10 of the Best Places to Buy Yarn

Did you know that small yarn shops not only have designer yarn but also charge a fortune? 

Now if you are talented and know how to use the most expensive and fine yarn, before purchasing at a store consider checking online sources such as eBay or Amazon.

Often Walmart carries clearance yarn, so frequently you should check that out.

Keep in mind the bigger the Walmart super center, the bigger the variety and quantity of yarn. eBay often has great deals on huge lots of yarn.

I have had much success buying yarn that way. Hobby Lobby has sales every week and also has a clearance section so check it out!!

Where do you usually buy your yarn? What kind of deals have you found? What type of yarn do you usually buy?

This article will go in detail about the 10 best ways to purchase yarn so check it out today!

http://hubpages.com/art/10-Greatest-Ways-to-Buy-Knitting-or-Crochet-Yarn

A bubble bath and a knitting project

I used to think I could knit anywhere. But I tried to knit while taking a relaxing bubble bath and it just doesn't work for me.

For one thing, you have to keep some slack and this will mean that your project will get wet.

Also, you can't really juggle a paper knitting pattern in the tub and if you are using one off your phone or tablet, well, you definitely don't want those to fall in the bathtub!

Finally, usually part of your arms and hands get wet while soaking in the bath and you don't want your ball of yarn to get wet.

So, there may be a way to take a bath and knit, but I have not found it yet. When I do, you'll be the first to know! :)

Check out one of these quick projects to knit when you aren’t taking a bath!

Free Coaster Patterns: 3 Easy Knit & Purl Starter Coasters - Pt 1
http://hubpages.com/art/Free-Coaster-Patterns-Easy-Knit-and-Purl-Knit-Beginner-Knitting

Tags: bubble bath, knitting, project, relaxing, quick, projects, knit

Free Knitting Pattern: Lots of Triangles Knitted Coaster Set

insert pattern here

When you should get rid of your yarn

When should you GIVE away your yarn?

Wow! That's like blasphemy in my language. Getting rid of yarn - yikes - I don't ever see that as a good thing! Unless, UNLESS I am selling yarn that I am not crazy about and probably will never use in order to FINANCE more yarn that is a type of yarn I love the most, like Bernat Softee Chunk! (which I think they are doing away with *gulp*).

So, how do you get rid of it? Sheesh, I am probably not the expert on that subject, but I have sold a lot, so maybe I can help a little. My "building of my ginormous yarn stash didn't take long and now pretty much dominates the only closet we have! lol. My husband hates it, but he really can't say much, because he only uses drawers in a dresser and doesn't really need closet space. Plus his world (safari, hunting clothes) in a huge Rubbermaid-like container.

I began selling on Craigslist (and a bit of Facebook Marketplace), and found it super easy to sell it all. I did of course sell more than just yarn though. I even sold some old barrettes, hair bands, and stuff like that which I had owned since I was a little girl. Those sold FAST!

I just took pictures of my yarn, gave a brief description (hoping to eliminate too many questions from potential buyers), and came up with a competing price that I thought was fair, but I must admit that that was probably the most difficult part of the sales, because I knew how much I paid for stuff, and didn't want to take a loss there.

I think in my bulky yarn batches for sale, I was pricing about $1.00 per skein, and I had a few gals that jumped on that, but then when I was down to the last 3 posts, I had no questions and no takers. I lowed the price significantly and still had no luck, so I decided to keep them and find a use for them.

Keep in mind that I'm not talking about fancy yarn, just like Red Heart super saver worsted weight yarn or something like that; so I'm sure it wasn't a great deal for someone who knew how much yarn actually costs. But it was SO hard for me to part with it.

It's been like 4-6 months since my last post of my yarn for sale, and now I have decided I need to sell more. I just got so discouraged before. But I just don't like the worsted, regular yarn anymore so I would like to get rid of some of that. I'm thinking about lowering it by half of what I was selling it at and trying $.50/skein.

I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas. What do you use view yarn to be worth? What would you sell it for?

I appreciate your comments below.

xoxo,
Michele

What time of the day do you knit?

