# So I went to a real yarn shop today



## PrettyPaisley (May 18, 2007)

Wow. Other than having to hog tie Piper to keep her hands off everything - it was amazing.

And pricey. And amazing. But heavens that stuff isn't cheap. It seemed to me to be more of a knitting store than a crochet store but still the yarns were so luscious. 

However, I can see now how a couple sheep, a spinning wheel and some road side weeds would make sense. Jimminy Christmas some of that stuff was $25-$30 for less yarn than would fit in my palm. 

I think I'll stick to my cheap stuff for now. It's kind of like I tell Paisley when she asks for a horse. We aren't horse people. We are goat people. I'm not a trendy yarn shop kinda girl. I'm a 50% off coupon at Michael's kinda girl.  

But it was a fun outing nonetheless.


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## Wind in Her Hair (Jul 18, 2002)

I know what you mean. I remember when I first started knitting I just HAD to go buy some yarn - even though I had no idea what I would knit with it - I just HAD to buy YARN!

And I bought pretty colored acrylic stuff and novelty yarn and I knit and i knit and I knit. Happy as a clam.

But then I went to a "real" yarn store and nearly fell over. 

Funny thing is, after buying wheels, taking classes, buying fiber preparation tools, buying dyes, and processing a fleece -I have a lot more respect for those $32 skeins than I had before. 

Sometimes, for a luxury garment or accessory - the $$$ you spend on the yarn is really just incidental to the time and effort you spend creating that project. 

So now I justify the cost by saying "Doesn't my valuable time and my love and my skill deserve to be matched by quality basic materials - like this fabulous yarn?"

SOMETIMES the yarn makes the most of an item and sometimes the item makes the most of the yarn. :shrug:

I just knit a bunch of stuff out of $5.00 a skein stuff :shrug: and I could easily fall in love with a luxury skein of yarn for about $36.00.


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## Becka03 (Mar 29, 2009)

I love LOVE the pretty gorgeous pricey yarns- but they are a once a yr treat- My mom will buy me one once a year- in a color- and I make myself a small accessory scarf out of it- 
It is a blast to go look at it though isn't it?!


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

They are pricey. 

I don't buy the already made stuff. Its just to far out of my price range. I just stick to rovings. For the already made stuff I pretty well stick to knitpicks.

Really once you get used to spinning your own, the prices don't seem quite so bad. The tradeoff to me at least, you are control whats in it. Kinda like making a gourmet dinner from scratch as opposed to going out.

Some of that stuff is soft beyond comparison.


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

I'm glad I have 2 yarn stores where I can shop. Both of them have pricey yarn, and not so pricey. Really- some are very comparable in price to JoAnn's or Hobby Lobby's yarns. Mostly, I shop sales racks. My policy is to not buy anything at full price-ever. And I still have more yarn than I can knit up in a year stashed here. It's faster to buy yarn than it is to knit it up.


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

Like this stuff, the blue is just regular wool, #1 pd $22.00
The white is cotton #1 pd about $25.00
I cant wait to spin up the cotton. Ive never spun it before, this is gonna be interesting.
Im hoping to get a shirt out of it.


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## PrettyPaisley (May 18, 2007)

I did see several sale racks with some amazing stuff on it. It's just that the skeins are so small!!! A friend is having a baby in October and I might try some of the nice, soft and on sale baby yarn for a blanket. I saw some beautiful baby sweaters all made up and on display but I'm not that ambitious just yet.


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## Kasota (Nov 25, 2013)

I so understand! I love the "real" yarn shops because I feel so inspired. It's one of the many reasons I decided to learn to spin. I am painfully bad at it but I won't always be. 

I use cheaper yarns and occasionally more expensive ones. Yes, they often come in such small amounts...it can be painful when you are looking at a larger project! 

Recently I saw a book on Amazon that I intend to purchase on payday. 

Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders: 101 Patterns That Go Way Beyond Socks! 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1603425799/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2Z0PCVRDDJI2U

There are some seriously cute patterns in that book! I am determined to learn how to make them. It's not so painful, financially, to buy one skein of something a little nicer when you can finish a whole project with that one skein!  

