Knitting on a Budget

If I’d been on my best behavior with Mint.com tags, “Malabrigo” would have been one of them… and we would have found that I spent about $300 on Malabrigo yarn alone in 2008 (to say nothing of all the lovely yarn out there, like Rowan).  In 2008, $80 was the least I spent in a single trip to Imagiknit, my local knitting shop.

I am a strong believer in spending my money locally.  I want to live in a neighborhood with thriving merchants and a yarn store I can walk to.  I will not stop shopping at Imagiknit anytime soon.  I spent nearly $1,000 at Imagiknit in 2008.  Knitting is an expensive hobby.  

I am, however, trying to be a bit more budget conscious when it comes to yarn shopping in 2009.  Today, I spent less than $60 at KnitPicks on enough yarn for two sweaters (24 balls), leg warmers, and fingerless gloves (4 more balls).  Shipping is free on KnitPicks orders of $50 or more, though $50 is tough to hit due to their low prices.  KnitPicks is a fantastic resource if you’re knitting on a budget, or have projects that you don’t need especially delicious yarn for.  

Case in point: I’m about to attempt knitting my first sweater.  Since this will be my first sweater, there’s a high likelihood that I’ll need to rip it apart at least twice and will end up in tears at least once each weekend.  Do I need to do that with $24/skein yarn?  No.  If I fail miserably, I’ll fail with yarn that was $1.99/ball instead.

 If two sweaters, leg warmers, and fingerless gloves end up costing me $58 (and time), I can confidently say that I couldn’t have gotten the same items for less from China.  Yarn is one of my few exceptions to signing the Compact, so if I want some new sweaters, I have to buy them used or make them.  I’m going to try to make them.