Zen Knitting

I crochet baby hats for a local hospital. I posted a “wanted” ad on Craig’s List in my city. I explained in my ad what I was doing and I got a response. A woman gave me 3 large bags of yarn for free! Walmart has the best prices in general, but also watch the Michaels ads. Last week they had Lion Yarn 2 for $8 and another one on sale too.

Well, it depends what you consider to be nice. As noted by another answerer, you can get inexpensive craft-store-brand yarns at Wal-Mart. Also Michaels, Beverlys, Jo-ann Fabrics, and Hobby Lobby. In addition to the cheaper acrylic worsted you can find novelty yarns by Lion Brand, Patons, Caron, etc. that are fun to work with if you haven’t before but unless they’re on a huge sale, those yarns tend to still be expensive (e.g., more than $6 a skein). All these stores have weekly or monthly sales, and the craft stores frequently have “40% off one item” coupons in the paper.

If you can shop online, there are lots better deals. For example…

* At Smiley’s (www.smileysyarns.com), you can get some incredible yarns at more than half off regular price, like Lion Brand Trellis (a pretty ladder yarn that’s just as good as Plymouth Eros and other $10/skein ladder yarns, IMO) for $1.99, Patons Brilliant (sportweight dressy yarn with a glittery strand, great for shawls and scarves or dressy camisoles) for $2.50 instead of $7, 100% wool perfect for felting in big skeins for $2.50, etc. There’s a $30 minimum order. They also discount high-end brands like Filatura Lanarota, Grignasco, etc.

* Knitpicks sells their own brands of really gorgeous high-end yarn for much lower than similar brands in a high-end yarn store. http://www.knitpicks.com.

* Elann.com sells not only their own yarn at discount but also other high-end brands like Jo Sharp and Debbie Bliss. Their Sonata and Esprit are especially nice (Esprit has some elastic in it for a gorgeous stretch and drape).

* Herrschners has a weekly yarn sale with some incredible deals, like recently Patons Katrina for $2.97 instead of the $9 retail. Also sells the higher-end brands at a deep discount. http://www.herrschners.com, follow the links for “yarn sale.”

* Yarn.com sells nothing but super-high-end stuff. Check their clearance, “garage sale,” and closeout sections for deep discounts. Even with the discount, it’s too pricy for me but I love to look, and my mother buys there all the time with no problem. I’m pretty sure they also sell weaving and spinning supplies so they’re bound to have roving.

* I have had good luck buying and selling yarns on eBay. Especially for roving, the best prices are probably there. All warnings about buying on eBay apply.

I have purchased from all the above places and have never had a problem, and as you may have guessed from the length of this answer, I buy a crazy amount of yarn.

Other places include discountyarnsale.com, knitting-warehouse.com, and more.

Also, depending on your willingness to try your luck, frequently Dollar Tree has been selling yarn, like Lion Boucle ($5.99 retail) for $1. As with anything at the dollar store, there’s no telling if they’ll have it when you’re there. Big Lots has been known to carry novelty yarn but not very often.

Hope this helped…sorry I’m not more knowledgeable about roving.

I got a nice surprise yesterday: I went into the local dollar store and found Lions Brand boucle for $1 per skein. That got me thinking so I checked out a few others and got some PingPong by Bernat too. I never would have expected that! Good luck.