There ARE some perfectly nice acrylic yarns out there that won't break the bank, even for larger projects. "I Love This Yarn" works out really well for throws and scarves and it's machine wash and dry - which is nice for projects that little kids will likely pee on.  I will also use those yarns when I am making projects for charity. It doesn't break the bank. 

I have found a lot of elders like So Soft for lap blankets or for something to toss over their shoulders. Their skin is often frail and it feels silky to them.


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## Lythrum (Dec 19, 2005)

I think a lot depends on your local yarn store as to how affordable it can be. I have two that are fairly close, and one of them has a lot of sales. When they have a sock yarn sale I make sure to stock up.  They had a big inventory reduction sale at the beginning of this year and I stocked up then too. And the clearance sections, as mentioned above. Like Callieslamb said, mine has some yarns in most price ranges, so I'm pretty lucky.


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## SvenskaFlicka (Nov 2, 2011)

I try to have things in all price ranges, but really, I couldn't live if I tried to keep up with Knitpicks pricewise&#8212; I'd be giving away the yarn for less than I bought it for. Not that I wouldn't love to do that, and bless the world with awesome yarn, but...

It's a tough thing sometimes. I admit I get mad at Knitpicks for having awesome sales sometimes that draw all the customers to them. At the same time, I can't blame the customers at all, and sometimes eye their yarn myself. :teehee:


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## PrettyPaisley (May 18, 2007)

Lythrum said:


> I think a lot depends on your local yarn store as to how affordable it can be. I have two that are fairly close, and one of them has a lot of sales. When they have a sock yarn sale I make sure to stock up.  They had a big inventory reduction sale at the beginning of this year and I stocked up then too. And the clearance sections, as mentioned above. Like Callieslamb said, mine has some yarns in most price ranges, so I'm pretty lucky.


 
I definitely need to become more familiar with the local stores. So far I can tell by my internet searches that they are mostly located in pish-poshy parts of town that I have no other reason to visit. Guess I'll just have to make some exceptions !!!


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## hotzcatz (Oct 16, 2007)

The reason there are fuzzy bunnies here is because angora yarn was too expensive for me to buy so you have to watch out when shopping for yarn! Anything can happen!









Angora yarn - (some assembly required)

There are now a lot of fuzzy fuzzy bunnies and more fuzzy fuzzy yarn than I can knit, so it gets sold at the local farmer's market. Which then means $$$ to spend on other yarns! Perfect!


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## bergere (May 11, 2002)

SvenskaFlicka said:


> I try to have things in all price ranges, but really, I couldn't live if I tried to keep up with Knitpicks pricewiseâ I'd be giving away the yarn for less than I bought it for. Not that I wouldn't love to do that, and bless the world with awesome yarn, but...
> 
> It's a tough thing sometimes. I admit I get mad at Knitpicks for having awesome sales sometimes that draw all the customers to them. At the same time, I can't blame the customers at all, and sometimes eye their yarn myself. :teehee:



Same problem here. I can't compete with the commercial yarn makers.

I either have to pay X amount for the fleece
X amount for it to be processes into Roving
Then I have my time spinning it up, plying, setting...

Or I buy ready made roving and spin it up, plying, setting...

Then there is what it cost me to ship... Paypal fees...

Have had people want my yarn for half of what it cost me raw or as roving....
Just can't do that. Money doesn't grow on trees for me. sigh ~~

Right now I just charge enough to cover my costs.

Is frustrating to be sure.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Definitely shop the sales of your local yarn shops. Keep in mind that a 4oz ball of yarn can generally make a pair of mittens or socks or a hat with some left over. Winter time is usually the time to buy cotton, linen, and hemp yarns on sale, summer is the time for buy wool and other warmer yarns.


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## MDKatie (Dec 13, 2010)

I am so very lucky that I was gifted with hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars worth of awesome "pricey" yarn. I could never afford to buy what is in my stash..it's just mind blowing. I'm so very fortunate!


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## Ana Bluebird (Dec 8, 2002)

Yep, pricey, so I head first to the sale rack (but when you check out, make sure they give you the SALE price---I've been caught). Then I go home and spin. Sometimes Just can't keep myself from buying something special, but I have so much already!!! Can't possibly live long enough to get all my projects done. I also have found out that people who don't spin or knit or crochet don't realize the time and work involved, but sometimes I just have to give them something nice anyway. I love the process anyway.


