, I vaguely recall that he did in one episode of MacGyver. And I’ve heard rumours that he actually looked like he knew what he was doing (when I saw it, many moons ago, I wasn’t yet among the enlightened group of people who do knit).
I’m wondering, did you sign and date the copy of your book before putting it back on the shelf?
Hello, is there any chance you will post the pattern or vintage book info for the garter stitch baby sweater you had om blog at the start of January? would love to knit it up!!!
LOVE Value Village! Shopping there, that is, not always working there. Employees were usually good but some customers suck, since it’s second hand they just throw stuff on the ground.
I buy books there, vintage patterns and fabric, board games, knitting needles, and some clothes! Clothes less so because the ones we visit don’t have great selection. That’s where all my jeans are from though, ever since GAP changed their cut *grrrrr*
That is exactly how I acquired @ knits end!
Oh man! I miss Value Village. We don’t have them in the Southern U.S. We had them when I lived in the Pac NW. I love finding a good thrift store bargain. I would have snatched your book right up!
If it makes you feel better, the Chinese dictionary for lovers is actually not a dictionary for lovers — it’s actually a novel. I know because I wanted to buy it as a gag gift for a friend’s wedding, but decided against when I found out it was a novel. (The bride is Chinese. The groom and I are linguists. It would have been funny, I promise.)
And your book was next to Paul Gallico!! I had forgotten all about him. If you haven’t read his books, try one.
Perhaps no one died and they just don’t want to clutter up their shelves with books, books and MORE books. So…they paid for it a SECOND time and downloaded it on their e-reader. Then, wanting others’ to have the opportunity to share your wit and wisdom at an affordable price, they dropped it off at VV. Yup, I like that idea.
What really hurts is when you can buy your own book cheaper off of the remainder table than from your own publisher
Obviously, some lucky someone had a birthday and his or her friends all gave great knitting books as pressies. And there were so many duplicates of your books that after sharing the extras there was one left over. Simple.
Hilarious!!
I call it Vahloo Vahlaj – in a faux Parisian accent (though I realize my phonetic spelling has an Indian flair…)
Looks like they were sorting those books by colour. Huh. Translation books for lovers. Sounds like a niche market. 😉
I actually bought my first of your books (which I seem to recall was the same one you found, At Knit’s End) at a library book sale for twenty-five cents. Not quite the thrift store, but it’s the same price bracket—and a much better place if you’re specifically looking for cheap books.
Thrift stores are wonderful places to find sweaters to recycle into lovely yarn – I recently “scored” a very ugly sweater, in a wonderful beige cashmere, for $1.00 — after careful deconstruction, & gentle cleansing, it knitted up nicely & became a beautiful scarf !!
Your book was obviously donated by an over-zealous house-mate, who probably incurred much wrath when the knitter found out !!
I’m a big thrift store junkie who tends to frequent both the donor and buyer side of the coin. If I kept every book I really loved, we’d be buried within a few years. Instead, I prefer to keep the cycle of thrift stores going by donating back to it. Why not share awesome things with others?
OMG I would SO scoop up those McGyvers (I already have the complete Startgate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis sets). We had a Value Village here in Ypsilanti, MI but it closed about 5 years ago. I miss it.
lol. You shoulda bought the Stargate DVDs. : )
Richard Dean Anderson is an alumni of my University. We cite McGyver as inspiration to make do with what we have. “McGyver’s a OU Bobcat! What would he do in this situation?!” The usual answer being,”He would make a pipe from an apple and some tin foil.” I hope you scooped up the SG-1 series. Don’t think the SS logo has gone unnoticed…..
Given the infamous eastern stoicism, a dictionary might be a useful thing, no? 🙂
Congrats on one of your book making it to the big time – the shelves of VV!
I used to LOVE Value Village – there was one 10 minutes from my house and I’d pop over every time my son or I needed something. When my son was little, I scored Thomas the Tank Engine and other kid-friendly videos at thrift stores all the time. I very rarely buy retail clothing or books (except your knitting books, of course!), and I love the hunt of thrifting. Now I buy sweaters when they’re $1 and frog them for the yarn. But I’m trying not to consume so much these days, so I limit my thrifting to a “need to purchase” basis.
