Like most of you knitters out there, I have a favorite local
yarn store (or two, or three, or a dozen) that I buy my yarn from. But what do
you do when you just can't find what you're looking for at any of the local
shops? If you're anything like me, you turn to the great big wonder that is the
internet.
There are some fantastic places to buy yarn online, and there
are some advantages to buying this way. For one, you can look at several
different stores for the yarn you're looking for without driving all around
town. For another, you can find some really good prices online - like really good. How does 1.50 a skein sound?
The only real downside to buying yarn online, other than not
supporting your LYS, is not being able to feel before you buy. For me, the feel
of yarn is something that makes me want to buy it in the first place, which
makes buying yarn sight unseen (or touch unseen) can be a bit of a gamble. But
if you don't mind the risk, or already know what you want to buy, here are a
few of my favorite places to shop for yarn online.
These sites offer pretty much the same things - good overall
selection at decent prices. And if you sign-up for their e-mail lists, every
once in a while you'll get a free shipping or a $5 off coupon.
For all you lace knitters, this is the place to go.
ColourMart is a British company that specializes in selling remainder luxury
yarns - remainder yarn being the yarn left on the cone after a piece is knit or
woven. Anyways, this is the place to go if you want lace weight yarn in bulk
for a really good price - anywhere from
$15 to $40 (including shipping) for about 1500 yards of cashmeir, silk, marino
or some combination.
More just a place to find wonderful patterns and chat with
your fellow yarn enthusiasts, Ravelry.com can also be a great place to buy
yarn, especially discontinued yarn. Under the "Yarn" Tab at the top,
either search for a specific brand or type of yarn you want or go browsing.
Click on a specific yarn, and then either choose the "buying options"
tab or the "stashes" tab to find out which other Ravelry members have
your yarn and who is willing to sell or trade it.
To be honest, Knit Picks is really only a great place to buy
yarn if you like KnitPicks brand yarn, which I do. They have yarns of all fiber
types and colors at really good princes - 440 yards of baby alpaca lace for
under $6? Yes and please.
For the life of me, I will never understand why this site is
called WEBS instead of Yarn.com - but whatever. All I know is that these guys
have nearly every yarn under the sun. And their closeout section is one of the
best places around to find some amazing deals on yarn.
So - have you ever bought yarn online? If yes, where's your
favorite place and if not, would you ever consider giving it a chance?
Casting off,
Megan
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