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## SvenskaFlicka (Nov 2, 2011)

I had someone message me a while back on Etsy, asking if I would spin some yarn for her from some roving she bought on KnitPicks, not realizing it wasn't already spun. She said everyone she asked was charging to much to spin it. I haven't even replied. I know she'll want to pay far less than what I would charge. (Especially since I'm a slow spinner.)


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## Taylor R. (Apr 3, 2013)

Kelsey, you have a great selection that spans the price ranges nicely, in my opinion.

PrettyPaisley, I suggest test driving some economy wool at your LYS. The skeins are smaller than your average big box or craft store acrylic, but with one skein of Cascade 220 superwash, I can make a kiddo a nice, cozy winter hat the likes of which are impossible to find in the stores for that price. When you consider how much a wool item would cost at the store as opposed to the machine knit acrylics, it makes it easier to justify the cost of more expensive yarn. Small projects are the best way to maximize the good stuff for me.

Plus, the sale racks are awesome (at least at my LYS). The first time I walked into a real yarn shop, I fell in love with Berroco Seduce. I wanted it, but it was almost $10 a skein and at 100 yards a skein, I couldn't justify it (especially since it's a bit impractical). So I drooled over it often and left it sit on the rack. Suddenly, Berroco discontinued it and it was sitting on the sale rack for less than half of it's original price, so I bought three.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

The price of yarn went way up recently. I think it's the overall problem with gas being so high because selling off the sheep is still very low. Visit more yarn shops. Yes, they are more expensive than Michaels, but that is because the quality is so much higher. I've been in yarn shops that didn't have anything I could afford, but there are others, many others. 

My friend and I are planning on opening a yarn shop and had a discussion on how expensive the yarn will be. We could not possibly compete with the chains on the cost of their low grade yarn (which can still be useful and something I buy). If we sell low grade yarn, then we can't really sell high grade yarn. However, we can always have something on sale. There will always be _something _at 20% off. I'm also planning on finding local wool and processing our own label.

If you ever make it to a place with a woolen mill, check out their store. The price of the yarn will be cheap compared to a retail store because there is no middle man.


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## MDKatie (Dec 13, 2010)

SvenskaFlicka said:


> I had someone message me a while back on Etsy, asking if I would spin some yarn for her from some roving she bought on KnitPicks, not realizing it wasn't already spun. She said everyone she asked was charging to much to spin it. I haven't even replied. I know she'll want to pay far less than what I would charge. (Especially since I'm a slow spinner.)


Maybe you can instead convince her to spin it herself!


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## Belldandy (Feb 16, 2014)

PrettyPaisley said:


> Wow. Other than having to hog tie Piper to keep her hands off everything - it was amazing.
> 
> And pricey. And amazing. But heavens that stuff isn't cheap. It seemed to me to be more of a knitting store than a crochet store but still the yarns were so luscious.
> 
> ...


Tell me about it! Some days I don't dare venture in. 

A local yarn shop just opened up a year ago. I wonder if they're still there, lol.


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## hotzcatz (Oct 16, 2007)

A friend is trying to talk me into starting a LYS, too, Maura. Although I think she just wants a shop she can go hang out in. It occurred to me that a yarn shop that was sort of a ladies club might work very well. Something sort of like the Starbucks of Knitting. Then, instead of making all the money from only yarn sales, you could also serve coffee, tea and cookies and have small tables & chairs scattered about for folks to knit on. Also serve some sort of boxed snacks since those could just be taken out of the cooler and sold without having to cook or prepare foods. Consumable goods but also an "experience" and a place to use up the consumable goods. 7-11's outlay of convenience foods comes to mind, but the presentation should be vastly improved for the yarn shop.