I used to knit only on the weekends or when I got off work for a short amount of time. I always loved Fridays because that meant I could stay up all night knitting as much as I wanted to. I was a bit of a loner so I didn't have to go out unless I wanted to.

Since I mostly have housewives or stay-at-home moms as friends or followers, hopefully you understand where I'm coming from. My life is much different now, but I do think I have more time for knitting, but it's not like I time it or anything.

On rare occasions, I knit when I wake up. I might do this if I'm not feeling well and plan to be in bed a bit longer but want to keep my hands busy. Now that my CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome) and EBV (ebsteinn-barr virun) are under control I don't sleep all day.

I like to do specific tasks when I wake up (I will list this in a different blog) and then once my chores are done (which usually never takes place before DH gets home), I work on a difficult knitting project.

I like to take my time during the day (when my mind is sharp) to do something quite hard and then at night, as I am drifting off to sleep, I make garter stitch scarves for the charity I work for.

That charity is called Threads of Compassion, it's a charity that takes in knitted or crocheted scarves and gives them to sexual abuse victims who come in our local emergency rooms. It's a symbol of comfort and compassion.

I NOW knit when my back needs a break. I have serious back issues that have prevented me from doing many things that I used to do, and I am stubborn when it comes to doing my physical therapy exercises. So, during the day I usually watch TV and knit on a difficult project when my bag "gives out" or before bed when I am waiting for my sleeping pills to kick in. I still just work on simple garter scarves for charity at that time.

So, now you HAVE to tell me your story! When do you find the time to knit?

Looking forward to reading your answers!

xoxo,
Michele

How to Start a Knitting Blog

This is the first blog post and only blog post that I wrote on another blog which has since been deleted, so here's the info that I wrote about and I currently don't have a Part 2

this post is part 1 of this topic... find part 2 for even more info on this...

what the heck am i writing about and why am i an expert in starting knitting blogs?

i have started and stopped so many knitting blogs. it's hard to believe. it's also crazy how many hours i have spent writing this exact (ok. maybe not this exact) post. i'm an intermediate skilled knitter. i started this blog post yesterday, tho i dont expect to have it completely done by the end of the time today.

so, you are wondering why i am writing about this topic. well, for one thing, i have a lot of experience writing this blog on this exact subject. how you can start your own blog? well, i have a lot of experience with that too. although i don't have as much of experience finishing this blog post.

what i am trying to say, in too many words, is that i have tried to start a knitting blog several times, but i cant seem to stick with it long enough to classify it as a knitting blog, so at this point, be forewarned.

why am i writing this blog with incorrect grammar? (yes i must specify this)

just to let you know, i dont write with improper spelling, formatting, or grammar. i have grown my gel nails out for 2 months now (usually you get them changed every 2 weeks, but i have kept this very long and pretty for this long), and now they are like talons, very very long. i think they look awesome, but they have grown out a lot, and its pretty hard to type using my fingernails rather than my fingers. my point being i am having trouble typing properly.

but wait. there's more. in order to type at the speed i do (approximately 65 wpm) i just skimp over the grammar (for the most point). when my husband bought me this laptop/pad. the keyboard is much smaller than the average laptop or pc. i am, however, trying to keep up with the spelling. the other reason i'm letting the grammar slide on this blog post is that the font is small and i dont have the greatest grammar. ok. so that sounds like a very lame excuse.

my final excuse which is probably the best one - sorry for making you wait - is that the microsoft office that came with this lappad thing (i say that because its much bigger and has a broader range of features than the ipad, but its much smaller and it does have less features than the normal sized laptop or pc) is expired, meaning that i dont have microsoft word to neatly write these posts in. instead, i am writing them straight in the blog.

i also forgive my bad grammar and/or spelling, because i wrote this when i was half asleep, and/or i was extremely tired! so please forgive me just this once. :)

so i have the experience in starting this exact blog, what experience do i have in knitting or specifically, in knitting blogs

well, i will have to write more on this subject in another blog post, because hey, i think it deserves its own blog post. so this post will be continued...

PART 2 Coming up...

