# $17.85/skein -- are you out of your frikkin' minds? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 28, 2010, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-85-skein-are-you-out-of-your-frikkin-minds/551836 "2010-08-28T23:14:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-85-skein-are-you-out-of-your-frikkin-minds/551836/1 "2010-08-28T23:14:30Z")
Was looking at _Knit Simple_ magazine this afternoon, and liked a sweater they had (third from left in the top row [here](http://www.knitsimplemag.com/node/201#2)). They used Prism’s Symphony yarn – very pretty, wool with cashmere and a little nylon. Pattern needs 9-16 skeins, depending, of course, on size. Just out of curiosity, I googled it … and it’s $17.85/skein. $267.75 seems a wee bit pricey for a sweater … or is that just me? (Yeah, I may still make it, but I would definitely use ordinary wool.) ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-85-skein-are-you-out-of-your-frikkin-minds/551836/2 "2010-08-28T23:50:06Z")
Yikes. I don’t see any reason that I would pay that, even if I hit the lottery. There’s expensive and there’s value and I don’t know that $267 is what I’d pay for a sweater. If you factored in making-it time (pretending you paid yourself an hourly wage), you’re looking at a $1,000 sweater! (which woudl probably shrink and felt in the first load of laundry by accident!) ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-85-skein-are-you-out-of-your-frikkin-minds/551836/3 "2010-08-28T23:55:33Z")
I am always amazed at the price of some yarns, especially anything hand-dyed. I wanted to make a baby blanket featured in the Stitch 'n Bitch book, and loved the look of the yarn they used…but when I tried to find it, the price was at least $25 a skein, and since you used the yarn doubled, I think it needed 8 skeins! No way I could afford that! Even some of the tiny balls of accent yarns I use in felted purses have been about $10 each…I have to wait until they are in the discontinued bin for half price! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-85-skein-are-you-out-of-your-frikkin-minds/551836/4 "2010-08-29T00:20:55Z")
Isn’t a large part of the appeal of knitting (or any craft, for that matter) supposed to be that you can get stuff cheaper by making it yourself? ---
**Author:** ![tygre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@tygre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tygre)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-85-skein-are-you-out-of-your-frikkin-minds/551836/5 "2010-08-29T00:29:06Z")
Knitter here and to be honest, $17.85/skein is not a really ridiculous price for yarn. Yarn from a big box retailer is not comparable to yarn from smaller manufacturers – it’s the Kraft Cheese Slices compared to artisan cheeses. You get what you pay for, and yarn from Michael’s/AC Moore/Jo Ann’s is cheaper both in fiber content, dye saturation, and durability. I routinely pay $20-$40 a skein for laceweight yarn, which makes a small shawl/scarf with one skein and a larger shawl with 2. To me, it is worth a higher price both to knit with something that feels wonderful as I create with it and to have a beautiful finished project. There are plenty of knitters who turn out nice projects with less expensive yarn, of course, but the more expensive yarns WILL yield a better result. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-85-skein-are-you-out-of-your-frikkin-minds/551836/6 "2010-08-29T00:38:48Z")
I have bought more than my share of pricey yarn – but it’s a skein or two for a pair of socks or a scarf, not 15 skeins for a sweater. ---
**Author:** ![tygre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@tygre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tygre)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-85-skein-are-you-out-of-your-frikkin-minds/551836/7 "2010-08-29T00:53:29Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > I have bought more than my share of pricey yarn – but it’s a skein or two for a pair of socks or a scarf, not 15 skeins for a sweater. For a sweater I’m making, I paid $11/skein for an alpaca/wool blend and will use 9 skeins, I think – so roughly $100, which to me is pretty average for what I make. I could have bought Patons for half that price, true, but the finished product would not be nearly what I envisioned. For the person who wondered if the goal of knitting was to make something cheaper – not for me or any other knitter I know – we enjoy the process and the finished creations and are not aiming to save money by making garments. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-85-skein-are-you-out-of-your-frikkin-minds/551836/8 "2010-08-29T00:54:51Z")
I could see paying $100 – I can’t see paying three times that. **shrug** ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-85-skein-are-you-out-of-your-frikkin-minds/551836/9 "2010-08-29T01:13:18Z")