It might also be possible to sell finished goods as part of a knitting shop co-op and then the co-op members could work in the shop as part of their co-op fee. Save on employee expenses since the co-op members wouldn't be employees but more like owners. There would then be more than one person taking care of the shop. More hours open, more folks knitting and the co-op folks making a bit of money from knitting. Also, there would then be more people buying yarn although there wouldn't be a requirement that they buy their yarn from the shop, but co-op members could probably have a discount on a lot of items. The shop, would after all, get a percentage on what they sell. Seems there's a lot of latitude for how a shop is set up and the world of retail is changing what with the internet so you'd think a successful shop would have to change to be profitable. A local yarn shop of this type wouldn't just be selling yarn - which as everyone knows you can probably get for less online - but it would be selling an experience instead of a product. You can't get that online so you'd not be competing with cheap yarn from China. (Or wherever cheap yarn comes from) 

We have a small store in our small town that is a high end resale. The store owner had a small shop and it was staying in business but not really thriving. So she leased the much larger shop next to hers, put a doorway between the two and then rented out areas in the new additional space. The rented areas pretty much pay for the lease and the shop owner gets 10% of all stuff sold there and part of the space rental is to work in the shop several days out of the month. It is essentially now a co-op run by a very benevolent dictator and both sides of the shop are now thriving. If I set up a yarn shop, it will probably be along the same lines.

The price of yarn going up may have more to do with the dollar being devalued than the cost of gas, but transportation costs are also part of price increases. If you buy from within the country, then the devaluation of the dollar on the world market won't be in the equation. 

There is also philosophy involved in this. Instead of making "affordable" yarn (i.e. "cheap"), make the absolute best yarn and items you can possibly make and then sell it for a fair price. "Fair" not "inexpensive". Folks that understand and value quality will buy it. This only works if you have access to folks with money, though, it won't work in all markets. You also have to produce quality. But, if you can produce and maintain quality and have access to folks with money who understand quality, things should work out. Using this philosophy, I make shawls out of either Hula Bunny yarn (40% locally and sustainably produced English angora fiber, 20% Merino sheep's wool, 20% silk spun to fingering weight) or handspun 100% English angora and sell them for a lot of money - $500 on up. It comes out to about $8 an hour for knitting and spinning although I calculate the yarn costs at retail which means there's already profit in there from yarn sales since I only knit from my own yarns. I would make a lot more per hour knitting but the person who has the market that can sell the shawls at the high price takes a 35% commission. If I could sell direct to the customers, the per hour knitting amount would go to over $10 per hour. However, there is still some profit and the knitted shawls also showcase Hula Bunny yarn as well as add pattern support to the yarn since the patterns are written down as the shawls are made. (I can't read patterns, I "just knit". I can write patterns but not follow them.) More Hula Bunny commercially spun yarn is then sold as well as more of the Hillside Farm handspun yarns. Shawl kits are sold at a fraction of the price of a finished shawl and pretty soon (as soon as I get around to doing the graphics) there will be Hula Bunny tee shirts.









This is the Hula Bunny yarn logo:
"Hula Bunny Yarn - made with fiber from Hawaii Bunnies"
(note: I need a better catch phrase) Also need to write the name around the bunny and whatever the catch phrase will be.


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## Taylor R. (Apr 3, 2013)

MDKatie said:


> Maybe you can instead convince her to spin it herself!


Heck yes! Sell the woman a drop spindle!


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## SvenskaFlicka (Nov 2, 2011)

She said she tried to spin it but couldn't. :shrug:


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## bergere (May 11, 2002)

That is a great idea Hotzcatz! Bet it would work where you are.

Sadly, here... there is no money and the county would charge you so much in fees, taxes and permits, there is no way anyone could stay in business. sigh ~~ 
Makes me wish I could move over the bridge to MD!


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

I went to my LYS on a Saturday. The place was packed. They offer how to spin classes, & other classes. This is a small town I was really surprised the amount of people in there.
I don't consider this is a rich town, or necessarily poor one, just middle of the road.

Maybe some of you could dye & sell your own yarn. Heck I might see if I can do that with this yarn store.


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## Falls-Acre (May 13, 2009)

Interesting variation here. I love my LYS... of course, that could be because we only have ONE, but that doesn't mean I can afford her yarns! I love to poke around though, if you poke into the right shelves, she sometimes has awesome prices. And she has a special back room for clearance yarn, 40% off regular prices. That's usually where I spend most of my time when I go in there. It is mainly a knitting shop though, very few hooks so I mostly visit her when I need needles, since she has a great selection of those at very reasonable prices. I'm probably the only person here that honestly doesn't like the prices on Knitpicks. Nearly all of that yarn is for 50g balls (a little less than 2 oz), so the prices are misleading! $6 or $7 for 50g of yarn is not my idea of a great price. And I'd really rather be able to squish it first if I'm going to spend a lot on it. Besides... I love bulk prices (for pretty much everything).

