Expensive yarns???

As I progressed in my knitting, especially for myself I have turned away from acrylics. I use them for the grandkids, since my daughter puts everything in the washer and dryer. Thank gosh for superwash wool/nylon sock yarn! If your daughter will really appreciate the scarf and the yarn, then it is definitely worth it to buy nice yarn.

Well, maybe you just haven't come all the way into appreciating the nicer yarns yet. There are many places, especially on the net where you can buy beautiful yarn and not pay the full price. I have bought a lot of yarn from Elann.com (one of my knitting friends thinks I have shares in the company - ha, ha). Some people really like Knit Picks. I haven't bought from them, but know people who have and they think the quality of their yarns is very good and so is are their prices.

The smaller artisan-types making their own hand dyed yarns probably charge more, and if you find something you like, well then it's worth the price. I have a feeling that keeping sheep, shearing them, processing the fleeces, spinning them into yarns, dyeing the products/fleeces, etc etc is very time consuming and probably quite expensive, so I wonder how many of us really do appreciate it and would be willing to pay the prices to the people who do all the work.

Here's an example: I was perusing Elann's site a few weeks ago and found a thick 'n thin 100% wool yarn in a gorgeous colour. Their yarn is pretty much always discounted, so I decided I had to have it to make a felted tote bag. The cost of that yarn, not including shipping was $70 Canadian. So, now I have a tote bag I really love, that I made myself.... but the reality is, I probably wouldn't have bought the finished product if I saw it in a show. I wouldn't have paid someone the price to have it, but I paid the price for the yarn so I could make it. Go figure..... and - I sure don't have money to blow; just decided it would be my little gift to me.

I have kind of rambled on here, so don't know if I really answered your questions or not (smile)......

Happy knitting! Shelagh

That being said, I do use acrylic yarns for babies and small children, because machine wash and dry is definitely the way to go for busy moms. Just don't use cheap acrylics!

That being said, I do use acrylic yarns for babies and small children, because machine wash and dry is definitely the way to go for busy moms. Just don't use cheap acrylics!

Shelagh, I just looked up Elann.com and wow you are right! What deals! I be all happier now and thanks for all the advice!

Padishar creel

Well, it depends. I use both the inexpensive acrylics and the more expensive natural yarns. If I want it to last with very little care, I use acrylic. If I want something special, I'll take extra care of it and use something more expensive which should last as long if taken proper care of.

Handmade yarns take a LOT of handiwork to produce from harvesting, to cleaning, to spinning, to dyeing, to marketing, to shipping, etc., so most of what you pay for premium yarns is for the labor involved in producing it. I think the imports are more about the import tarrifs and shipping fees than producing it, since labor is generally less expensive in other countries, and while we seem to be a smaller world (as evidenced by how wide spread members of the group are), it still takes a lot of other materials (gasoline and labor to handle) to get the yarn to you.

If you know how to spin, and how to dye, you can buy a fleece or whatever natural material and make your own yarn, and probably save a lot in processing and shipping fees.

Leah

Leah, you have made some very good points...I stand corrected and I have seen yarn made by hand. It was labor intensive...

Padishar Creel

I have used Elann.com quite a bit too and have been very satisfied. One thing to remember, though, is that since many of the yarns or the particular shades of yarns they sell are discounted because they are discontinued (they do have some of their own brands there, however). I usually get an extra ball if I am at all worried about having enough for the project because of that. As you might guess, I learned the hard way - though I was able on the internet (with a lot of searching) to find a ball of the same dye lot when I did run short.

I have used some of their own collection (currently click on the second box on the left on the site that refers to mill to you yarns.) The Peruvian Collection Highland Wool is a nice worsted wool yarn in lots of nice colors at a decent price -- and the baby silk is really lovely for a scarf.

I have been happy with their service. They ship to us from Po> Shelagh, I just looked up Elann.com and wow you are right! What deals!

