Spotlight

[Mandys76]

I buy most of my yarn from an Aussie chain store called Spotlight, given LYS's are few and far between over here. This store has a generic style brand mostly, and a few of the Aussie traditonals like Patons and Cleakheaton.

 

Today though I saw that they had some Lionbrand yarn in. This is completely unheard of in regular stores in Australia. I got all excited thinking to be able to buy some of the yarn I hear everyone talking about.

 

They had WoolEase and Homespun. Much to my dismay though it was $11.50 per skein. That's honestly way more than even very good quality natural fibre yarns over here, so I couldn't afford to get any.

 

Any other Aussie's seen this yarn in their stores? What's the pricing in your store?

[marikamum]

I buy most of my yarn from an Aussie chain store called Spotlight, given LYS's are few and far between over here. This store has a generic style brand mostly, and a few of the Aussie traditonals like Patons and Cleakheaton.

 

Today though I saw that they had some Lionbrand yarn in. This is completely unheard of in regular stores in Australia. I got all excited thinking to be able to buy some of the yarn I hear everyone talking about.

 

They had WoolEase and Homespun. Much to my dismay though it was $11.50 per skein. That's honestly way more than even very good quality natural fibre yarns over here, so I couldn't afford to get any.

 

Any other Aussie's seen this yarn in their stores? What's the pricing in your store?

 

I was in Spotlight today, too (were you in Belrose or Birkenhead Point? If Belrose, maybe I saw you ;P...) The Homespun was around $12 and the Jiffy around $6... I did look and noticed that the Moda Dea Flirt, which was on sale for $2.99 per 100g/100m ball was the same stats as the Homespun - an avg of 1m/g - so you would just need to multiply a Homespun pattern by 1.7 to figure out the balls of Flirt you'd need for the same pattern... I did not fully check fibre content, but they seemed quite similar.

 

Frankly, I like having them there just so that I can make that direct comparison - it is so hard to substitute for something you haven't seen or felt...

 

Where are you in Sydney? I am on the Lower North Shore and a fellow 'Viller who is on Ravelry sent me a list of LYSs in the area - there are more than I knew of! If you are in coo-ee of the Lower North Shore PM me or reply to this thread (I've subscribed) and I'll point you to the ones I know of ... they are certainly not cheaper than Spotlight, though

 

Cheers,

[abc-dee]

hi ladies,,

 

im in Vic, and i have spotlight and Lincraft in my area.. and to be honest im not happy with spotlights staff after asking a simple question "do you have size 10 thread in colours?" and i got told i was looking for size 8.. i was treated like i was an idiot and told

 

"what we stock is what the head office sets out"

not even a suggestion of where i might be able to get it or anything

 

you would think that they would be interested in helping considering i was looking at spending $300 on thread for the items that i wish to make..

[Mandys76]

Marika, I live on the Central Coast...Woy Woy to be precise. But I work in Crows Nest, so am able to go to LYS's on the North Shore. I know about Greta's, though I've never been in there. And I've been into one in Hornsby (near Westfeild on the train station side) that has beautiful yarns from Europe and the UK. But they're the only ones I know of.

 

abc-dee...I've got Lincraft up here as well. I've found it useless to ask questions in either Spotlight or Lincraft here...the staff have no idea, so I don't even bother.

 

I did go into a very large Lincraft in the middle of Melbourne last time I was down there and they actually had a lady in there at the time at a table crocheting. She was there to do demonstrations and answer questions. We chatted for ages. I wish I'd been in Melbourne longer to have been able to go to one of her demo's.

 

$300 on thread at one go? That's amazing! I actually started to learn to crochet with thread, making doily's and things. I haven't made anything with thread in years though, which is a shame. I've got a massive tub full to over-flowing of thread, but no real incling to use it. My hands and wrists hurt using the smaller hooks.