My brother-in-law once found a book that he wrote at a thrift store, as well. It didn’t bother him until he looked inside and found it was one he’d signed and made out to someone he knew!
Lol. If is is any consolation, I came to know (and love!) your blog, books, and knitting because my friend found “At Knit’s End” at the Sally Ann and bought it for me. The best thrift find ever!
While reading old blog posts from March of 2008 I saw a beautiful sock on the 6th. It was a pattern by Sivia Harding. Where is this pattern published? Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!
I hope that at the very least, you signed the flyleaf and noted the date and place of the signing, adding a quick wish for the next owner to enjoy, enjoy, enjoy…. and KNIT! 🙂
Wow, what a lovely store. We have a paperback book exchange near my house – I am a regular. Not that I sell my books back, I go to yard sales, buy books I don’t want, trade them in for points at the exchange. 🙂
I bought my copy of “The Thorn Birds” at a thrift store! The road trip from Florida to Ohio seemed so much faster after that. My first knitting book came from a thrift store, too.
I, too, donate books so that someone else can enjoy them and so that I can walk around my house without tripping over books.
Wow, really goodwill? Goodwill stores or at least that is what we call them in Maine…never thought about knitting books. However, I recently found some handspun yarn, passed it directly to my younger sister (okay, we are both past 45, but she is younger than I)and then realized I knew the spinner. Her tag was on it…from oh, about 25 years ago. I took it back from my sister (yes, she cried, whined and all that), knit a beautiful pair of wristers with angora edgings, and returned my to my friend on her wedding anniversary (#57, I believe) along with the tag…what a week. Darn I should have look for one of your books to complete the gift.
So where is this thrift shop? It sounds great!
VV is my secret passion. You never know what great stuff you’ll find there (for example your book). I actually get a liitle crazy about the stuff you can find there. My family has made me see reason and redonate some of the stuff that I’ve lost my head over (for example 6″ high bunny salt and pepper shakers-the bunnies are wearing holsters with guns). What was I thinking.
Remember, someone who is poor will come across your book and say SCORE!! Thrift stores give give such items a second life (just like your skirt) 🙂
RAH! Where’s all the Richard Dean Anderson when I go to the thrift store? And man…The Thorn Birds was the tots! I was inspired to read that back in the day by Richard Chamberlain’s blatant meltyness. Canadian thrift stores are dope, that’s where I got that awesome Pope John Paul spoonrest. I need to go back.
I so would have bought all those DVDs!!!
My mommy sent me a copy of this, she found it at the thrift store! She didn’t even know I liked you, it was about knitting and she thought it was funny. I showed her this blog when I got it. (also, I’m 31, I just like to call her “mommy”)
Boy, I’m so jealous about your great thrift stores. We don’t have anything like that here in Germany (at least not, where I live…) I would totally get the dvds…
I actually *just* bought a copy of The Thorn Birds today, at a thrift store (here in the States), called The Village! Must be something about the term “village” that screams “thrift store”! ^_^
>>VV boutique, love it!
Haven’t been to a Value Village in years and years…. I miss it.
Did you whip out a pen and sign it?
Hee! I love it when knitting and SciFi collide!
Go right back and snaffle the ‘Concise Chinese Dictionary for Lovers’ — it’s a novel, very well written, a bit sad but an excellent read.
Be assured, if I ever see one of your books in a charity shop I will rescue it and give it a warm, loving home ….
I’m waiting for my book, published last year, to show up in a thrift store.Hasn’t happened yet!
I have three of your books so far, and all of them have come from Half-Priced Books; which is, as you can probably guess, a used book store.
Thrift stores rock.
You lucked out at your VV! Never seen worthwhile dvds at the one down here, just VCR tapes. I wonder if the music selection there was as good? But I have scored some nice pants and jackets for next to nothing. And your book was in good company, for sure. Be proud.
Score!