Our Baby Fiona and the Blue Lappie

March 24, 2019

To my knitting friends -

I love this picture of Fiona Glennann (Yes, she is named after the girl in Burn Notice - one of my all-time favorite shows). She doesn't have a care or worry in the world. She is HUGE, yet still our baby (she is 3 years old now!). She is also fearless. She could just walk in a burning building without fear.It's kinda funny sometimes!

Anyway, about the knitting. Yes, that's why you are reading this. She is laying on and is covered with a blue lappie (what I call a lap blanket) I made. It's made out of 3 different colors of blue made out of Red Heart's new brand of "Soft" yarn. It's so sleek and pretty. I will write down the pattern for you readers when I get a chance, and I will also take a better picture of it.

But a quick review of the pattern is that I did about 5 rows of garter stitch for the top and bottom borders and on the side, I did 5 knit stitches at the beginning and end of each row. Each section is made of 10 rows of stockinette stitches, and at the end of each section I did 2 lines of garter stitch to show the separation. It's very soft and I wanted to use those blues, because we have a new painting in our home with blues in it made by Bryan's mom.

She made our art special for us, and it doesn't look like her usual pieces, but I told her what we kinda wanted and that's what she made for us. You can find my mother-in-law's art page here:

https://www.artbyjonalou.com/

Enjoy.

xoxo,
Michele Kelsey

My Best Knitting Project

I posted this message on Facebook for my husband:

"To the Love of my Life, Bryan

This is the hardest project I've ever done. I love the way it turned out. I made it to celebrate our 5 year anniversary as it is very special to me. The 5 colors of the afghan represent the 5 years we have been married.

I love you Bryan and cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with you. Every day I spend with you, I love and cherish you more. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have married such an amazing man. You are my everything! 

Forever yours, Michele"

This IS the most difficult project I've ever made. I am so proud of myself for branching out and learning the new stitches that I needed to do in order for me accomplish the making of this afghan.

Beginners, What inspires you when you knit?

From artists to designers you can find plenty of ways to make your art special, unique, and inspiring. For the average knitting to the beginners, you will find that your inspiring options are limited. Even just making or creating basic knit and purl patterns, you will find that there isn't much you can make without learning new stitched or techniques.

I taught myself how to knit and tried so hard to teach myself how to purl. I believe it was one specific video that I came across that finally had the instructions on how purl that finally taught me how to purl. Otherwise, I would not have many options even today. My world opened up to me when I figured out how to purl. The list of patterns I could knit became even larger.

So, back to my question: Beginners (those who can only knit and/or purl), what inspired you when you knit? In this context, let's look at what you CAN do and what you WANT to do, because if you can and don't want to do something, you really don't need to learn how to do it, right?

The other side of the coin says that you may come across things that you may come across patterns that you CANNOT do and but you really WANT to do. Those you cant do may be easy to ignore; after all, if you are on a roll will whipping out projects left and right, learning something new will most definitely low you down. It may take you quite a long time to get up to speed with a whole new stitch or technique.

Becoming a designer was a really exiting chapter in my life. I would be no means say that I am a perfect or expert knitter. There are plenty of little things that I could still learn from someone who just have just begun how to knit. I am far from advanced, but I used the skills I have to embark on the job of a designer.

It took me a while to figure out how to design small things like coasters and bookmarks. Simple right? But I have had fun with this creativity. All I had to do was alter the numbers on the stitches already created.

Example of a Stitch and how I turned it into a coaster step by step

Check out these links to database of different stitches that you can make today!
Lion Brand
look at my pinterest board (can i link this to my pinterest board?) for more locations

After I learned how to create items using by the stitches from books or online, I began looking into how to make dishcloths. I stared out with pretty basic designs and eventually wound up creating designs of what, where, etc. For example, I have one dishcloth made with hearts.

There were plenty of difficulties when I started learning how to design washcloths and dishcloths. I got side tracked a lot by new patterns I wanted to make. I don't know that I'm any better today. lol. I still have about 10-15 WIPs.

Check out this basic washcloth/dishcloth I designed to understand what I am describing. I have now moved up the scale to creating afghans. The difference now is the design itself. I can't just easily create 1 to see how it will turn out. It typically takes me 3 days to a week to create one afghan so I like to make sure I have it right before I run off and spend all that time to make a huge afghan. I often make baby blankets to check out the design and before I spend hours making a king sized bedspread or afghan.