[marikamum]

hi ladies,,

 

im in Vic, and i have spotlight and Lincraft in my area.. and to be honest im not happy with spotlights staff after asking a simple question "do you have size 10 thread in colours?" and i got told i was looking for size 8.. i was treated like i was an idiot and told

 

"what we stock is what the head office sets out"

not even a suggestion of where i might be able to get it or anything

 

you would think that they would be interested in helping considering i was looking at spending $300 on thread for the items that i wish to make..

 

That is awful!

 

I must say that I tend to get more misinformation than not when I ask for help in many stores :'). I was in Myer the other day looking for a glass counter protector/cutting board... my last one was Pyrex, so I mentioned Pyrex to the lady who was on the floor - but also described the kind of thing I was looking for. She took me to the main Pyrex section, said:I don't see anything like that here, sorry..." well, about 10m down the floor was the cutting board section and, lo & behold, the exact type of item I was looking for, but from different brand names... *sigh* good thing I walked on and poked around a bit...

 

Regarding thread, my Spotlight is a bit light on in the thread department, though they do have some Cebelia in 10 and 20 and some white and ecru thread from a variety of makers and also perle cotton... they are definitely better than Lincraft - which has some Twilley's 20 in a few colours stashed at the end of one aisle...

 

Ah well, at least I can go and look at the available stuff at times, actually my KMart has started carrying a small selection of yarn - including some Cleckheaton lines. I got a few balls of various 8ply acrylics there yesterday for some square testing...

[marikamum]

Marika, I live on the Central Coast...Woy Woy to be precise. But I work in Crows Nest, so am able to go to LYS's on the North Shore. I know about Greta's, though I've never been in there. And I've been into one in Hornsby (near Westfeild on the train station side) that has beautiful yarns from Europe and the UK. But they're the only ones I know of.

 

abc-dee...I've got Lincraft up here as well. I've found it useless to ask questions in either Spotlight or Lincraft here...the staff have no idea, so I don't even bother.

 

I did go into a very large Lincraft in the middle of Melbourne last time I was down there and they actually had a lady in there at the time at a table crocheting. She was there to do demonstrations and answer questions. We chatted for ages. I wish I'd been in Melbourne longer to have been able to go to one of her demo's.

 

$300 on thread at one go? That's amazing! I actually started to learn to crochet with thread, making doily's and things. I haven't made anything with thread in years though, which is a shame. I've got a massive tub full to over-flowing of thread, but no real incling to use it. My hands and wrists hurt using the smaller hooks.

 

If you need room for larger yarn in that massive tub of yours, I live quite close to Crows Nest and would be happy to lighten your thread burden

 

Greta's is lovely, not cheaper than Spotlight by any stretch, but she has some lovely yarns and is happy to chat about them (though no crocheting-specific info). Turramurra Drapery is another LYS I visited, though I felt a bit more coolness upon admitting I didn't actually knit... Apparently there is a store called Rubi and Lana in Gordon in the main mall/arcade there as well... I haven't made it out to the Hornsby one yet...

 

In Sydney CBD there is also Tapestry Craft on York St, I've looked at their website but not visited in person...

 

Anyway, I'd best attend to my children now... happy crocheting!

 

Cheers,

[abc-dee]

OMG Mandy i wish i had that much thread

[Mandys76]

I've been to the Tapestry Craft place on York Street. I went there in my lunch hour once when I had it in my head to learn to Tatt, and they had shuttles. Unfortunately I didn't have a lot of time to spend looking at the yarn....but ohhhhhhhhhhh I've not seen anything like it! When you walk in, you think it's all tapestries, until you notice a stairway going downstairs. The whole bottom floor is yarn. I've never seen so much, nor so many varieties of the most amazing things.

[marikamum]

I've been to the Tapestry Craft place on York Street. I went there in my lunch hour once when I had it in my head to learn to Tatt, and they had shuttles. Unfortunately I didn't have a lot of time to spend looking at the yarn....but ohhhhhhhhhhh I've not seen anything like it! When you walk in, you think it's all tapestries, until you notice a stairway going downstairs. The whole bottom floor is yarn. I've never seen so much, nor so many varieties of the most amazing things.

 

uh oh... I think I was better off not knowing that...

 

Cheers,