Shelagh has pretty much hit on everything I was going to say, so ...... Noreen

On Tue, 28 Mar 2006 05:40:01 -0700, Leah spewed forth :

Yep. Manos del Uruguay comes to mind as a rather well-known hand-spun yarn. That stuff is now up to about $14/hank I believe.

I've spun and knit myself one sweater, among the many small handspun projects I've made. That spinning for that sweater accounted for probably two weeks' of my life, if we figure a week as a standard

I won't knit with anything I won't wear. Since I'm a fiber snob that means I don't work with acrylic, except as nylon incidental to wool sock yarn. There are plenty of frugal natural-fiber yarns on the market if you'll but take the time to look.

Brown Sheep American-made yarns are good value for money: well-spun, durable when properly cared for, and modestly priced.

Nashua (distributed by Rowan) is VERY nicely priced. The alpaca/wool line comes in two different weights, $8 ball and as much as 220 yards per ball. I made an ample scarf from two balls. A friend eked a vest out of four, and one could probably manage a sweater from 8.

Cascade220. MSRP is still under $7/hank, 220 yards per hank, and I have yet to find a piece of hay in a hank of it, and I've used a LOT of Cascade. Cascade220 Superwash is somewhat less thrifty at $9-10/ball but each ball is 220 yards and the superwash makes it suitable for kidwear.

Harrisville Designs, Jaggerspun and Bartlett Yarns are three American spinning mills that produce excellent quality wool and wool-blend yarns.

Meg Swansen's yarn offerings at SchoolHouse Press (all 100% wool) are the very nature of frugal. If you wear an average size (say, a 36) you can buy your sweater yarn for as little as $60.

elann.com has already been recommended. As has been said, order more than you think you'll need because you won't be able to get more later, unless you're buying out of their house line.

KnitPicks has gained a cult-like following with the "make it on a budget" crowd for its inexpensive natural-fiber yarns. I personally regard KP as an up-and-coming Walmart of the yarn world. I won't buy the stuff, and I trade it along if I happen to acquire some in a swap. I did make one pair of socks out of standard KP sock yarn to see how they stand up against my Opal, Trekking and Meilenweit socks. So far I'm unimpressed.

BaBaJoe's WoolPak used to be widely available, but I've been having trouble finding it for the last year or two. Three hanks of the

A good tool for researching yarn quality and pricing before you commit is (beat the horse, Wooly)

Reply to the list as I do not publish an email address to USENET. This practice has cut my spam by more than 95%. Of course, I did have to abandon a perfectly good email account...

This info will give you a basic idea of some of the expenses involved for a lb of wool before processing. Eugene doesn't factor in the care of the sheep or the cost of processing.

On Tue, 28 Mar 2006 15:00:37 GMT, Wooly spewed forth :

I should not be allowed near a keyboard until I've had at LEAST two coffees.

A "week" is comprised of five 8-hour days, 40 hours of work.

Hah!

Reply to the list as I do not publish an email address to USENET. This practice has cut my spam by more than 95%. Of course, I did have to abandon a perfectly good email account...

I figured that right away, and was GOING to say, Wooly hadn't had enough coffee when she typed that one! LOL! Noreen

Folks that spin AND knit, work way too hard!

Hi Wooly,

Just remember I'm still around when you get yarn you don't want.

Hugs,

Nora

in a word, Aaron... multi-tasking, grin! Noreen

who knits, spins, crochets, tats, works bobbinlace and is currently hooked on Sudoku besides!

What wonderful information from you all! I learned a great deal today...thank you...

Padishar Creel - who always orders an extra ball or two for every project..

I just ordered a big pile of one yarn so I can do several projects without knitting new swatches.

LOL I must admit, I *was* wondering what planet you were on.

Higs, Kather> On Tue, 28 Mar 2006 15:00:37 GMT, Wooly spewed forth :

Good idea.

Higs, Kather> I just ordered a big pile of one yarn so I can do several projects