I love second-hand stores! You can find all sorts of treasures ( but the wherewithall ….). I just got “At Knit’s End” book on CD out of the library, and was hugely suprised to find out that you read your own books for recording! I wrote earlier that using U.S. standard english took your “voice” away from us: the books on CD give us a wonderful gift!
And Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Nice that a single copy of your book will bring joy to more than one person.
As a Kinnear-type aside – Richard Dean Anderson also a nice guy. I used to live in Vancouver and, for an unfortunate reason, used to spend a lot of time at the BC Children’s Hospital. I frequently saw him there, both for his own kids (!boo! in a perfect world a children’s hospital wouldn’t even have to exist but !yay! a star who is also an active parenting participant!) and visiting patients who were fans. Seemed to be quite grounded, a working actor who chose to live his life where he was employed, rather than do the fly-in, fly-out celeb role. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that, just it was cool to see the “stars” who chose to be out & about, living their lives like the rest of us. For the most part, people let them be unless they were all glammed up and obviously working.)
I love it that you go thrifting. It makes me love you even more!
But did you buy your book?
I agree w/ Lisa…clearly the best thrift store ever!!! 🙂
I hope you picked up that Richard Dean Anderson retrospective! Your VV is way better than mine…
Thrift shop book sections are akin to a reunion of favorite friends.
And all 7 seasons of MacGyver are among my favorite posessions.
Bought my very own ‘MacGyver’ knife whilst visiting a brother in the military as a single gal, and have used it to great advantage ever since. Impressed a gathering of bikers with my ability to open a can with a wee attachment.
Did you sign your book? That would have been a nice little surprise for someone to pick up your book there and see that you had signed it.
I was in a period when I had kind of gone off knitting when I totally unexpectedly came across a copy of Knitting Rules in a Salvation Army in Brooklyn. It was like the best thrift store find ever- and it inspired me to knit. I have other books of yours, but it’s my favorite. It’s the one you signed for me at the Manhattan B & N, which inspired me to buy another for my MIL. So…think of those thrift store copies as seeds, just waiting for some fertile ground.
Sorry, have to go off topic here. Please note the article about lace knitter Gene Beugler in the Oregonian today: http://www.oregonlive.com/living/index.ssf/2011/03/lace_knitting_gene_beugler_is.html
He sounds like a Knitting Legend and perhaps should be invited to the Sock Summit. He would need a ride as he is 87 and doesn’t drive anymore. The photos are amazing.
Someone beat me to it: did you sign your book? LOL
I think Kelly’s right about how the book got there (and this is why what to do with my stash and my tools is written into my will LOL). It also probably explains how my spinning wheel was found at ThriftTown.
Hello! I’ve been reading your blog since about the middle of last year I think. I started right at the beginning of the archives, and I’ve finally made it to the present! Not bad for under a year 🙂 I absolutely love you and your blog and have learnt a lot! Seems a little sad that now I can’t just continue reading whenever I feel like it, and have to wait for posts like everyone else…still, I’m glad I can be part of The Blog in real time now!
Do you have Charity Shops over there? I guess in the UK that’s mainly our version of thrift stores, although nowhere near as big! And someone pointed out that it looks like they arrange their books by colour; I thought so too! I was reminded of a Flickr group I came across recently: Rainbow of Books http://www.flickr.com/groups/96822943@N00/pool/
Maybe someone bought the book *expressly* to put at VV so that someone less fortunate would have the pleasure of reading it? You know, since it’s so awesome that it’s always checked out from the library. 🙂
My daughter and I love to go to thrift stores. I wish I had found your book!!! Did you find any yarn? Last time I was at vv I picked up some 3 1/4mm circular needles!
WHY WOULD ANYONE GET RID OF RICHARD DEAN ANDERSON?!
My poor SG loving heart just broke.
The book it was next to, “concise Chinese-American Dictionary…” is a great novel BTW
How do we get that chain to come down to New England?
I think I need to start going to Value Village!
wow, my Value Village does not have that good of things…mostly Maxim Magazines
Oh my! To be ‘seconded’ with Stargate!
Maybe also, they bought a newer copy of your book? Maybe they had to move to a very small apartment. Maybe they realized they actually had bought a second copy in a fit of enthusiasm?
