Zen Knitting

You can sometimes get skeins of yarn cheap at thrift stores or yard sales, but you can also just buy cheap knitted or crocheted sweaters from those places then pull out the yarn and re-ball it to use.

You can also write to various yarn manufacturers and ask them for supplies… many will give them as part of their mission statements “to donate to charity or to the community” –write a nice letter letting them know what you do (perhaps even sending pics of things you’ve made, or names of the groups you crochet for).

Another place to try is your local Freecycle group online. There’s usually one close-by somewhere.
The aim of freecycle is to keep things from going into the landfill that might be tossed out, and to allow others to use things that owners no longer find useful. You can take things from the group and you can ask for things from the group.
So after you join (free), just post an e-mail to your group asking for any unused yarn. Then you’ll need to go pick it up… that’s the way Freecycle works. You can even ask again every so often according to freecycle rules. I bet you’ll SCORE!
http://www.freecycle.org

Or just put out the word to family and friends for their leftovers or unwanteds.

Best of luck!

Diane B.

I find most of my yarn at second-hand shops. The same goes for garage sales. Look at discontinued yarns at shops, or even online. You may not get enough to finish a whole project with one colour, but stripes are more interesting anyway.

I’ve even taken some sweaters apart and re-used the yarn. Be sure it is not machine made, because the seams are all serged (cut) and you will have short ends.

Ask for donations from your friends for any left-over yarns. Many of us have an odd ball… that is too good to throw out.. and we will never use it. Ask at your community centre, your church, your place of work, put up a notice at the grocery store, library. Word will get around, and you will have more yarn that you’ll ever use!