Handknitting and the cost of yarn

Ishtar

You'll find it much easier to substitute yarn if the original isn't a 'fashion' yarn, such as tape, ribbon or eyelash. If you're working with 'standard' DK/Aran/Chunky, etc, then it's much easier to find an alternative. You'll need to find the tension required, suggested needle sizes and the yardage of the original yarn.

All this information will be found on the ball bands of any alternatives you may come across. You can then find a close match to the Rowan (or whatever) yarn.

If you're anywhere near the South Oxfordshire area then there's a fantastic yarn shop in Abingdon - Masons - I grew up with this knitting shop and although I'm biased, they are by far the best I've come across. (And I still make regular trips there...it's an 80 mile round trip and OH thinks I'm mad...).

I've also bought yarn from Knitwell, who are very good to deal with, and as others have mentioned, eBay can be quite good. Our local Age Concern shop has a limited stock of new yarn, and my mum gets hers from Wilkinsons.

Cheers
D.

peachespeaches

Have you looked on ebay? Many sellers sell wool, also people sell the left overs from their projects on there. Ive had quite a bit of yarn from ebay, but to be honest, you dont get bargains like you used to. If you can find the weight/ply of the wool (eg DK, Aran, 4ply, chunky) its easier to find alternatives. You can checkout something called meterage or yardage too. This tells you how far the wool will go so you know how much to buy, as 50g of one yarn isnt always as long as 50g of another of the same ply/weight.

curlywurlygirly

I've found wool in poundland, wilkinsons etc - they are good quality, AND good value!

LizD_2

Littlebean wrote: »

Thanks Little Mama - as luck would have it I'll be passing a John Lewis tomorrow so I'll have a look. And thanks also to Hardup Hester - will definately give this site a go.

Is it just me or has knitting suddenly become an excuse to try and rip people off? My nana taught me when I was little (now in my late thirties). It's great that knitting is currently enjoying a revival and I've been happily browsing ebay and specialist knitting sites. But I came across 'luxury beaded stitch markers' today. They cost upwards of £4 each and are designed to mark your place when doing patterns/large items. My nana just used to use curtain rings! But I guess there must be a market for these things or they wouldn't sell them.

I think it's true of many 'traditional' crafts/skills, dressmaking fabric can be so expensive as well. Just look at card-making and all the stuff you can buy for that! I do think that manufacturers are trying to target people new to these hobbies as well. Although I've just started knitting, my mum and a grandmother used to knit. Mum often used to unwind old jumpers to make up into new ones. She also used to buy second-hand garments from the charity shop and re-use wool and fabric.

stefejb

I think it really depends on what you want to make and what you want to get out of the experience. If you want to make work-a-day sweaters then really I agree that it's not really worth it as for the effort and the outlay you would probably be better off buying the sweater from primark or whatever ... however if you want to make a quality designer garment in a classic style then it is worth paying out the extra for the yarn. I love working with quality yarns but can only really afford ot do this every now and then. At the moment I am making socks with opal yarn for christmas. Now these will work out at about 7 quid a pair - expensive for a pair of socks but not expensive for a present that will be really appreciated by my family and can't be bought in a shop. I will also enjoy the experience - well up until the point somewhere in november when I realise that I still have 16 pairs to do and time is getting on!
Last year I made curly scarves with cheapie eyelash yarn which worked out at about 2 quid each and were a big wow but I am lucky in that my family do appreciate the time I've put in.
Getting back to the point - if you find a cheaper alternative that looks like it will knit to the same tension then do a tension swatch first just to make sure but £60 for a breautiful alpaca sweater is still less than you would pay in a shop and you will enjoy the yarn. Aslo if you haven't tried them before bamboo needles are a joy IMO

Littlebean_2

Well I popped into John Lewis yesterday and was seduced by the Rowan baby alpaca. It really is gorgeous and I bought enough to make a lovely classic sweater for myself. It will be my first big project and also my christmas present to myself. As stefejb said, £60 isn't unreasonable to pay for a quality wool sweater (last time I looked in M&S anyway) and this way, I get the enjoyment of working on it as well. Zen and the art of knitting!

Since my return to knitting I've been amazed at the variety of textures/colours available now and I've made a couple of scarves for friends with eyelash yarn - it's brilliant stuff and knits up so quickly I couldn't believe it - also hides all the mistakes so it's perfect when you are tired and want to do something without concentrating too much.

I've been searching ebay for bargains and ideas, but as another poster said, it seems v hard to find many bargains. I've also come across a couple of UK based knitting e-bay shops who only take payment in US $ - why is this?

Sorry for rambling - just very excited about re-discovering knitting. Just need to find a local knitting group now and stop me whittering on about it to my husband. I'm in the Cambridge/Essex area if anyone knows of any.

mocolo

Littlebean wrote: »

Sorry for rambling - just very excited about re-discovering knitting. Just need to find a local knitting group now and stop me whittering on about it to my husband. I'm in the Cambridge/Essex area if anyone knows of any.

try the website www.ukhandknitting.com for existing groups that meet. i was lokkking for my area (south yorks/notts/doncaster) and can't find one near enough that would suit- there is a 50+ group! Have thought about putting a note in the local paper/library asking if there is interest. Might do that (has anyone here done that and has any advice - wouldbe appreciated.
cheers,

allIcouldwishfor

Totally agree that it is expensive to buy good yarn, although I can remember my mum and nan saying the same years ago so maybe that was always the case?

I've just returned to knitting after 20 years, having seen a Zoe Mellor pirate jumper pattern for DS knitted in rowan handknit cotton (£3 for 50g!!). The jumper cost £24 to make but he'll love it, it's a beautiful, unique garment (esp the way I knit!!) and it's made of natural materials. I find it really tough to find kids jumpers in the shops in natural materials, they're all acrylic. Anyway, I probably could have substituted the yarn for something like Wendy supreme (£3.75 for 100g) and I have on other projects, you just need to adjust the tension accordingly.

I got my Rowan yarn here: http://www.thecraftyknitter.co.uk/

BTW I was surprised that there wasn't much about knitting on these forums when I did a search.

conradmum

I think that with yarn you get what you pay for.
I have a Rowan cardigan (Kaffe Fassett design I saw in the Albert and Victoria museum when they had an exhibition of his work) that's as old as my ds1 (17 years:eek:).
The box cost me 50 pounds even back then, so certainly not cheap, but the wool has never pilled - is that the right term for the little balls? - and the only wear and tear is around the cuffs, which I think is pretty good for 17 years.
It's a beautiful cardigan and I've never seen anything like it elsewhere.
Yes, 50 pounds was a huge outlay, but for the amount of wear I've got out of it it was excellent value for money, and far, far cheaper than it would have cost me to buy it or pay someone else to knit it.
Sometimes you just have to spoil yourself!;)

odds-n-sods

you lot are making me want to get back into knitting! The cost of a craft, whether needlework or knitting ,cardmaking etc can't be compared to buying a ready-made item because we could never buy the components and spend the time as cheaply as the companies do that make clothes esp. the ones from overseas where the workers get pennies per day. So I look at it as a unique item that couldn't be found anywhere else. I know people have often tried to buy my cross-stitches but when I explain that I spent 250 hours on that one and I'd have to charge accordingly...... LOL - they thought they would offer me £25 for it, for ex. LOL I prefer to keep the ones I make or give them away as gifts, the look on someone's face is payment enough.