Do you buy the designer yarns or do you stick to Michaels/Joanns selections?

[sunnysnowflake]

My great aunt only shops at specialty stores for designer yarns and I am grateful that she has shared much of her yarn with me but as I purchase my own I feel like I cannot afford to shop at the same stores. I do feel that some of the yarns are to die for and you just have to save for them but I think the selections at Joanns and Michaels are adequate.

 

I just wanted to see what you all thought about that.

[Amy]

For me, it all depends on what I'm making. For adult clothing, I prefer all-natural fibers or at least wool or cotton blends. So on the most part, I buy yarn from the yarn store for that. I love to knit socks, and I prefer to buy the yummy, expensive sock yarns for that. I do try to find them on sale, though.

 

But for many other things, I love using the yarns you can find at all the craft and discount stores. For baby items, I love to use acrylic or an acrylic blend, just because it makes for easy wash-and-dry care for the mom.

 

I think there's a proper time, place, and use for nearly every yarn under the sun!

[Yearnin' for Yarn]

It depends on what I'm making, if it's a special shawl or clothing item or purse, I'll order nice yarn; if it's something really big like an afghan, I'll just buy Caron or Bernat.

[LI Roe]

I do quite a bit for charity so I stick to the basic yarns. I can't afford to shop at specialty stores and if it is a very special item, I can usually find a nice substitute in the more down to earth yarns (my thoughts).

 

LI Roe

[ngold004]

I definately go for the less than $3 a skein yarn. I can't afford the expensive yarns and even if I could, I would rather have more of the cheaper stuff.

[Angeleyz14]

I tend to shop ACMoore on sale or with coupon (closest to me), but will occasionally hit up one of the lys or just hop online if I know I like the yarn from petting it at the lys, but could not see the price the lys is asking for my little budget. I know you can get some amazing sock yarns (even the name brands) at fantastic prices from a few ladies on ebay, same with some other yarns.

When I actually buy at the lys it is usually plymouth yarns since they have really reasonable prices and I love their dreambaby d.k.($3.29/183yds) and encore worsted weight yarn($5.30/200yds/75%acrylic-25%wool)which are really soft and so easy to work with(and both are machine wash and dryable). But I love looking at and petting Rowan, Universal, Noro Kuryeon and cascade Eco wool.

[boo1]

There is a REAL dedicated yarn store here, but I'm a little afraid to visit-might find something I like.

[sherryzzz]

I'll buy some of my yarns at Joanns and Michaels, like Cotton Tots, Cotton Ease, or the new Bernat naturals (organic cotton, etc.), otherwise I try to find good yarn for a discount price online.

[Selune]

Cheap, cheap, cheap. I sometimes buy some of the more pricey yarns at Hobby Lobby, but generally only buy when it's on sale or clearance. Man, I hit jackpot today with Patons' Carmen, which I love. So soft. It was on clearance at Michaels. Sign said $2, but rang up at $1!!!!

 

I love looking at the hand dyed yarns, but I'd never take care of it to justify the cost. I want something I can toss in the washer.

[shebear]

I firmly believe that after I've crocheted multiple items for charities it's perfectly justified to buy $12.00 worth the cashmere blend for fingerless gloves to keep my hands warm at work. Motivates me to do more charity projects.

[CrochetDad]

I buy Caron's One Pound, Bernat Baby Coordinates, Red Heart Super Saver, and that type of yarn. I make my creations special with a particularly striking design or stitch pattern.

 

The yarns I use make it easy for the recipient to care for the item, as well - just toss it in the wash!

[stormy]

I get my yarn from Joann's or Walmart. I cannot afford anything pricey.

[2020kitten]

99% of the time, I buy at HL or Wal-Mart, especially if I can find some on clearance. But I do have a couple of hanks of yarn I bought as a treat at the LYS last year & just haven't got around to knitting the shrug I bought it for.

[monkeybabies]

The yarn Harlot said in "knitting Rules" that we should buy the the best we could afford. And I try to do that. So, I frequent Micheal's and Joannes often and LYS on occassion.

[ferretlady]

Well, there is no yarn store anywhere near me at all, so that temptation isn't there. I have drooled over many a lovely skein online though! LOL!

 

But I'm a 'cheapskate' too -- or I'll say, I'm 'very thrifty' - there, that's better!! Tight budget, so I watch for HobbyLobby's weekly sale, and if I like the current sale yarn, then I stock up on it. I rarely buy yarn at 'regular price' unless I just can't avoid it. I swap alot too & have gotten a few lovely hand-spun yarns, and other 'fancy' yarns that way.

 

Unlike many, I DO like 'novelty yarns' too, so I have thoroughly enjoyed grabbing up stuff at Dollar Tree and Big Lots when they had $1 yarns. We don't have a Michaels or Joanns - wish we did! I remember Joanns back home used to have great clearance sales!

[Lil Nana]

Well, until yesterday I only shopped @ Hobby Lobby as i figured I couldn't really afford/justify the designer yarns.

