How Much is Too Much?

And by that title I do not mean yarn. I have tried repeatedly to go on the yarn diet, and work only out of the stash. I actually gave away a few balls if you can believe that. No, how much is too much for a skein of yarn? I would love to hear opinions on that one. I have discovered entrelac, the fun of the technique is using a yarn with a color repeat, rather than an ombre or varigation. Most patterns call for Noro Silk Garden. The shawl I want to make calls for 10 or 11 balls. At $11.95 a ball. Do the math. I found the yarn for $6.79 for the discontinued colors. Better. But, nearly $70 for a shawl? I'm sorry, I can't. I'd love to knit exclusively with Art Yarns, or Malabrigo, something handspun from carefully chosen beasts, but I have a young family and I don't know how I would explain a second mortgage for elegant sweater to my husband. I love natural fibres, but my kids love to eat. After bargain hunting, I found some SWS, soy, wool, long color repeat. $2.99 a ball. It's discontinued, so I need to buy it now before it's all gone. That Noro? A few balls, a scarf maybe. So much for that yarn diet.

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Comment by Patricia M Hall on March 5, 2011 at 4:34pm: I knit with people who are, lets say more well off than I am. One of the ladies made an $80 scarf. Could you imagine? Then the poor thing was afraid to wear it lest she leave it somewhere. I hit up Smiley's for sweater yarn. I got two bags of wool (20 skeins) for $30. I will have plenty left over and it's nice yarn!! I do what I can.

Comment by Janet Beliveau on March 4, 2011 at 6:52pm: Noro is expensive. I ended up paying $60.00 to knit myself a scarf. I don't always use expensive yarn. If it is a baby outfit as a special gift to a relative I will buy the better yarn, but baby yarn is so much less expensive. Knitting an adult sweater can cost a fortune and many time I'm not even happy with the results. Shopping around takes time but it can really pay off when you find discontinued yarns. Good luck. Janet in NH

Comment by Patricia M Hall on February 23, 2011 at 7:15am: Agreed, Melissa! I can justify $30 for a ball of sock yarn, because I love knitting socks! But could you imagine a sweater from $30 a ball yarn? Only in my dreams!

Comment by Melissa Burnett on February 20, 2011 at 9:17pm: I try to stick to small projects for the luxury yarns. I love a comfy Alpaca hat but I've never knit an entire sweater out of it! For sweaters I stick to hearty yarns like Cascade 220 because for the yardage, the price is right!

I know when you get to yarns with incredible colors that it gets a lot trickier!

How much is too much? I guess when you look at it as a "per project" cost, a ball of Noro Silk Garden is a great for a scarf but not that shawl!