(I only mention these things as they are issues that have struck my own book shelves.)
Good score on the skirt.
I want thrift shops like that. Ours are not nearly as well lit, well stocked or awesome.
i would have bought that dictionary on the spot! i don’t speak or read any chinese but how great is that?
Whoa! I’d love to be in that VV – the one closest to me is 90 miles away & I don’t get there often anyway.
being re-homed is just a new beginning for “at knit’s end” — and an environment-friendly one at that.
when i moved to a condo about 2 years ago, i found several treasures at the thrift shop that aids our local domestic violence shelter, including a large framed poster for $10 that now is the highlight of my dining room. i also got a plain white plastic light fixture that looks lake a large inverted bowl hanging from a brass finial and chain. 25 cents worth of cobalt-blue acrylic paint dabbed on the outside with an old plastic bag made it resemble graniteware — perfect for a country-style dining room.
but my favorite thrift store is in honolulu — great hawaiian shirts for $5-$10, a long silk skirt in a tropical print, $5, and on and on and on. (and because they can let the tropical breezes blow through every day and very little gets dry-cleaned, the store doesn’t have that nasty thrift-shop smell that ours in indiana do.)
congrats! you’ve hit the big time!
Ooooh, I’ll have the Margaret Atwood book! (I already have yours )
Not ‘discarded,’ IMHO, at all. Book discards are a shameful little pile, cheap softcovers ripped off, in the recycling bin…
I love thrift shops. And Value Village is wonderful…I used to frequent several when I lived in Michigan.
Here (New England) “Savers” is the thrift chain.
And…I find my most treasured possessions in thrift shops.
Ummm…I picked up the aforementioned book at Guy’s Frenchy’s last year. Since I am a relatively new Maritimer, I was unaware that this seems to be an east coast low rent version of VV. Anyhoo, I already had a copy so I picked it up and passed it along to another knitter friend who didn’t. Last week I picked up a Steve Martin (yes, that Steve Martin) memoir, which turned out to be really good. Oh, and an Ikea kids chair for three bucks. Yay thrift stores.
SG-1 totally rocks. Do you already own it? It’s my probably my favortite TV series ever. Gotta love O’Neill.
And I am currently reason that book right now, before I go to bed each night.
I received multiple copies of that book from knitting and non-knitting friends, and when my knitting friends were all saturated with the book too, then the extra copies overflowed to charity shops. Best Problem Ever, huh?
I would LOVE it if I found one of your books in a thrift store. What a great find that would be!
I heart Richard Dean Anderson almost as much as I heart knitting. I’d be in there hoping for the rest of the seasons of SG1
My husband says he wants the COMPLETE Chinese-English Dictionary For Lovers… The full Wong.
Dude. Value Village rocks. Even if someone dropped their copy of your book while looking for recyclable sweaters and the store manager thought it belonged on the shelf. I’ve seen worse in a Value Village. :))
I am sorry to be such a total idiot but I can’t see how to contact your Doctor’s w/o Borders. Do they work in Japan. They may be a developed country but people need HELP NOW. People have no food. no shelter, no hope. The media focus on nuclear outfall does not help the those in need. Dearest Yarn Harlot please help. I have family there so I know.
Oh my gosh, you’re next to a copy of The Abandoned by Paul Gallico! I loved that book as a kid and I always hope I’m going to come across a copy of it! Best Value Village ever, and I’m gnashing my teeth that I live across the continent and can’t swoop over and snatch that book up.
Ahhh, my fav store VV. In Portland, OR, found a hand knit by Kaffe Fassett…bought it for my wife. In Victoria, BC found many skeins of White Buffalo unspun wool…bought it. In a VV here near Seattle, found a copy of POR, Principles of Knitting…bought it and traded it for tons of White Buffalo wool yarn. Happy knitting Paul on Whidbey Island
http://www.oregonlive.com/living/index.ssf/2011/03/lace_knitting_gene_beugler_is.html
Laura J, thanks for posting this link about the master lace knitter in Eugene, OR. Fantastic! I shared this on my FB page and encourage everyone to read the article.
