Click here – Yarn: cheap or expensive? [Poll of the Week—September 23, 2015]

Hello to all readers/buyers and authors/sellers,
I’d like to know whether, generally speaking, you tend to use cheaper yarn/bargain finds or more expensive yarn?
Does expensive always mean high quality?
Do you use different yarn for practice than for decorations, clothing, and gifts—or is it okay to use cheaper yarn for practice? Or do you crochet, knit, knook, or sträkel the final product right away without warming up first?
What kind of yarn do sellers use for the projects shown in the photos on the patterns and product pages?
Thanks for participating, and have fun
If you’d like, you can also answer these questions:
Where do you prefer to buy your yarn?
How much yarn do you have in stock at home?
How do you store yarn?

For my amigurumi figures, I use Lisa yarn from Gründl or Easy from Eliza.
The yarn is quite fluffy and crochets up very well.
For my pot holders, I use cotton yarn.
I prefer to buy my yarn directly from the manufacturer, unless I just need a small replenishment.
I have about 200 skeins in stock at home.
I store my yarn in my “yarn closets.”
Best regards, Carola

Hello.

I use many different types of yarn, from cotton to cotton blends, as well as yarns with a high silk content. I have a few yarns that I really love and use time and again. But I also like to try something new every now and then.

I always use high-quality yarn, even for the first swatch, because that’s the only way I can tell if the yarn is really suitable for the current project and whether the stitch definition looks good. But quality doesn’t have to be expensive. The price of yarn depends on various factors.

Still, I always make sure to get the yarns I keep in stock at bargain prices—for example, during summer clearance sales on summer yarns.

I shop online at two wholesalers who offered me a good deal back when I first started my business, so I’ve remained loyal to them, and their selection is very large. That’s where I buy all the yarns I keep in stock.
I also like to shop locally. Especially when new yarns come out, I can visit one of my three favorite stores and touch and test them. And if needed, I can take a small amount home with me.

“I have too much yarn ...” my husband would say. I have two shelving units filled to the brim—210 cm high and 160 cm wide. I keep the yarn there in transparent IKEA storage boxes. I also have two under-bed storage drawers—also from IKEA—against the wall in the hallway.

Recently, I hosted a guessing game in my Facebook group ... People had to guess how many skeins were in one shelving unit. It was around 400. So the other shelving unit has about the same number, plus the drawers, which means I probably have between 800 and 1,000 skeins. But I do use quite a lot. I place a large order three times a year.

I don’t just use the yarn for the patterns, but also for personal projects and for my annual fundraiser. 

I used to buy a lot of bargain yarn at first because I was always in that “crochet-and-unravel” phase, and I didn’t want to use expensive yarn for that. Sometimes I’d even get it from the 1-euro bargain store if they had nice-looking yarn there—nothing acrylic or anything like that. I don’t like that stuff. When you look at how much Schachenmayr’s Catania costs, you do start to wonder whether you really need it for practice or if a slightly cheaper yarn would do just as well.
The ribbon yarn I used to make myself a scarf—just alternating blue and white vertical stripes—was expensive. At least in my opinion. I would have liked to buy more of it, but at 5 euros for 50 meters—I think that’s what it was; it’s been almost two years—four skeins were enough. For me, at least—the scarf isn’t particularly long. I should have just used a yarn that I could buy in larger quantities; you don’t get very far with such a small, short scarf, so I never really wore it—it’s still lying around in my dresser, waiting for nicer days, I suppose.
At first, I always thought that, as a beginner at crocheting, I couldn’t just start crocheting and then use the good Catania yarn (just as an example) for my crochet-and-unravel attempts. But eventually, I left that behind. When you’re crocheting with yarn that’s already been unraveled three times, the result doesn’t look very appealing, and then out of frustration you unravel it again, so you never end up with anything. That’s why I figure it’s better to buy good yarn and put in the effort when crocheting—that way, you get more out of it.
I admire people who stick with a project consistently and see it through from start to finish. I try a little here and there, so I end up with relatively few finished crochet projects.
Well, I’m no pro, I don’t sell patterns, and I’ve probably unravelled my crochet work more often than other beginners—I just wanted my stitches to be more even and thought that with more practice, everything would get better. But in between, I often used crocheting as a way to de-stress after exhausting workdays—I’d put on an audiobook or some music and just start crocheting with double crochet stitches. That was really relaxing. It wasn’t about achieving some kind of goal—it didn’t necessarily have to result in anything. It was totally fine as long as I could unwind while doing it. That’s probably pretty unusual on a platform dedicated to selling amigurumi patterns and the like.
Does anyone else feel this way, or am I the only one? I think everyone else does it differently somehow—oh well. As long as it’s fun :)

