Decided to work from one of the ‘grown up’ patterns that I had been collecting from the magazines.
Went through them all and chose the one I thought I would like to try first. Went on-line to order the wool only to find it would cost me £90!!!!!!
I somehow thought I would be able to do it for less than £50.
Then sat and went through some of the other patterns and costed them all. Finally got some under £50 so have ordered yarn for a couple of them (which of course means I still spent about £90!).
Don’t think I’ve got the confidence yet to spend a lot of money on a project that might turn out wonky.
Hadn’t realised that this was going to turn out to be such an expensive hobby, but I’m hooked.
Yes knitting can be very expensive...but it doesn’t have to be!!! You could always substitute the yarn recomendation in a Pattern for a cheaper version.
I agree it can be enormously expensive, and that’s just the cost of the yarn without how much time it costs! Anyway the point is you’re getting a hand made item which you can’t beat I don’t think. I find that my local wool shop (Bodkins in Thundersley) is very good - if I have a pattern which specifies a yarn Jo will help me to substitute it, working out the yardage for me, etc etc. I also went in there a few weeks ago with the yarn (mother-In-Law gave it to me years ago!) and Jo helped me to find a pattern - 2 in fact to knit with this yarn one of which is actually a pattern FOR THAT YARN!! Even tho the yarn is about 15 years old! I will say too that I have just bought the yarn to make “Lee” in issue 6 of LK, I decided on Elle Escapade, it is for me so thought the self patterning yarn would be nice, and it only came to about £25. Not too bad I don’t think.
Hi Pod, welcome to the forum.
As you get a little more experienced you will be a lot more confident about substituting yarn.I have to knit on a tight budget and have to substitute yarns a lot otherwise I would only be able to knit a couple of items a year instead of a few a month. A lot of the old fashioned yarn shops may not stock all the designer brands but are good with knowledge and experience for substituting, they may also do an old fashioned layby service where you can put the all the yarn you need with the same dyelot etc to one side with your contact details and you usually have 4-6 weeks in which to purchase it. That way you can spread the cost much easier but also if you have any left over most shops will just put that extra ball or two back into stock so it also works out cheaper that way.
Are yarns more expensive here than in the rest of the EU?
I spend quite a bit of time in Paris staying with a friend. She’s a concert pianist and while she’s practising (for 3 hours at a time) I tend to knit or read. This last time I went out and bought some top quality baby DK wool/acrylic mix by Phildar and paid just 3 euros for 50g. That was from a little local shop. It would have been cheaper from a department store.
LK included some translations of French knitting terms a few issues ago and I found it really useful. Had a go at a simple hat pattern in French and to my delight it ended up looking just like a hat!!
Yup yarn can cost an arm and a leg even if bought online! (Not v helpful....can’t see how you’re meant to use it if u only have one arm.... )
But Ebay can give u some real bargains - specially if u buy by the pack of 10… I’ve got Funky Fur for a pound a ball (little bit more with postage costs added in but still much less than buying singles) that way…
P.S. If you snitch ANY of the Funky Fur I’ve got my eye on for when I finally get thru the latest mountain of wool.....
this is why so many people have such huge stash - we jump on a bargain and find a project for it later!
there are some yarns out there which are great value for money. i swear by james c brett yarns - always really cheap and still good quality.
as people have said - don’t be scared to substitute. i don’t think i’ve ever made anything with the recommended yarn. i live in this clearance section:
Hi Knitters, just thought that you may like to know where I get my funky fur from.
I an a DIY’er and always go into Wilkinsons every Saturday. They always sell Funky Fur for 99p a ball and do a load of colours. They also do lovely DK and other fancy fur wool.
this is why so many people have such huge stash - we jump on a bargain and find a project for it later!
......
as people have said - don’t be scared to substitute. i don’t think i’ve ever made anything with the recommended yarn. i live in this clearance section:
Oooooooooh! Think I’ll be joining you KathleenAlice I’ll definitely need another house for the wool if I get all the ones I want to get from here.... and just as I’ve got the present stash all nicely organised (well....most of it… ) Thank goodness there is no way I can actually afford to buy all the yarn that I would love to from the aforementioned site (No Ellie, don’t argue, you CAN’T and that’s final! )
I also llluuurrvvvee bargain yarn but please please be aware that sirdars country style saffron dk is the same colour of breast fed baby poo. I have a full 1kilo bag of the stuff and have tried to knit with several times but have taken it off the needles as the colour is vile. I have found a pattern for a striped cardi that needs seven colours in total and I plan to have one last try and use at least some of it by using it with another six colours to blend in the insipidness of it. I need one more colour to make the seven before I start it.!
This is also a great site for bargain reduced wool, patterns and great for postage.
Thanks girls
Really appreciate all the advice.
I’ll definitely be having a look at the websites you mention.
I hadn’t thought of asking at the wool shop for advice on substituting yarns I’ll give that a go once I’ve finished the 2 projects I’m about to start.
Haven’t a clue when that’ll be as I’ve never knitted adult sizes before.
I also llluuurrvvvee bargain yarn but please please be aware that sirdars country style saffron dk is the same colour of breast fed baby poo. I have a full 1kilo bag of the stuff and have tried to knit with several times but have taken it off the needles as the colour is vile. I have found a pattern for a striped cardi that needs seven colours in total and I plan to have one last try and use at least some of it by using it with another six colours to blend in the insipidness of it. I need one more colour to make the seven before I start it.!
This is also a great site for bargain reduced wool, patterns and great for postage.
You read my mind Nicky! I was just about to post asking if anyone knew a site for bargain Wendy wools.... I am in love with Velvet Flake at the moment.....so deliciously soft!
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