Knitting these days can be expensive, if you are not careful. Looking for a soft, but sturdy yarn for an adult sleeveless vest yesterday, SW found that the price tag was about $90.00 for the yarn the pattern called for. No way! Those days are over. So after browsing a bit, decided on an Araucania bulky weight natural handspun cotton. Found two sales: the first, the Araucania was listed regularly at $15.00, on sale for $11.99, the second site, where SW has purchased before, had the same yarn on sale for $4.95. So be careful, be wise, and save money on yarn for knitting and crochet. Just because one site lists a yarn sale, doesn't mean you can't save even more money somewhere else.
Using sale and discontinued yarns to knit or crochet gifts makes a lot of sense. Six balls of suri alpaca yarn in a bulky weight purchased on sale will yield 4-5 cowls or scarves, mittens or hats. So that's about $6 to $7 a gift.
The first free pattern is a very easy cowl, photos in the slideshow, and posted at Dropped Stitches. After having knit about 30 minutes, about 2 basketweave pattern repeats, the cowl, knit sideways on straight needles, is 6 inches long and 9 inches wide on a size 11 needle with bulky yarn. Finished length is 24 inches, then it's grafted together, so this cowl should take about 2-3 hours of easy knitting time. The only change SW made to the pattern was to cast on using a long-tail cast on for a looser edge. The width can be adjusted as well, just cast on extra stitches in multiples of 6.
More free cowl patterns, scarfs, and gifts.
So be careful, be wise, be thrifty, frugal knitting with a free cowl pattern and you can create gifts under $7.00. The cowl pattern is called 'Aisley Cowl' by knit designer Erin Wallace, who is a "Gardener, Domestic Goddess, Mother, and Wife. Former Pediatrician, Present Blogger".
Check out your LYS Providence area shop for bargains galore. Workshops and classes, too!
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Comments
I hear you about saving money on yarn. Goodness knows that I have spent enough on yarn for 2 lifetimes! However, the online market is driving our local yarn stores (LYS) out of business and they are forced to raise prices to make ends meet. For example, I just bought some Rowan yarn for $9.95 a skein at a LYS. When I got home, I realized that I needed some more yarn for a pattern that I am designing. I went online and found it overseas (in the UK) for $3.80 a skein. Of course, I bought a ton more because I really like the colorway and even with shipping, I was way ahead. However, I know that the LYS I originally bought the yarn from can't afford to sell it any cheaper. And, I sure would hate for them to go out of business.
www.handsindelight.com
Wow! Thanks for featuring my cowl! I'm pretty pleased with it and am psyched that it's actually a pattern I came up with! And yes, it's easy, looks good on, and to save some cash I used recycled sweater yarn, used two different yarns together which resulted in a super bulky yarn. The Rowan I recommend was the closest I could find to what my yarn ended up looking like, but you could use any colorway in a superbulky. Thanks again!!!
xo Erin
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