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Expensive yarns???



 
 
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  #1  
Old March 28th 06, 05:36 AM posted to rec.crafts.textiles.yarn
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Default Expensive yarns???

I have moved up to the more expensive yarns since my knitting has
improved a bit. I just purchased 3 balls of wool blend yarn for $40 to
make a single scarf for my oldest daughter. I rec'd a cashmere scarf
for Christmas, two years ago, and it had the tag on it for $29.99. It
is very nice looking and wonderful to the touch.

It seems, to me anyway, that the non-acrylic yarns are all a bit too
expensive. With so many yarn competitors in the market I am surprised
at the high cost. Am I being to cheap or what?

I have raised sheep on the farm and I have an inkling of how much a
pound of wool costs to raise and, well it all seems way too much!
Perhaps, I should return to the farm and raise wool myself, eh?

Padishar Creel

My masculinity isn't hinged on whether or not I knit. - Robin Green and
Mitchell Burgess, Northern Exposure, Hello, I Love You, 1994

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  #2  
Old March 28th 06, 06:50 AM posted to rec.crafts.textiles.yarn
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Default Expensive yarns???


"Padishar Creel" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have moved up to the more expensive yarns since my knitting has
improved a bit. I just purchased 3 balls of wool blend yarn for $40 to
make a single scarf for my oldest daughter. I rec'd a cashmere scarf
for Christmas, two years ago, and it had the tag on it for $29.99. It
is very nice looking and wonderful to the touch.


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.

It seems, to me anyway, that the non-acrylic yarns are all a bit too
expensive. With so many yarn competitors in the market I am surprised
at the high cost. Am I being to cheap or what?


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.

I have raised sheep on the farm and I have an inkling of how much a
pound of wool costs to raise and, well it all seems way too much!
Perhaps, I should return to the farm and raise wool myself, eh?


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


  #3  
Old March 28th 06, 07:38 AM posted to rec.crafts.textiles.yarn
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Default Expensive yarns???

15 years ago I put just over $100 into the wools for one sweater, and
it is fabulous! (If I could find one that lovely to purchase I
couldn't afford the price.) I take good care of that sweater, and it
is still beautiful, so I think the price was definitely worth it. My
advice is to purchase the very best yarns you can find, make something
classic, and take care of it. You won't regret it!

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!

  #4  
Old March 28th 06, 07:38 AM posted to rec.crafts.textiles.yarn
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Default Expensive yarns???

15 years ago I put just over $100 into the wools for one sweater, and
it is fabulous! (If I could find one that lovely to purchase I
couldn't afford the price.) I take good care of that sweater, and it
is still beautiful, so I think the price was definitely worth it. My
advice is to purchase the very best yarns you can find, make something
classic, and take care of it. You won't regret it!

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!

  #5  
Old March 28th 06, 07:51 AM posted to rec.crafts.textiles.yarn
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Default Expensive yarns???

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

  #6  
Old March 28th 06, 01:40 PM posted to rec.crafts.textiles.yarn
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Default Expensive yarns???

On 27 Mar 2006 20:36:06 -0800, "Padishar Creel"
wrote:

It seems, to me anyway, that the non-acrylic yarns are all a bit too
expensive. With so many yarn competitors in the market I am surprised
at the high cost. Am I being to cheap or what?


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
  #7  
Old March 28th 06, 02:13 PM posted to rec.crafts.textiles.yarn
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Default Expensive yarns???

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

  #8  
Old March 28th 06, 03:00 PM posted to rec.crafts.textiles.yarn
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Default Expensive yarns???

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 Point
Roberts, Washington, so it gets here really quickly. (They seem to be
located in BC, not too far from the border)

Padishar Creel wrote:
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


  #9  
Old March 28th 06, 03:35 PM posted to rec.crafts.textiles.yarn
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Default Expensive yarns???

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


--
change n e t to c o m to email/reply to me.
"Shillelagh" wrote in message
...

"Padishar Creel" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have moved up to the more expensive yarns since my knitting has
improved a bit. I just purchased 3 balls of wool blend yarn for $40 to
make a single scarf for my oldest daughter. I rec'd a cashmere scarf
for Christmas, two years ago, and it had the tag on it for $29.99. It
is very nice looking and wonderful to the touch.


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.

It seems, to me anyway, that the non-acrylic yarns are all a bit too
expensive. With so many yarn competitors in the market I am surprised
at the high cost. Am I being to cheap or what?


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.

I have raised sheep on the farm and I have an inkling of how much a
pound of wool costs to raise and, well it all seems way too much!
Perhaps, I should return to the farm and raise wool myself, eh?


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




  #10  
Old March 28th 06, 04:00 PM posted to rec.crafts.textiles.yarn
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Posts: n/a
Default Expensive yarns???

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

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.


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.

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.


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
40-hour day - 80 hours of spinning, perhaps half that in the knitting.
Most "working" knitters can't afford the investment of time
represented by handspun.

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
10-ply is more than adequate for an average adult sweater (with
matching cap!). The last RETAIL price I paid was $19/hank, I've
gotten it for as little as $13/hank on sale.

A good tool for researching yarn quality and pricing before you commit
is (beat the horse, Wooly) http://www.wiseneedle.com All of the
reviews are written by knitters who have worked with the yarns they're
reviewing. Kim vets the technical info about the yarns before she
adds a review to the DB. The reviews themselves are the opinions of
the individual knitters.

+++++++++++++

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...
 




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