What Does $263 worth of yarn look like?

Let me start off by saying I didn't in fact spend $263 on this yarn but that is what it is worth at full price. I've talked before about how I have to find ways to keep my yarn costs down to make my scarves affordable. If I bought the nice yarns I like to work with at full price I would never be able to sell them with any kind of a profit. I buy much of my yarn on-line at the sites I talked about in this long ago post. I do try to shop at the Local Yarn Shops (LYS) as much as possible but really only buy yarn for the business when they are having a sale.

About 4 times a year The Weaving Dept. in Florissant has a huge sale. They fill what they call The Barn with all of the discontinued, returned, and single ball yarns and mark everything 75% off. Most of it is novelty yarn or scarf yarn from name brands like Crystal Palace and Trendsetter which is just fine by me. If you get there early though you can find some single or double balls of wool and cotton. Every time I come away with some special surprise. A few visits ago I found a stash of Noro yarn and last time I found several single balls of cashmere which made lovely scarflettes. This visit there was tons of ribbon yarn as many yarn makers are moving away from man made yarns and focusing on more natural yarns. This makes me happy as I love natural fibers. But who can pass up all the amazing colors of discontinued ribbon yarn which knits up quickly into lovely scarves that I can sell for $15 at my craft shows and still make a profit.

I also really liked this thick and soft Tango yarn from Universal. It is a merino wool blend and I got as many balls as there was left. It was originally marked $9 a ball so I got them for $2.25. I'll have to knit the single ball with another yarn but the others that I have at least 2 of will make some really soft and colorful scarves by themselves.