Yes, wool prices are higher, as most things are, but there's lots more options for buying if you're willing to mail order via the internet. Websites like Elann.com and Knitpicks.com have great prices and quality products. Large chains including Joanns and AC Moore do have frequent sales on their yarn. For big items like afghans, acrylic yarns have gotten much nicer in texture and colors.

The crappy stuff is still relatively cheap, and thank goodness I don't mind using the crap every once in a while (red heart super saver, that sort of thing).

But of course, of all the bins of stuff, what am I drawn to? The 50g skeins that cost 11.95 CDN each rofl. And let us just say it would take quite a few of those 50g skeins to make ANYTHING to go onto this body.

I couldn't find sock yarn locally, and the prices on the net were horrendous. Then Tami_OH turned me on to knitpicks.com....their prices are very reasonable for everything I looked at. Like half what I would pay in a store or elsewhere on the net.

I had to wait about a week to get my stash, but now that it is here I am doing the "happy sock yarn dance". And there were no customs charges that I know of, which is nice. Some places use shippers that charge 5 bucks collect even if there are no taxes or duties as a "service charge".

Thanks gals,going to check out their site!

Just ordered my first stash of yarn from Knit Piks.com
will be anxiously waiting my order.I needed something to knit crop tops for the summer for my six year old grandaughter,and the prices are very reasonable!
Thanks again for the info.

Eliza Ann

I've been knitting for almost 40 years and good yarn was expensive then and its expensive now. I find that it is not unusual to spend $150 for yarn for a sweater. I recently made a pair of socks that required 5 colors --- over $40 for a pair and only one color was completely used up. Fortunately -- I made another pair and used the leftover yarn for trim on a couple of pairs of mittens.

But the payoff is this --- a beautiful hand-knit sweater will last several life-times. We have baby sweaters in the family that have gone thru 3 generations and are ready for the 4th. The first sweater I ever made at the age of 12 was out of Brunswick Germantown wool -- I wore it, my daughter wore it, my niece wore it and its waiting for a granddaughter to wear it.

It's all about trade-offs!! At least, that is what I tell myself as I drive my 1993 Tempo to the local yarn shop!!!

Cathy