I’ve seen artisan yarns go for $48-50/skein, but never bought anything that rich. (I have bought undyed wool and silk and dyed it myself, though - that’s one way to get hand dyed yarn for less. Makes a mess, though) ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-85-skein-are-you-out-of-your-frikkin-minds/551836/10 "2010-08-29T01:30:13Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Isn’t a large part of the appeal of knitting (or any craft, for that matter) supposed to be that you can get stuff cheaper by making it yourself? Sweaters are one of the most labor intensive and under appreciated items. I can go to my Goodwill any day of the week and pick up $ 100 + (sometimes 100++) designer and high quality name brand new, and near new, sweaters from major manufacturers for 5.00 each. At least half the sweaters there were obviously never worn more than once. the By the time a knitter pays for yarn, and factoring in labor time even a modest sweater is going to cost you far more in time and materials than buying one. I’ve never understood why sweaters are bought so often (for other people) who then don’t wear them. I haven’t worn a sweater in many years, a good quality zip up synthetic fleece with pockets is (for me) more convenient, comfortable and weather resistant. ---
**Author:** ![wunderkammer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ed8c4c/32.png) [@wunderkammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wunderkammer)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-85-skein-are-you-out-of-your-frikkin-minds/551836/11 "2010-08-29T01:44:28Z")
For $17.85, I’d better be able to cover both feet, or make a whole shawl. I’d whoosh through 118 yards of worsted weight in an afternoon and end up with a pricey object that I probably wouldn’t have bought in the first place plus a meager few hours of entertainment value. The Prism Symphony in particular looks really overpriced; the going rate for 100 g of fingering-weight merino/cashmere/nylon by small companies and the better Etsy people is $20 to $25, and that’s for twice the weight, almost four times the yardage, great colors, and a lot more knitting time. Prism just makes me go WTF? It’s incomprehensible to me that they can make money by charging over $50 for a small ball of [novelty yarn scraps knotted together](http://store.nobleknits.com/prcostyama.html?nk007) but they seem to be alive and well. I can’t shake the impression that they’re also money-laundering on the side. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-85-skein-are-you-out-of-your-frikkin-minds/551836/12 "2010-08-29T10:01:54Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Isn’t a large part of the appeal of knitting (or any craft, for that matter) supposed to be that you can get stuff cheaper by making it yourself? If you’re good enough, you can make _high-quality_ items cheaper than what you’d buy them for - but it has been ages since you could knit or sew clothing cheaper than _mass-market_ clothes without getting a great deal on raw materials. On the other hand, you get the pleasure of making something real yourself. You get to choose exactly what you want. You know that your finished product is unique. And, if you have the skills, you know that your new garment outshines - and will likely outlast - anything you could get at your average mall. (Several of my fellow knitters and stitchers have commented that non-crafty folks often think “That looks as good as anything you could buy in a store!” is a compliment. We who know better will take it in the spirit intended, but trust me - it ain’t.) ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-85-skein-are-you-out-of-your-frikkin-minds/551836/13 "2010-08-29T11:12:19Z")
My budget doesn’t allow those kinds of high-end fibers. Neither does my personality, really. If I’d paid that much for yarn I’d want to be sure that the sweater was absolutely perfect, and would fit perfectly…but I really am gonna lose the weight…so I should hold off… I have neighbors for whom budget is much less of a concern. She knits (among other hobbies) and wouldn’t hesitate to buy 18 skeins of $18 - $25/skein yarn to make sweaters for her twin girls. I doubt she’d spend the same to make one sweater for herself and she’s not going to grow out of it. She feels entitled to buy “only the best” because as much as she spends on fancy fibers, and handmade beads it never comes close to what her husband spends in a year on his boat, cigar, and watch collecting hobbies. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-85-skein-are-you-out-of-your-frikkin-minds/551836/14 "2010-08-29T11:57:56Z")
