If knitting or crocheting is a hobby of yours, you know that your hobby can be a little expensive if you are constantly buying yarn. It's truly amazing to me how expensive yarn can be. Since yarn is an absolute necessity if you crochet or knit, you probably would like to know some tips to save money on it. Here are some tips on how to save money on yarn so you can keep doing your hobby within your budget.
How to Save Money on Yarn
Swap with fellow crafters. Most knitters and crocheters have a huge stockpile of unused yarn from previous projects they don't know what to do with. Maybe what they have is perfect for a small project you are about to embark on. This way you can pretty much get yarn for free. If you have a large enough circle of friends who do this hobby, host a party where you swap yarns. This could be a fun afternoon!
Check on places like Freecycle.org and Craigslist in the free or hobby section. Often times, you can find yarn being sold or given away in lots (boxes of it). They may not be exactly what you need right now, but it's free yard so you can create projects with it.
Shop thrift stores. There isn't a single trip to thrift stores that I don't see yarn in the craft and hobby section for sale for very low prices. What's great about this tactic, is, you can often get discontinued brands and colors as well as some that may even be vintage. Since yarn is something that often sits on the shelves for a while, you may even get it cheaper if you haggle a bit with the store. Yard sales are also great places to find bargains on yarn and supplies.
Keep your eye out for coupons to craft stores. Many of the major retailers- Hobby Lobby, Michael's and JoAnne's, offer discounts of up to 40-50% off retail price at certain points in the year. Sometimes, they even release coupons for 40% off any item in the store so you can use it for that one expensive yarn you have had your eye on when those coupons are printed out. The coupons are often good on the store's website as well.
Buy wholesale yarn. This tip is more for those that knit or crochet for craft fairs and for their own Etsy site than those who just do it as a hobby, but buying wholesale yarn can really be a bargain if you use that much yarn. Keep in mind that you will be getting a lot, and there are often minimum purchases of $50-$100 or more.
Use rag balls. There are some tutorials on how to do this online, but basically what you do is take old T-shirts and clothing and create a ball of it using strips of the material. You then use it to crochet more chunky styles and it is a great way to reuse materials rather then toss them.
How do you save money on yarn for your crocheting and knitting projects? Let me know in the comments.
Free Knitting and Crochet Patterns
1o Free Knit Hat Patterns for Men
10 Free Crochet Hat Patterns for Women
10 Free Crochet Boot Cuff Patterns
Find even more free patterns here.
Janette says
March 6, 2015 at 10:12 ami buy old knits from charity shops and unravel them. Even old machine knits as the yarn can then be added to others to make really interesting mixes. A good wash and they are as good as new.
Lisa says
July 18, 2015 at 3:29 amI save money by crocheting for charity and the groups I belong to provide the yarn for me. Also I sell some of my work to recoup the cost of yarn that I do buy
Lisa says
April 26, 2018 at 5:13 amHow do you unravel sweaters? I’ve read this before but never understood how to do this.
Linda Warren says
August 3, 2015 at 11:10 amI go to garage & estate sales. At one sale, I bought some yarn for $55. There was around 300 skeins.
Abigail @ipickuppennies says
October 29, 2015 at 1:10 pmI rely on the craft store coupons. I crochet in the winter to keep my hands busy, which prevents me from snacking as much. The results are a little iffy, but even lumpy scarves keep you warm, right? I don’t them to shelters, so I doubt they’re too picky.
Barbara says
November 20, 2015 at 9:59 amI rely on store sales and I shop the website frequently to catch online specials. Sometimes I can score a huge box of ‘name brand’ yarn for under $25.00 with free shipping! No car wear, no gasoline wasted and it comes in my favorite colors! Also purchase the one pound sizes in standard colors, white, black, navy, dark green, etc to save more $. for specialty yarns I check various websites online including ebay and Amazon. As an Amazon prime member most often shipping is free (and no tax if shipper is not in your state).
Sarah. Bradley says
January 8, 2016 at 1:46 pmWholesale, yarn paradise is great you can score yarn for 1.00 per 50g with shipping if you shop the sales and bonus is your yarn comes in about two days.
Ellen Rosewall says
February 7, 2016 at 10:45 amSign up for one of the yarn sale destashing groups on Facebook. Often you can get great deals on handspun, local yarn store excess inventory, and people trying to get rid of stash yarn.