Time to start yarn smuggling

[Auntie Kellie]

So I live in Ontario and we just recently got a new tax called the HST (Harmonized Sales Tax) and according to the pamphlet I read online about it, craft supplies are not supposed to be taxed. I thought this was great since I need to go and get a few yarn colours. Stopped in at Zellars only to find that what I used to pay $7.99 for is now $9.99 (the large balls of yarn). Figured I'd just get some RHSS instead but found they are now almost $6.00. I'm afraid to check other stores since I'm sure they're just as high or higher. Good thing hubby has stow and go seats in the van.

 

Hugs and Cookies

[patterncollector]

Wow! That is a huge jump in price.

[contrary.crocheter]

that is horrible! the way yarn prices are increasing all over it makes you want to stock up before it gets any worse!

[mclendon1]

Ouch!

[happy stitcher]

Hopefully you are able to make regular trips into the US? Fill up those stow-n-go's!!!

[lynns]

auntie Kelly, are you close to Michigan? if so can you cross the border and get yarn here in the states, Mary maxium is in Port Huron, MI

[teapot]

OMG!!! THat is terrable for yarn prices. Have you looked at a walmart? Hey are you close to a marymaxim?

All I have close to me is a walmart. The big balls are 7.97. small skeins are 3.97.

I am two and a half hours away from a michaels and three to the other one.

Zellers I find is also expensive and not close to me anymore.

Good thing I have a good stash!!!!

[lynns]

teapot, I am about 1 1/2 hours from Mary Maxim, I was there once...

[Peggy85225]

That's inhumane.

[Auntie Kellie]

I live in Niagara Falls so DH can just hop the border and go yarn shopping for me. I just need to give him very specific lists or he'll come home with a ragtag bunch of yarn that won't match anything. The last time I said I just needed some new yarn, he bought me one RH Light & Lofty(white) Caron SS (grape) and Lionbrand Homespun (purplish colour) and said "I hope this helps you." Not sure what he was hoping I'd make with just one of each of those.

 

I'm tempted to check Walmart but I'm worried I'd be tempted to buy it in spite of the raised prices. Michael's is just down the road, might swing in there this weekend and see how high they are there now.

 

Hugs and Cookies

[PBLKNP]

You might be better off shopping online! Even with the shipping, the prices probably wouldn't be as bad...

[LI Roe]

OMG!!! And I thought prices in the States were getting out of hand but now you have an additional tax on top of that??

 

I now buy my yarn on clearance, on sale and with coupons, whether I need it or not because it isn't going to be there the next time or it is going to be more in price than I want to pay.

 

Fortunately, I have a huge, huge stash but that doesn't stop me.

 

I was lucky last year to get a tremendous amount of yarn at a garage sale for only $15. There were at least 50 skeins, mostly yarn with a few balls of thread. I have noticed not many people put out yarn at sales, either they want to hold onto it or they just don't crochet/knit. I did find yarn at another garage sale but fortunately, I know how yarn is sold and the way they were selling it, you would end up paying six times the amount of a normal skein. They had rolled skeins into little balls and charged for each ball. So I wisely passed on that, though I did buy a couple of novelty yarns for $1 each, stuff I hadn't seen in the stores. Then my neighbor gave me two bags of yarn and some WIPS from her sister, who has Alzheimers and no longer crochets. I could finish most of the WIPS, they were different variations of granny squares but I did have to unravel a vest type garment since I didn't have the matching yarn and the tension was way different than the way I crochet.

 

Good luck in your hunt for affordable yarn.

 

Sometimes I think we should all organize a Yarn Party (kind of like the old Boston Tea Party) to protest the rising yarn prices. But then again, I am not about to throw my yarn in any river.

 

LI Roe

[craftconnie1]

I too am in Ontario....to feed my addiction has become a full time job....hunting for bargains,yard sales,good will and trading whenever I can. I use to shop at Hudson's Bay,K-mart,Woolco and Zeller's....I have no idea where a private yarn shop might be. When we travel I carry a huge hockey bag to fill with yarn.Desperation brings out creativity or so I tell myself. Frustration leads to strength. Shipping plus the cost of yarn makes many projects out of reach. I have shopped at Mary Maxim's in Paris,Ontario and in Port Huron,Michigan....bargains sometimes. Changing my loonies in for greenbacks seems the easiest route....road trip here I come. Just my rant for the day, thanks for listening

[annmcc1976]

you need a friend in the states to pack in a suitcase for a "vacation" a bunch of yarn for you.. you can get a normal skein of rhss for 2.40 a skein American Dollars.. a 1 pounder for 5 and some change.... i dont know what id do if it went up that drasticaly

[muise]

must just be out west. here is NS prices never went up. just bought a pounder of RH at walmart yesterday for $7.97

[Auntie Kellie]

You're so lucky Muise, although if I read correctly, only Ontario and BC got hit with this stupid tax. I checked out Walmart and Michael's yesterday. I'll be having hubby pick up any Lionbrand or Bernat's for me. Thankfully, RHSS was still the same price I've always paid at those two stores. Zellars has definitely lost my yarn business.

 

Hugs and Cookies

[cristopher2k]

Hi friends!

 

Ohhhh my gosh! While reaading about the prices of yarn in some places I am amazed! Wow! Our yarn here in our local wal-mart is $6 for a pound of RHSS. I can not imagine $9! I also like to buy yarn at a favorite good will called Arc Thrift Store, the bags of yarn usually contain 4-6 skiens for $3.00. Good luck hunting for bargains. My heart goes out to all of you, I don't know what I would do with myself if I couldn't crochet.