Buying Yarn—Should You Save Money or Not?

Have a wonderful (still) morning :-)

Do you try to save money when buying yarn, or would you rather spend a little more to get better quality? What should you actually look for when buying yarn?

Best regards, Karo.

We use only high-quality yarn for our patterns so that the photos turn out well and the designs can be crocheted more accurately. With cheap yarn, the result usually looks worse, and the finished figure doesn’t last as long.
That’s my perspective as a seller. Of course, skilled crocheters can achieve good results with cheap yarn, but it’s more difficult.

I only use high-quality yarn (and it doesn’t necessarily have to be more expensive). You can’t always tell good quality by the price—it’s more about the composition of the wool. Especially with handmade items, I don’t understand why so many people use poor-quality yarn. You put a lot of time into it, and then you skimp in the wrong place, or use synthetic fibers because they’re easier to care for.  Not only do such items look less appealing, but they’re also uncomfortable to wear and don’t last as long. Even with crocheted figures, you can immediately see the difference between good cotton and cheap material, because the cheap cotton is less supple and duller—and that’s such a shame.
There are some great deals available right now; I’ve already placed an order :-) and the yarn is simply fantastic: http://www.lanade.de/

You should compare prices, but don’t skimp. Pay attention to quality, but don’t spend too much. The other two have already covered everything. Good luck!

I’ve had a very good experience with Schachenmayr’s Catania yarn. It’s great quality and the price is pretty reasonable.

Yeah, I agree.

I can only agree: when it comes to yarn, you absolutely have to pay attention to good quality! You’re saving in the wrong place if you don’t buy good quality. I also prefer using Catania; it’s simply wonderful to work with, it makes crafting really fun, and the finished crochet pieces look good for a long time. Or Limone by Schoeller & Stahl, which is just as good in quality as Catania. I once bought cheap yarn as a test, but as osaki already wrote, it’s dull and because of that it doesn’t glide nicely through your fingers, and working with it isn’t fun at all and is much more difficult. Mine has been sitting in the closet for ages now. 
By the way: you can get both yarns (Catania and Limone) here at a great price, and the shipping costs are absolutely reasonable too
http://www.handarbeitswaren.de/

For doll clothes or crafts, I like to use inexpensive yarn. If it’s a particularly nice one, I don’t mind paying a little extra.
Many, many years ago, I bought some wild silk/linen yarn at a clearance sale—I still have that sweater today. Wash it, put it in the dryer, and wear it again—brilliant.

There are so many online shops selling yarn, wool, etc., even at affordable prices. Unfortunately, that doesn’t help me personally at all, because I like to feel the wool or yarn before I buy it.
This has nothing to do with me being allergic to polyacrylic—it’s simply that I have to like the feel of the wool when I touch it. Otherwise, I probably won’t be able to work with it. The wool from specialty wool shops is nice, but unfortunately it’s also relatively expensive here locally. That’s why I’m happy about any wool bargain that feels good and is easy to work with.
By now, though, I know which brands I like and which I don’t, so ordering online might be worth it, as long as I make sure to choose the right brand.
Can I actually assume that the yarn from a particular brand always feels the same, or are there variations due to production? I’m not talking about color variations or anything like that, but rather the material or the composition itself.

Hi everyone, I’ve been reading along here for a bit. I’m looking for very high-quality yarn that I can order online and have delivered quickly. I was thinking of ordering from ***Link***. Does anyone have any experience with this shop? Or can you recommend another one?
I’m already familiar with ***Link***, but I wasn’t entirely satisfied with it.

Mod-Edit:
Links removed.

@ lisa-hoffmann

We live here on the outskirts of the Vorderpfalz—lots of greenery, few shopping options. I pretty much always order my yarn, because the nearest store is a Wolle Rödel 25 km away. If I want more choice, I even have to drive 40 km.

What would you like to make? Decorations or clothing? I can always recommend Drops yarn in general—you can find retailers at www.garnstudio.com. It’s really very inexpensive for the quality (direct sales and not through a thousand middlemen). So far, I’ve always bought it from MondoLana, and the package arrived no later than the day after next.

I’ve also had good luck with Ice Yarns (www.iceyarns.com). I’ve bought high-quality yarn there with a high wool content, alpaca, or silk for as little as 0.50 to 1.00 euros. Since the yarn comes from Turkey, the shipping costs aren’t exactly cheap. For a 2-kg package—40 balls of yarn—I pay just under 16 euros, which works out to 0.50 euros in shipping per ball. So far, the package has always arrived within two days.

I used to buy a lot of "cheap wool" too, but by now I've switched to branded yarns. 
For example, I love the yarns from RosyGreen, Malabrigo or Madelinetosh.
Zitron is also very good.
Of course, they are all not very cheap, but in return I get top quality and many years of enjoyment from the knitted or crocheted item.
I also make sure that the wool comes from mulesing-free sources.
Mulesing is a painful procedure carried out on sheep, mainly in Australia.
If you're interested, please google it; I'm not posting any links here because the pictures are often really shocking.

I’m still a beginner, so I bought cheap yarn for my first projects. Unfortunately, it really shows in the yarn. After just a few wears, the first fibers start to fray or the yarn gets fuzzy.

Now I spend a little more money on yarn. For example, I’m currently working with hand-dyed merino wool and am super happy with it.