When I (re)started knitting, I always bought those huge balls you find in various supermarkets at first. But back then, I only knitted one project a year at most. Then, about 1 1/2 years ago, when I got really caught up in “knitting fever” again and also started designing knitting patterns, I initially bought very inexpensive yarn from Turkey (Ice Yarns). I made sure it contained as little synthetic fiber as possible. Then I ordered a “Wollmeise” for the first time. They’re relatively expensive (about 20 euros for 150 grams), but they’re super-fine merino and hand-dyed. That’s when I first realized what a difference there is compared to the “cheap yarns.” Wollmeise yarns are absolutely itch-free and can withstand repeated unraveling. Just right for scarves, shawls, ponchos, sweaters...
I also knit with other yarns, such as Drops (Baby Merino or Baby Alpaca Silk) or Schoppel (Laceball100), but Wollmeise remains my favorite and has already filled a large stash box. ;-)
 

I only use 100% cotton yarn for my figures. The slightly more expensive Catani by Schenmayer is always a popular choice. It works up beautifully, no question about it.

But I’ve since gotten the hang of a more affordable alternative and now crochet almost exclusively with Next Yarns Cotton 125 by Wallfactory. It’s every bit as good as Catania, and the colors are great.

In the beginning, I mostly bought my yarn on eBay or from Yarn Paradise in Turkey. These days, I only look on eBay for unusual yarns—ones that are no longer available, for example. I save those for my experiment corner. When I bought my first skein of Wollmeise yarn, I was thrilled by the colors and quality, and the yarn from Yarn Paradise just couldn’t compare. At the Hamburg Yarn Festival, I bought my first skeins from Hedgehog Fibres, Malabrigo, and Madeline Tosh, and I’m still thrilled with them. When I started designing my own patterns, I was constantly being asked for yarn recommendations. Since then, I’ve tried to use yarn in my designs that’s widely available—and sometimes in smaller quantities—because Yarn Paradise usually only sells larger bundles, and the shipping costs are very high.

This spring, I came across a hand-dyer in Mallorca. She offers great yarn in beautiful colors at what I consider an affordable price. I’ll be restocking at the end of October. A pattern for arm warmers using her alpaca blend is currently in test knitting. In the patterns, I’ve also included a link to her shop if I’ve used her yarn.

Otherwise, I think buying yarn is a matter of budget. There are all kinds of prices. For a shawl or a special piece, it’s worth spending a little more so you can enjoy it for longer. Of course, you only really notice the difference once you’ve held other types of yarn in your hands.

With that in mind, I wish you all a creative time—no matter what kind of yarn you use. The main thing is that it’s fun

Warm regards,
Christa from Taschenatelier
 

At first, I only worked with brand-name yarns like “Catania.” Since then, I’ve found more affordable options online that are just as good as these branded yarns, both for potholder yarn and for cotton yarn.
And my husband also turns up his nose when he sees my yarn stash. He says there’s no way I’ll be able to use it all up in this lifetime. We’ll see. I keep it sorted by color and type in a small Ikea drawer unit and in boxes, so I can find the yarn I need right away and don’t have to search for long.
Have a nice weekend
Luise

I prefer the 8-ply pure cotton yarn from Puppets Lyric. The color palette is appealing and easy to navigate. It currently includes 30 shades.
I keep every shade in stock at home. Ideas often come to me completely spontaneously, and I’d get really antsy if I couldn’t start right away because the particular shade wasn’t on hand. :)
Whenever I buy more, I top each color back up to 5 skeins. So I always have around 150 skeins at home.
I store them sorted by color and shade in a large IKEA Expedit shelf. I keep the skeins in practical zip-lock bags inside matching drawers. That’s also how the skeins are always sent to me. I use the cotton yarn for amigurumi and decorative items. It’s also very nice for crocheting light summer hats.
For scarves, winter hats, thick socks, etc., I use other yarns as well. At the moment, I’m trying out Merino Extrafine 120 because I liked the colors. But it’s not exactly cheap. For socks, I use 4-ply sock yarn from Regia, which I double up. I don’t keep large stocks of those two types, though—just about the amount I need for my current project.