Hi everyone, I hope your weekend has been a good one! With Black Friday behind us, and Cyber Monday ahead; this blog is the second in my series of posts where I share ways to continue to crochet and knit without spending a lot of cash.
I hope you found my last blogpost 'Savvy Knits' useful and have looked in your stash at what yummy yarn you have, what patterns you can find and what projects you can knit with these!
I always have a yarn stash. Sometimes this is due to buying one ball too many for a project (I hate the thought of running out of yarn and the dyelot batch number no longer being available) I'm certainly a 'just in case' kinda gal. Other times, I set my sights on my next leisurely knit, then find some new yarn which is extra special and I just have to start a new project with it right away! This means my first project is shelved in favour of
a new yarn and a new project. My intention is always to come back to the first knit; but sometimes one knit leads me in a new direction, and three knits later, I still haven't returned to the first project! I don't mind this, it's just my knitting process. I'm sure I'm not the only knitter who has bought yarn for a project, then changed their mind!
Anyway, on to this post, which is about my second favourite past time - charity shopping!
I love a good bargain as much as the next person, and you can never underestimate how essential charity shops are for knitting on a budget. First of all, there are often a few knitting and crochet patterns available. As a vintage knitter, this is a great resource and often patterns don't cost a great deal - usually 10 pence to 50 pence per pattern. There are often knitting books available too, usually costing no more than £3 each. Rather than being crammed in with the other books on the bookshelves, some shops have an area set aside for crafting which includes knitting patterns, fabrics, wool and thread; so it's usual to be able to pick up a few balls of yarn. Sometimes the label will be missing, but if you use the wpi (wraps per inch) link you can work out what knitting weight the yarn is. There are often knitting needles available too. Kniting needles are usually straight rather than circular, but charity shops can be a great resource for smaller needles (those below UK size 2.25mm) which are needed for a lot of vintage patterns. Again, these usually cost less than a pound per pair.
Another great resource to be found are buttons. Sometimes these are on a card, separated out into matching batches in bags, or all piled in together in one box. I've found some beautiful sets of vintage buttons in charity shops before, which I always snap up; as buttons can really complete a vintage garment in a way modern buttons can't replicate. My hubby bought a beautiful vintage wool waistcoat on one trip which had the last button missing; and a rummage through a button box on another charity shop trawl saw me finding the perfect button to match the others, plus a spare! Like I say, I'm a 'just in case' kinda gal!
Being prepared to spend time digging around in charity shops can flag up some real bargains and the opportunity to find something that's a real one-of-its-kind; plus the charity shop makes money from the donations they receive; so everyone's a winner!!
My final 'wild card' is the bric-a-brac basket where you can usually find lots of wonderful oddments. These sections are the best for odd dangling earrings which can make great stitch markers! If the ear fitting isn't a kidney shaped one with a clasp, then you can replace the earwire with a jump ring (available from bead jewellery suppliers). A jump ring will slide on most knitting needles, so you never need to worry that your stitch marker won't fit; and for a few pence you can have a unique set of stitch markers!
To find the WPI of any yarn, wrap the yarn securely around a pencil or pen. There should be no gaps between each wrap. Using a ruler, measure the number of wraps per inch. This will give you an accurate method for checking yarn weight. In this example, my yarn wrapped around 16 times in an inch, so this is a fine 4 ply weight
I've included a handy WPI chart converter available from Ravelry https://www.ravelry.com/help/yarn/weights to help you check yarn weights.
I hope you find lots of inspiration from this blog and create opportunities for finding a bargain in the future!
Til next time, happy knitting peeps!
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