My respect for the price of yarns though has gone way up since I've started spinning. Cause the price on specialty roving and/or fiber is pretty well up there too!


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## SvenskaFlicka (Nov 2, 2011)

Huh. I guess I didn't really realize that knitpicks has mostly 50g balls. I have some yarn that is $7 for 100 grams! Of course, I do have some that is $7 for 50 grams, but we're talking silk blends here. Silk always adds to the price. 

I also do bulk pricing here. Methinks I need to advertise that better.


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## mathchick (Aug 13, 2013)

hotzcatz - the LYS nearest me is a combo yarn/coffee shop complete with a food menu including veggies grown on their (small) yard. It seems to get good business.


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## Wind in Her Hair (Jul 18, 2002)

this meme made me think of this discussion


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## Lythrum (Dec 19, 2005)

My LYS is about a 10 minute drive from work, and there have been many stressful days where I have driven over, bought a skein of yarn, and taken it back to my desk to pet it.


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## Taylor R. (Apr 3, 2013)

About kiddos in yarn stores- there's a woman who works full time at mine who gets along splendidly with my youngest (who usually goes with since the big kids are in school during the day). As soon as we walk in the door if they aren't too busy, she pulls Kate onto her lap at one of the smaller looms and goes to work. Kate is mesmerized and overjoyed with all the extra attention and I spend twice as much because I actually get a chance to look. If left to her own devices, Kate seems to be drawn to the high dollar Schacht wheel that sits on a low shelf (instead of picking one of the more reasonable Kromskis that sit on the floor that I might actually be able to afford should she break it). They've been quizzing her on different fiber types for the last 6 months and she's pretty good at recognizing the more common ones (merino, alpaca, cotton, acrylic, silk, mohair), which is pretty amazing since she's 4 and isn't quite coordinated enough yet to even participate in fibery activites. Just petting is good enough for her.


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## Wind in Her Hair (Jul 18, 2002)

I don't really HAVE a LYS - there are two about 35 minutes from me - but I never go that direction or to that town- ever. 

But on Saturday we are moving a friend and I WILL get to go by one of my favorite NOT Local Yarn shops (about 90 miles from here) it is called The Yarn Gallery - and this weekend just happens to be their anniversary! AND this shop also belongs to the adorable daughter of one of our members - GeoPrincess55!

GeoPrincess55 are you gonna be there this weekend? Chances are we will be swinging by "on the fly" just for a few minutes on our way home - probably about 5pm would be my guess. I know the Pajama Party starts at 430pm but I probably won't make that. 

Maybe I'll get to see you there!

http://www.theyarngallery.net/?q=news


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## Geoprincess55 (Mar 19, 2013)

WIHH - no, I don't think I will be making it up to our shop this weekend. I have been too buried at work after 2 weeks off, that I am exhausted. The PJ party will wipe me out entirely I think. May go up next weekend instead. Hope you do get a chance to stop in though.


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## Taylor R. (Apr 3, 2013)

15 minute parking spaces and going into my LYS do not mix. Keep that in mind folks. As I looked down at my phone and realized that my fifteen minutes was up and one skein was still on the ball winder, I grabbed my kid and sprinted 2 blocks to throw another quarter in the meter (all while an eccentric panhandler shouted at me, "Hey everyone, there's that crazy lady!"). Thank goodness a police car was already blocking me in so they gave me a break, told me to go finish my shopping because they'd be there a while. Ahhh...Lawrence, KS.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

No food or drink in store!

If you are serious about having a business, you can't have hangers on. They'll buy cheap yarn at Michael's, then come to your shop to knit and pick your brain. You could, however, have a coffee/tea shop adjacent to your yarn shop with a door in between. People could sit in the coffee shop and buy a skein before they leave.


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## bryncalyn (Jan 7, 2013)

Maura said:


> No food or drink in store!
> 
> If you are serious about having a business, you can't have hangers on. They'll buy cheap yarn at Michael's, then come to your shop to knit and pick your brain. You could, however, have a coffee/tea shop adjacent to your yarn shop with a door in between. People could sit in the coffee shop and buy a skein before they leave.


I would be concerned about people spilling food or drink on the yarn or worse yet, the pattern books. Just sayin' .....


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