Oh honey. I feel your pain

 

Knitting can be SO FRAKKIN expensive. Most of the time I just buy my sweaters now; I know I can get 5 sweaters at the "Pay-Half" boutique for the same price that it would cost me to knit a single sleeve (and trust me, it's really cold here, I NEED the rest of the sweater!)

 

But...play your cards right, look for bargains, close-outs, ebay sellers who probably sell stolen merchandise (hey, I am not in denial, I know it happens! And if I really want the item, then I just live with it).

You won't have to sell your house and live in the cardboard box your yarn was shipped in if you are choosy and buy the right stuff at the right time.

 

And I am with you as far as the charging a million bucks for hand-knit goods. After all the time and frustration that goes into knitting something, and the subsequent satisfaction that is felt with the finishing of it...IF you can bring yourself to part with it, there is probably no way anyone could pay enough to make it worth your while!

It can be really freaking expensive, but keep in mind: you don't have to use what the pattern calls for! Like, the shawl I made last October/November/December actually calls for this yarn that's $25/hank and you need 15-20 hanks. No freaking way, man. I ended up using eBay-purchased Noro (which ended up being $7/hank) - but could have used all sorts of other yarns instead.

 

One of my favorite places to buy yarn? Knitpicks.com - good quality, fairly cheap (their worsted wool is $2/110 yds for the dyed stuff and $3.50/220 yds for undyed). They don't ship to the US, but I'm sure you can find someone to ship it to them and then on to you!

 

So, like, a bathmat? You're talking, goes-in-the-bathroom, gets-wet-and-stuff bathmat? Use the cheapest washable yarn you can find. (My grandfather used to hook rugs using it - it's soft, washable, and super duper cheap.) You may need to do some gauge math - use a bigger/smaller needle, change the number stitches - but really, it's a bathroom mat. Nobody will care that it's a little too big/small except for you

 

 

And I am with you as far as the charging a million bucks for hand-knit goods. After all the time and frustration that goes into knitting something, and the subsequent satisfaction that is felt with the finishing of it...IF you can bring yourself to part with it, there is probably no way anyone could pay enough to make it worth your while!

True story: I was wearing Lady Eleanor to work one day - they keep the office really freaking cold, like 64 - and one of my coworkers came up and complimented me and asked where I bought it. When she found out I made it, she asked how much I'd charge to make another. I told her that at minimum wage plus material costs, she'd be looking at a good $400-500 and that it'd take me at least three months to do. She blanched and stopped asking me about my knitted things.

 

But the real irony in that is most of what I knit is about a week's worth of work - two or three if I'm being slow and lazy (scarves, mittens, cat toys, and I'm branching into socks as soon as I clear out my current projects). Most of what she saw me in that had been knit, I bought!

 

(and trust me, it's really cold here, I NEED the rest of the sweater!)

Most of the east coast doesn't know what cold is. Even up by you - the lows for your area have been about what the *highs* here have been. And that doesn't include windchill or the snoooooooow... Anyway, I haven't seen above-freezing since early January.

 

for me!

thanks for your comments both of you. some useful advice there.

 

and 'wow' @ items only taking you 2-3 weeks to make......i am so slow

 

but as a resident of the UK i scoff at your 'low' temperatures unless you like in alaska, in that case, you win