Man! I love Richard Dean Anderson, Stargate SG-1, the Thornbirds, and your books. Apparently I could totally score at Canadian thrift stores. Why do American ones just have junk?
Mmmm, Stargate SG-1. My grey bunny’s name is O’Neill because he’s so handsome and sweet! I’m re-watching season 3 for about the zillionth time. Perfect knitting accompaniment. My grey bunny’s name is O’Neill.
And the Thornbirds? Watched it the first time it was on tv while I was in labor. Allllll night long, the news guys interviewed priests about the “shocking” mini series. Post birth, the nurses would come in and watch it with me. Good times…
FWIW, the first book of yours I ever bought (also “At Knit’s End”, actually) was at a used book store. ~4 years ago, on a vacation to Kelowna, BC. So you’ve been big time for a while now ;).
It’s like I died and MY stuff went there!!
Oh my goodness! You crack me up ; ) Thanks for the smile today! Good luck with the driving! I would have helped! LOL!
I like to think that someone liked the book so much that they purchased a second copy to keep pristine in their library at home and gave the much read copy to the thrift store so some lucky person could find it and have the joy of reading your work for possibly the first time..or someone who lost their copy in a home fire could replace it cheaply.
As for That Rachel H not being able to drive because of her having to go to a job…I agree-jobs can be stupid in such cases. However, stupid jobs provide brilliant funds to buy treats for weary long distance driving friends when they return from the trip one was unable to take…Hear That Rachel????
Safe journey, Steph.
I hope you bought it! My mom is an author whose work has been out of print for decades, and we have to buy her books on Ebay in order to give them to young relatives. Stock up now while you can – they’ll be collector’s items like your 2009 calendar has become.
I have a friend who is big into movies. He bought the same McGuyver first season, watched a few episodes with me. Then I guess he had had enough, because he just gave it to me.
I have found second-hand stores to be the bestest ever resources. Some of my best finds are knitting, quilting (Georgia Bonesteel!), wool laceweight yarn for pennies, a book on bread making, paper making, pancake lover’s cookbooks, and fabrics galore. People are clueless the value of the “junk” they are getting rid of!
I have serious Richard Dean Anderson issues….so I own all the seasons of SG-1 and McGyver. The person who gave those up was an RDA slacker. 🙂
The US version of Value Village is Savers – same company. LOVE SAVERS. When my craft partner and I were traveling through Ontario en route to NY and Western Mass, we tried very hard to stop at Value Village. Our itinerary go there too late. BUT, it is still a goal. And I think it’s true, your book and the other good ones were not discarded. They were read, enjoyed, and passed on for others to read and enjoy.
Maybe someone had the book already and was given a second copy as a gift, so she decided to donate the book to VV in hopes that a knitter who is low on cash might see it and get it. I think that’s by far the most likely explanation. ^_^
Steph? I found that very same book in a Goodwill store in Stevens Point, Wisconsin years ago. I loved it, loved it, loved it…. and one day asked myself, “Hey, I wonder if she has a blog?” I looked on the back cover, and there ya go. My life was transformed.
I just checked… I still have the sticker on. I paid US$3.99.
Oh, it’s so interesting. I never saw this in China. Very enjoy!
It’s arduous to find educated folks on this topic, however you sound like you already know what you’re talking about! Thanks
Nothing would have been cooler than if you had grabbed a pen and signed the book before putting it back. What a surprise for the buyer! I would have been thrilled if I’d picked up an autographed book that no one but me knew was autographed, lol.
I’ve actually looked for your books in some of my local used book stores and consignment shops. I’ve never been lucky enough to score one and am slowly building my collection anyway.
How did you derive up with such a awe-inspiring post? This is very interesting. So much so that I had to shut the television off to focus on your well written article. I’ll be definitely sharing this around the internet.
Wow This is what I was exactly looking for. I wanted this for my project. You’ve been a big help. Adore you!
Whoa this is an informative post. You’ve must have done heavy research on this article. This is rather absorbing so I must email all my coworkers.
I undoubtedly agree. You wrote some really excellent points. I appreciate the insight and will be sure to share this information on to my classmates.