I grew up on acrylic afghans. My Memaw never bought cotton or wool thread. I purchased the fishermans wool by lion brand when I wanted to do soakers for my son, and have purchased cotton to do various projects, but those beautiful yarns you all are using... How do you do it? They come in such tiny skeins/hanks, and cost so much more than acrylic. I havent been able to talk myself into using "nice" yarn yet.
__________________ Lisa
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Mama to Emma (7), Madi (6), Spencer (3), and a crazy Cookie dog!
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Location: We're FREAKIN' AWESOME! Running Boston with LAB in '09
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I only buy yarn when it's on sale or I have a coupon. ACMoore has a 40% off coupon everyweek and many of the craft stores put their yarn on sale. Hobby Lobby has their Wool Ease Chunky and the T&Q! for 3.22. ACMoore has ALL yarn for 25'% off which makes the wool ease worsted weight 1.10/skein. I really prefer the wool ease when making hats/sweaters.
As for the 9-15$ yarns, I love my 40% coupon for those. I haven't purchased many skeins in that price range though because it's too intimidating for me
I am a sale hawk. When I find a good price I swoop down on it and buy as much as I can afford to in as many colors as I can. Then I have them here when I need them for a project. If I have a special thing I am working on with expensive yarn I tend to buy less than I think I need and go back for more. I did get in trouble with that method though when my LYS stopped selling what I was using. Thank goodness for ebay!
Isn't it terrible!! I can't believe how much they charge for yarn. All kinds of yarn. I even think the brands sold at craft stores are way overpriced too.
I save the expensive stuff for small gifts. Infinite is right, lol, it's therapy cause it's certainly not cost effective to knit it yourself.
Brown Sheep Lambs Pride is as expensive as I get! I only use that for slippers and mittens. I love Plymouth Encore (75%acrylic, 25%wool) for most everything else. I also like Lion Brand Wool Ease for basic stuff too, sweaters, hats, ect....
Oh, well, I take that back. I do buy sock yarn, and that can run about $8+ for a pair of socks. But, that's as expensive as I get.
I don't really like using eyelash, furry, or ribbon yarns. I don't really like how they turn out or feel when I knit with them. I'm just a simple plain knitter
Anyhoo, you're not alone when it comes to not wanting to spend that much $$ on yarn
__________________ Becca, mama to Nate 12yo, Mary 7yo.
I tend to like Cascade 220, not a bad size hank, 220yds, for $7-8/skein. Not too bad, for really really nice wool yarn. Lately, I have been buying paton's classic merino from ACMoore, it's like $5/skein, same amount as cascade, and can use a 40% off coupon on it. Woolease is OK, and cheap, feels much nicer than acrylic, but not as nice as real wool. I don't like knitting with cotton, just not enough give for me. I don't do huge projects, so the cost doesn't get outrageous. Definitely no afghans, I don't have the attention span for them, lol. But if I did, I would probably use woolease, just for the washabilty of it. But I really do prefer 100% wool, but really only like cascade 220 & patons classic merino, both are super soft, no itchies, and reasonably priced, imo.
__________________
Mary,
momma to Tyler 5-14-03 And Maya 1-19-2001
And Ciara 1-14-06
But if you had bought that handknit scarf it would have cost much more than that! Just think, you now have a 'boutique' $50 scarf, and it only cost you $12!
Ok, your right on that, but what happens when I get addicted then I want to make sweaters that cost $$$ to make, I don't have that kind of money, it's a slippery slope!!LOL...
But of course you are right, and the best part is I MADE IT!
So how much does it cost to make a kiddie sweater? What have you spent? I definately think I will keep to small things until I am confident enough to get into something big like a sweater. I don't even know how to add/drop! Katie just taught me how to perl on friday now I'm doing a cable knit scarf. Very pretty.
And to the OP I was at Katies feeling up all of her yarn, it's sooo yummy!!!! I think once you start using the good stuff, there's no going back! Oh uh, very dangerous!
Originally posted by maxnmaizy So how much does it cost to make a kiddie sweater? What have you spent? I definately think I will keep to small things until I am confident enough to get into something big like a sweater. I don't even know how to add/drop! Katie just taught me how to perl on friday now I'm doing a cable knit scarf. Very pretty.
For Mary (small 5yo), it only takes about 2 skeins of Plymouth Encore, so about 8oz? Give or take, cuz it depends if I'm using a yarn hog stitch. So, that's only about $10-12 for a hand knit sweater
Once you get past the idea that knitting should be thrifty it's no problem at all .Or maybe it's a really big problem, I guess it depends on your stashing tendencies, lol.
I buy the more expensive yarn either on ebay or when my LYS has a sale - they have 2 sales a year.
Right now I'm working on a blanket for Eva. The yarn cost will end up being close to $100. That sounds like an awful lot for a baby blanket. But I don't think of it as a baby blanket, but an heirloom-to-be, and then $100 is a steal. Not to mention the pleasure that I've had from working with this yarn for the last 8 months.
The sweater I made for Anja used 2.25 skeins of Cascade Quatro at an average of $8 skein. I have enough left over from the last skein to have made a felted hat and some knit food with plenty still left. So, really the sweater only cost maybe $24 including the $5 pattern. Considering that it is 100% wool, hand knit, and big enough to wear this year and next - with possibly the next year if she stays short in her torso... it is a great deal. Add to that the incredible satisfaction I get when I look at it knowing *I* made it - just for my little girl.... As the comericials say.... priceless.
Becca, mama to 
Nate 12yo, 
Mary 7yo.
, Olivia 3, Eva 20 months
As the comericials say.... priceless. 
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