Do you knit in spurts?

When I get on the right track and am really motivated, I tend to knit faster and more fluid like. What are you like when you feel that way? It's like racing for me. I try to pretend I am in a competition and that I am aiming to beat the other knitters in the race. lol. I know. I'm weird, but I don't mind! I like getting on track with my knitting rows. I can especially do this if its an easy repeat row, like "knit across." However, if it's not an easy pattern to follow that I can do without looking at the pattern, I am much slower as I must be very careful or I make mistakes.

I Taught Myself How to Knit

In my knitting club, all of the women crochet rather than knit. I found that it was easier to learn how to knit than it was to learn how to crochet. I did try, but I just found it more comfortable to knit like I knew how. I didn't make the learning experience easy on myself either. Rather than watching You Tube videos that would teach me easily, I taught myself how to knit by reading a book and looking at pictures. Just learning how to tie a slip knot, cast on, knit, and bind off were hard enough without adding purling to the mix. It seemed like no matter how hard I tried, I could not understand how to purl.


xoxo,
Michele Kelsey
9/11/15

I Taught Myself How to Purl

I must have read my intro book a hundred times trying to learn how to purl. I only knew how to knit, and I wanted to add a little variety to my garter scarves, especially since all of the women in my knitting club would crochet these beautiful elaborate scarves, and I would only have my plain garter ones. It seemed that no matter how I did it, when I tried to purl, I would end up with two backwards loops on my right needle rather than one neat looking loop as I should. Finally, I watched an introductory You Tube video that showed me how to purl. I had to watch it several times, but I realized where I had gone wrong. I was not putting the yarn in the front of the needle when I was trying to purl, but rather I was keeping in the back as I did when I knitted. That was my problem. Once I fixed it, it wasn't a completely smooth ride, but I basically mastered the purl stitch over time.


xoxo,
Michele Kelsey
9/11/15

What My Kitten Did to My Completed Knitted Scarves

Each month I keep a stack of completed scarves together so that I can donate them at my monthly knitting meeting. I had a cabinet in one of my bedrooms that I began storing them in. When we got our new kitten (now a year and a half old), we kept her in that room mostly so she would stay out of trouble and so that we could get her and our current cat used to each other. I guess she felt safe in that little cabinet, hiding, and found comfort in laying in the basket with all of my finished scarves in it. I guess she also had some free time on her hands and some kitten playfulness to get out too, because I soon discovered she had pulled the yarn in various places on my scarves, making huge loops and basically messing them up. Of course she did not get punished and I went ahead and donated those scarves with a note of apology. I just hoped that those more experienced women in my club could fix those mistakes with their skills.


xoxo,
Michele Kelsey
9/15/15

What is my favorite yarn?

My favorite yarn is Red Heart Super Saver worsted weight yarn. Why is this my favorite yarn? Well in many ways I still consider myself a beginner. Worsted weight yarn is easy to work with. It's a tad rough in a finished product like a baby blanket or washcloth. However, if you use large needles, it makes the knitting project loose and softer. This type of yarn is easy to slide around the needle with. I can work so much faster with worsted weight yarn.


xoxo,
Michele Kelsey
9/18/15

Whoa! It's been nearly 4 years since I ACTUALLY wrote this blog post. Since then I must admit that my taste in yarn has changed. The normal worsted weight Red Heart yarn is too flimsy for my regular long projects. I am working on an anniversary afghan to celebrate Bryan and My's 5 year anniversary.

This project is made up using Bernat's Softee Chunky yarn which is my all time favorite. I must admit though they are making it harder and harder for me to purchase it. I think they are fading it out.

How my husband helps with my knitting

Bryan actually participates in my hobby because it is my life! He usually weaves in the ends, blocks any projects that need it, helps me track what row I'm on, and helps me find the right recipients for my projects as well as helping me organize all my knitting stuff. It's great to have a partner who helps!


xoxo,
Michele Kelsey
9/18/15

Who gets what knitting projects?