Well, I’ve seen $40 for 91-yards of yarn, before…though that stuff is spun from [wolf fur.](http://www.chiengorafibers.com/content/product/23) ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-85-skein-are-you-out-of-your-frikkin-minds/551836/15 "2010-08-29T13:20:14Z")
Is Knit Simple a good knitting magazine? My wife is looking for one. Is it monthly? ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-85-skein-are-you-out-of-your-frikkin-minds/551836/16 "2010-08-29T16:23:13Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Isn’t a large part of the appeal of knitting (or any craft, for that matter) supposed to be that you can get stuff cheaper by making it yourself? There is nearly nothing you can knit cheaper than buying it. As for the yarn there - it’s hand dyed. It’s going to cost. OTOH, it looks like you could easily substitute something non-hand dyed and get the same feel and drape (if not the same color) ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-85-skein-are-you-out-of-your-frikkin-minds/551836/17 "2010-08-29T18:13:44Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Is Knit Simple a good knitting magazine? My wife is looking for one. Is it monthly? It’s quarterly, and it’s geared toward fairly simple projects – if she is an advanced knitter who does a lot with lace, etc., it would probably be boring for her. Although I’ve done a fair amount of stuff with advanced stitches, etc., I also like having a straightforward project going for when I’m watching TV or chatting over coffee – something that doesn’t require a huge amount of direct attention, like socks. If she likes those kind of projects, she might like the magazine. [This is a link](http://www.knitsimplemag.com/node/200) to the current issue, which will give her a good idea of what it’s like. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-85-skein-are-you-out-of-your-frikkin-minds/551836/18 "2010-08-29T18:36:18Z")
I like Simply Knitting magazine from England. It’s monthly, it’s $10 an issue at Borders, but it has great basic designs, Alan Dart toy patterns and the best knitting photography ever. They take clear closeups of the important details, and great views of all sides of a sweater. I really dislike knitting magazines that give you one moodily-lit fashion photograph of the piece with the model posing in ways that don’t show you how the garment drapes and hangs. I don’t want to see the Alps in the photo…I want details! ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-85-skein-are-you-out-of-your-frikkin-minds/551836/19 "2010-08-29T18:37:22Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Isn’t a large part of the appeal of knitting (or any craft, for that matter) supposed to be that you can get stuff cheaper by making it yourself? I’m not a knitter, but I sew, and the answer is a resounding no. Not anymore About the only time I can sew something cheaper than buy it is if it’s very small (like a shirt for my 5 year old) and I get the fabric in the discount bin and I don’t factor in even minimum wage for my hourly work. Even then, now that Walmart and Target often have children’s t-shirts on sale for less than $5…it’s just not economical. Mom used to sew everything I owned, except for underpants and socks, because it was cheaper. This was in the 70’s. Now, I only sew something if I want something very specific (pattern, color, texture) that I can’t find in the store, or, more often, I make alterations to things I find at the thrift store. It stinks. My friends get so excited when they find out I can sew, but no, I really _can’t_ make you a corset or drapes or a wedding dress cheaper than you can buy it, even if I don’t pay myself. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-85-skein-are-you-out-of-your-frikkin-minds/551836/20 "2010-08-29T21:29:00Z")
Huh, when I was growing up, my mom and sister were always sewing things for far cheaper than they could buy them. Almost all of the dances my sister went to in high school, for instance, she made her own dresses from scratch because we couldn’t afford bought dresses, and the one exception, she started with a thrift-store dress and altered it beyond recognition (I’m surprised she even saw the potential in it; when she started, it was hideous). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-85-skein-are-you-out-of-your-frikkin-minds/551836.md?page=2)