How to keep the cost of making an afghan down?

[emigre1]

I would love to make an afghan for some family members for Christmas, but it can get so expensive. I love this one inparticular (http://www.berroco.com/exclusives/antarctic/antarctic.html), but with 18 balls at approximately $10 each, I just don't have $180 lying around to make a few of these.

 

What tips do you have to help keep the cost down without trying to jeoparadize the quality of yarn too much

 

TIA!

[sfgwife]

red heart makes a color that is very colse to this one. I made a sacrf and hat out of it for my brother a few years ago.

[paperflowers]

You could try to substitute another bulky yarn or use two strands of a worsted yarn.

 

I'm a cheapskate . I get most of my yarn at the craft store, either on sale or with a coupon. Red Heart Super Saver and Caron pounders are pretty inexpensive. I like the mill end bags. The Caron mill's only a few hours from here, so our AC Moore always has bags of simply soft.

[IdleHands]

also have you tired discountyarnsale.com, there you can buy in bulk and it saves you money too. especially if you are getting all the same color.

I found some fancy yarn there at about half the price of what my LYS wanted per skein. The LYS charged $10 per skein for Knit One Crochet Too's recycled cotton and Discount Yarn Sale had it for less than $50 for 10 skeins.

[MaryPat]

I buy cones of yarn that are marketed to knitting machines. Even if the yarn is waxed a bit to help it in the machine, it comes out in the wash..

[Wyndfire]

I browse my fave site for super sales: Webs has their end of summer sale going on right now, and look what is on sale: http://yarn.com/webs/0/0/0/0-1001-1294-1323/0/0/1017/ Originally $10 a ball, now less than $4 a ball!!!!

[Debbi-a1]

, what about making pillows or throws rather than full sized afghans?

Or how about crocheting around fabric for an edging? Fleece is soft and comes in a lot of nice patterns and you can make it as big or small as you want, you can punch holes in yourself or use that EdgeryDoo product.

 

I use Red Heart all the time. Afte washing it it comes out soft. Simply Soft is another great choice for yarn that isn't expensive.

 

I like the idea of scrap yarn afghans. I've done some real nice scrap yarn ones too. I did one for my aunt who loves yard sales and even used some she gave me at Thanksgiving.

Or using what you have in your stash. I had enough blue, green, white, off white to make a throw (well almost an afhgan) it was for me. I did have to buy one skien of white because I wanted it too look like it wasn't made with a stash although it wouldn't have mattered, but I wanted a nice afghan for me.

Debbi

[acraftylady]

I use carron simply soft for most of my gift aghans. It's only $2.09 a skein at Walmart and I love the way it works up. If Walmart doesn't have the color I need then I get it from the craft store using the 40% coupon in their sale add every week. The thing I like about this yarn is there is no dye lot so if I am making a big project I just grab a skein with a coupon every time I am passing by the craft store.

[davesbaubie]

shelley,

discountyarnsale.com is great...just bought some Homespun from Michael's but their prices are much better...thanks for the hookup...

[crochetbycharlene]

i use michael's amnd hobby lobby coupons

[faedragon]

The only way to keep the cost down is to use yarn that doesn't cost $10.00 a skein. Try Big Lots, they sometimes have yarn. Smileys( o line) runs great sales.

[losingmymind2]

Don't give up on the yarn specialty stores. Check and see if they have enough of a discontinued color that you like.

[shelly_bean]

also have you tired discountyarnsale.com, there you can buy in bulk and it saves you money too. especially if you are getting all the same color.

[birdlady1]

Think about doing a scrapgan and get your yarn from thrift stores. You could probably make up a very colorfam afghan for less than $50.

[boo1]

I bought several skeins of yarn at Michael's for $1 each (pretty good color choices) and don't forget fabric store sales too!

 

Also, what about making pillows or throws rather than full sized afghans?

[sherryzzz]

Here's a link to the yarndex list of yarns that are 13 knit stitches per 4" (the same gauge as the Berroco Air yarn).

http://www.yarndex.com/yarn_by_gauge.cfm?action=&info_id=13&info_type=&for_sale_only=0&page=1

 

You can also do a search for yarns that are 12 and 14 stitches per 4" to see yarns that are just a little thinner or a little thicker. Or use a regular worsted weight yarn and adjust by making your starting chain longer and doing more pattern repeats and more rows to get the size you want.

 

Also, keep in mind that the Berroco yarn is a "self-striping" yarn so you won't get the same effect from the pattern with another yarn that is either solid or a regular varigated yarn. A good worsted weight yarn substitute that is much less expensive and still self-striping might be Caron's Simply Soft Shadows.

[sprtsbear]

You could try a different yarn. Something like Homespun which is a bulky yarn and has almost 3 times as much yardage. You can get this yarn for about $5 a skein. You wouldn't need to buy as much yarn as the Berrocco.

[Knit Happens]

Of course, you already know the answer....yarn substitution. The chain shops offer sales of about $2 per skein of the Caron's or Red Heart or similar in variageted colors. I would begin there. Otherwise, you could visit what you have in your stash and use some of it ... if you only have solids perhaps you could supplement that with some skeins of complimentary new yarn. Basically, to keep the cost down it seems to me you should substitute the yarn. You could also make the finished product a little smaller...but that isn't going to go too far on yarn savings. Good luck.