So, now that winter is fully upon us, my cabin fever has morphed into a barrage of ideas for new crochet projects. It doesn’t help that crocheting is new to me; I want to try everything! Lace, afghans, scarves, hats, granny squares, all of it!
Of course, all of those things take yarn. I have a pretty good stash from my knitting, but now I have different ideas in mind that require different yarns. So, my question is where do you get your yarn? I’m especially interested in online and/or discount places.
I like TheKnitter.com. Free shipping on all orders, although a few times my orders have been backordered, and that sucked. But free shipping! Yay! And good prices on Misti Alpaca Laceweight, which is something I’d like to roll around naked in.
I also like Elann. They’re kind of like KnitPicks, but I prefer Elann to Knitpicks – there’s a greater variety of color, and I think the quality is a little better. I’m knitting something with the Alpaca Silk right now, and I’m sort of regretting that it’s for my sister.
Hello Yarn has some amazing handspun and handdyed yarn, but it’s expensive, to put it lightly. Also a good source of spinning supplies.
HelloKnitty is a good sources for Cascade yarns (Cascade 220 for $6/skein) and has $2.50 shipping on all orders. I’ve ordered from them before, and the yarn arrived quickly.
Cottage Craft Woollens has good, cheap yarn for outer garments. It’s too coarse for something to wear next to the skin, but for a jacket or picnic blanket, it would be awesome. The prices are so good on their sweater kits, I’m thinking about knitting this one for my mom for Christmas next year.
I’ve never ordered from them, but I’ve heard nothing but good things about Herrschners.
There are a couple more that I can’t think of right now, but when my brain starts clicking, I’ll post the links.
I’ll strongly second Knit Picks. Yes, their yarn is cheap, but it’s yarn like wool, alpaca, silk, etc. Their Merino Style for example is $2.49 USD a skein and a joy to work with. Elegance is baby alpaca and silk and $5.00 USD a skein. Their service has been good so far, too.
Lion’s catalog is awful, but I like working with their Wool-Ease and other yarns. You might want to give them a try, too.
Anyway, my main supplier is Knitpicks- I love the quality of their yarns, they have great prices, and their shipping is very inexpensive. If you order $45 or more it’s free, and lower then that it’s still very, very reasonable.
I’ve also had good ordering experience with Paradise Fibers – not the cheapest prices, but great service and immediate phone assistance make up for a lot. They have spinning supplies. And they also have Misti Alpaca Laceweight, which I agree is like crack, Miss Purl McKnittington – I have a feeling I’m going to be using a lot of it in the future! What projects have you knit with it? Right now I’m using a double strand of their cranberry to make myself a lovely big wrap that will weigh next to nothing and feel like pure heaven.
Also, Paradise Fibers has fast shipping – I recently ordered some yarn Sunday evening, they contacted me promptly Monday morning to let me know they were out of that color, we selected a new color over the phone, and I got it Wednesday midday. That’s hard to beat for cross-country shipping.
My wife owns a knitting store that sells on-line. We are not a discounter, but have an incredible selection (IMHO). I think it’s not kosher to post our name or URL, but I’ll send you the info if you drop me an email.
I made the Flowerbasket Shawl out of the natural/undyed, and a mini-Clopatis out of the same. I really like the color of undyed fibers for lace – I’m constantly on the lookout for naturally dark wool or alpaca. At this point, I think me becoming a spinner is pretty much inevitable.
HandpaintedYarn.com is another good source for kettle-dyed, merino wool yarns. Really delicious colors, but they run a bit when first washed. Make sure to wash well before gifting.
If you click through the banner ad on knittyboard.com, there’s a 20% discount on all yarns at Nestucca Bay Yarns… you can get some crazy good prices on yarns including Rowan and Debbie Bliss… and (shhh! don’t buy it all!) you can buy Cascade 220 for $4.40 a skein right now.
I had problems with my Yahoo spam blocker killing emails from littleknits.com, but they have incredible prices and wonderful customer service. This is the only store out of this list that I’ve actually ordered from.
smileysyarns.com has incredible discount yarn deals but a high minimum purchase and high shipping costs.
And I see that littleknits is having quite a sale – I wish I’d seen that before I bought a bunch of Noro Silk Garden Lite locally the other day, could have saved myself $50!
The yardage on the HandpaintedYarn.com yarn is amazing. 950 yards per skein of lace weight for $5.95? And the colors are just beyond gorgeous. Thanks for the link!
Hey, funny. I was just at the yarn.com actual store location today for their ‘alter-knit-ive’ super bowl party. Anyone within shouting distance of Northampton, MA owes themself the pleasure of visiting - it is a marvelous place.
I’m sorry I’ve no further recommendations, I’ve mostly been buying roving and dye to spin my own!
I’ll recommend Yarnmarket.com. They have a huge selection, and great prices. The photos they have of the yarns aren’t the greatest, though, so I’d look at stuff other places, then order from Yarnmarket. They also ship very fast, too. If it’s in stock, they send it out the next business day. I ordered some yarn from them on late Thursday afternoon - it’s scheduled to arrive tomorrow, standard ground shipping.
Dan, I also just sent you an e-mail to get a link to your wife’s store.
I’ve been playing with a number of French knitting and loom knitting projects with my kids - the sorts of things where you want a large variety of yarns in fairly small amounts - I’ve been picking up odd balls of the stuff in charity shops (are these called ‘thrift stores’ in the USA?) for next to nothing.
Somebody just linked to Colourmart on a knitting list I read. I am a little in amazement at the prices – $10 for 250 yards of cashmere? Amazing. They package “remainder luxury yarns.” I’d be careful to read the product descriptions, since this yarn isn’t generally intended for handknitting.
I’ve been contemplating some ridiculously huge lace shawl for a Victorian mourning gown along these lines, to toss over my black velvet bonnet and look suitably restrained and brought down. (Mourning gowns, even for those not grieving, were in fashion following the death of Prince Albert in 1861.) Silk would be amazing and drapey and luxurious, and if I made it lavender, I could wear it with something else. I think I may have just found a supplier.
and, it isn’t yarn, but if you are a knitter and a woman, chances are you suffer-enjoy Project Bag /Stash Carrying -Purse Addiction: Green Mountain Knitting Bags I jones for everyone of these.