Then, yesterday I showed DH a scarf I'd made in acrylic yarn and he commented that I should buy some really nice yarn that would appeal to women that could afford more expensive items!!

 

After I picked myself up off the floor, I went shopping online. There aren't any stores near me that sell the designer stuff. Which is probably a good thing as I could bankrupt us in short order

[Donna's crochet Designs]

I always go with JoAnns and Michaels, etc. I design a lot and often times run out of yarn for certain projects and need to pick up just one more skien...it is so much easier to do that there.

The only time I bought more expensive yarn at a speciality store I didn't have the heart to use it. It was so beautiful as it was. About all I do is take it out every once and a while and look at it. Although beautiful I consider it a waste of money if I never use it.

[Blondie]

All I have to choose from here is Wal-Mart, there are no other yarn stores or craft stores near me. I have written HL before and asked if they had ever considered putting a store here. I was told they had looked at our town as a location, but then they get into the population of the outlaying area and so on and they felt there was not enough people. Myself, I think they should look again

 

So for me it is just purchasing the old standbys. I would order more online, but the shipping is horrendous sometimes.

[lhasaapsolady]

I usually stick to the yarn I can purchase at Michaels or AC Moore. However, once a year the Salvation Army has a big craft sale where you can purchase expensive yarn at a really good price, and my DH always takes me there.

[kazily]

We don't have a LYS, just Walmart & Hobby Lobby. JoAnn's, about 40 minutes drive.

I am happy with the cheaper yarns though, so it's a non issue. I have a hard time with myself if I spend more than $5 on a skein lol! Sometimes I use a coupon & get a nicer yarn but nothing really high priced. I love yarn, don't get me wrong, especially cotton blends like cotton ease, microspun, or soft like Caron simply soft. I don't have much desire for expensive yarns, which is great since I don't have the budget for it nor the shops to pet it lol. I'm in heaven at HL with aisles of yarn, so I'm easy to please!

 

And when I think about it, no matter how the yarn looks or feels? It's what you turn it into that's the most special. Proof of that is seen everyday here in the show & tell sections of C'ville. Gorgeous things made with $2-5 yarns. Basically to put it simply, you could buy me a $50 paintbrush & I still couldn't paint a pc of art LOL

[crazycrochet]

I have always bought yarns at Wal Mart, HL, JoAnn's, Michaels, and our local Meijers. I just can not spend over $3.99 a skein, it just doesn't feel right. I take that back, if I buy a pounder then yes I pay more, but when you average it out the price is fine.

 

We have a couple of LYS here in the area and they have beautiful yarn. When you go in and say you are crocheting something they stick their noses up at you.

[ferretlady]

What I still don't quite understand, is why there is (in some places) such an overwhelming aversion to acyrlic yarns. In some swaps, I've seen 'no acrylic yarn' stated in such a way as to make it sound like only the most crude unthoughtful terrible person in the world would even THINK of using a yarn that contains a fleck of acrylic! LOL, you almost expect to see them standing there holding out a cross, "Away from me, evil acrylic!!!"

 

I could understand that attitude in the past, when 'acrylic yarn' meant standard red-heart or such --- but nowadays, some of the "acrylic" yarns are every bit as luscious as their 'natural' counterparts.

 

I recently got some beautiful 100% wool yarn from a swapper - and I LOVE it, it made a lovely scarf - but to be honest, the 'wool-like' acrylic-blend yarns I have are 'softer/snugglier' & more comfortable to wear & easier to wash/care for.

 

I just don't get it - to stay away from 'stiff scratchy cheap yarn', I can see - but to lump ANYTHING that contains acrylic into one big 'bad bad evil yarn!" stereotype, I don't understand that - and I see it alot....

[feltboots]

I buy according to what I'm making - how I'm making it and what it's intended purpose will be.

 

Don't know what it is, but crocheting with 100% acrylic is fine whilst trying to knit with it sets my teeth on edge. And so far (I'm a crochet newbie ) I can find great crochet patterns for utility stuff such as toys, afghans, kid's stuff, pot-holders, pet beds, etc., but prefer knitting patterns for things I believe work better in natural fibres in gorgeous colours, eg. adult garments. So again, my crochet projects tend towards cheaper yarn but knitting yarn gets a bigger spend.

[hooked2]

.... I think there's a proper time, place, and use for nearly every yarn under the sun!

 

I agree. Many of the designer yarns are luscious, but some of the more "common' yarns are yummy too.

[HappyOldCro]

I would love to do some designer yarns, but it is not a matter of pick and choose for me. My budget keeps me in the cheaper yarn category, but it does have to be soft and comfortable. Some of the cheaper variety is very stiff and scratchy. I have been lucky enough to get some of the "good" stuff at discount stores that you would not expect to find yarn in (like my recent suede, chenille and fun fur buys at Ollie's) but normally anything over 3 dollars a skein is a luxury item for me. That is what causes a lot of my stash, when I find something cheaper than normal, I stock up on it...."just in case"... like I tell hubby. The big mill end bags are great for saving $ and allows me to use the money saved to afford some better yarns for special projects.