Where to find cheap chunky yarn in Australia

[gabby9565]

Hello! In Australia, we don't have a large market since the population is quite small. I really want to make things using chunky yarn but there are very few brands here that sell it + there is no variety in colour. I've seen skiens cost over $20. Due to shipping, it is also expensive to buy yarn online. Any tips?

[Granny Square]

Hi Gabby, I'm in the US so no tips for your area, but have you thought about buying 2x the yardage of US medium/worsted weight (8 or 10 ply I think in your terms) and make a project holding 2 (or more, perhaps) strands together?  It might even be cheaper, chunky yarn is ridiculously expensive if you look at the cost per yard.  I don't think people consider the 'mileage', or lack thereof, that they can get out of thinner yarn versus bulky.  A skein of worsted weight might look the same size as a skein of chunky sitting side by side, but the chunky skein will have a fraction of the yardage of the worsted one.

Example looking at the Yarnspiration page for Red Heart Super Saver 'style', the US #4 'medium/worsted' weight version skein is 364 yards for $6.49 ($.01178 per yard).  The RHSS #5 "chunky" is 173 yards for $5.99 per skein ($.0346 per yard, 3x the  price per yard).  So, you could actually carry 3 skeins together of the thinner yarn for the same price--I just happened to choose the same 'bargain brand' for both so not all all yarn styles will compute the same way, but holding multiple strands together is not unheard of if it's the bulky factor you are after, at a bargain.  It's not unusual to see patterns that have you hold multiple strands together, decades ago before bulky yarn was as popular this was done for 'quick' afghans for example.  Garnstudio patterns often do this for garments nowadays, as well, I've used (knit) a few of their sweater patterns but it's usually on a smaller yarn scale like 2 strands of (I think) sport weight to = 1 strand of medium weight (I just buy the medium weight).

[gabby9565]

Thank you so much! I will try this!