After years of giving my friends and family more scarves than they will ever be able to wear in a lifetime, I decided to start making coasters, blankets, bookmarks, and dishcloths-things like that-things they could use.


xoxo,
Michele Kelsey
9/18/15

Why I enjoy knitting dishcloths

Dishcloths are a great project to knit. They are typically simple and easy to knit. They can also be personalized. Usually when you are making someone a gift you know them pretty well. You should know their interests. For example if you have an uncle who is a football fan, a grill cook, a photographer or a drummer, you can find easy patterns that have footballs, grills, cameras and drums on them.


xoxo,
Michele Kelsey
9/18/15

A health benefit from knitting

There are many health benefits associated with knitting. One big one is relaxation and peace. Once you become a knitter you may find you can throw away that Valium and find comfort in this hobby. Lol. So try using your talents as a knitter and test the theory that you may have just found a way to relieve your stress!


xoxo,
Michele Kelsey
9/19/15

Why people knit

Did you know that some people knit to cure boredom? Other people knit to find a way to express themselves as they become talented enough to create their own designs. Some do it to make money and others do it to bond with other knitters. Why do you knit? The reasons are endless!


xoxo,
Michele Kelsey
9/19/15

Knitting on a Rainy Day

When there's a weather event, whether it be a snow storm or just a rainy day, knitting is a great way to pass the time. Not only does knitting give you a way to relax, but it is also a way to be productive. It can help make you feel like you accomplished something even though you were stuck at home all day.


xoxo,
Michele Kelsey
9/20/15

Knitting and Insomnia

Insomnia is a tough condition to beat, especially if you have tried everything! No one wants to create a fight club because of it, so here's a suggestion: knit! Garter stitching is simply knitting every row. Once you know how to do this you can multitask and/or knit in the dark. It's a great way to clear your head and wind down in order to sleep.

xoxo,
Michele Kelsey
9/20/15

Being Sick and Knitting

Well today I found it fitting to write about knitting. A short version of my life is that I am a housewife/mother. However, like anyone I get sick (more often than a normal person but opposite of my DH - he seems to be a carrier of sickness but NEVER gets sick). This was supposed to be a celebratory weekend but I have had either food poisoning or the stomach flu for over 24 hours. Usually I can garter stitch a scarf when I'm sick in bed but not this weekend. I'm barely able to just watch tv. I can usually always find time to knit but this is a rarity.

xoxo,
Michele Kelsey
9/20/15

Finding strength through knitting

Sometimes life can be overwhelming. Heck, even the smallest task can seem overwhelming. But if you can break down the situation piece by piece, you will find you can accomplish anything. Often when I'm struggling to complete a task that is stressful, tedious or overwhelming, I do a small knitting project. This gives me a sense of pride as I know now that regardless of the task I can accomplish it. It may be as simple as knitting a coaster or a bookmark. The easiest project I ever did was a doll blankie for my niece. Lol.

xoxo,
Michele Kelsey
9/22/15

A bubble bath and a knitting project

I used to think I could knit anywhere. But I tried to knit while taking a relaxing bubble bath and it just doesn't work for me. For one thing, you have to keep some slack and this will mean that your project will get wet. Also, you can't really juggle a paper knitting pattern in the tub and if you are using one off your phone or tablet, well, you definitely don't want those to fall into the tub! Finally, usually part of your arms and hands get wet when bathing and you don't want your ball of yarn to get wet. So, there may be away to take a bath and knit but I have not found it yet. When I do, you'll be the first to know! :)

xoxo
Michele Kelsey
9/23/15

Why Did I Started Knitting?

I have always enjoyed volunteer work; it fulfills me. I used to write letters to soldiers stationed overseas who did not receive mail from home. However, the website I used decided to start charging the volunteers who wrote to these soldiers, and I thought that was just wrong. My mother had a heart attack and was stuck at home, not working, for a while. She is a busy body and went stir crazy. She found us an organization at her church called Threads of Compassion that would keep her busy while she rested. This charity accepted knitted or crocheted scarves as a sign of comfort for women who suffered from sexual abuse. I was really not a great knitter at first, since it was so new to me, but once I figured out how to garter stitch, I really enjoyed just producing one scarf after another until I had a huge pile. I presented my stack of scarves at our monthly meeting and truly enjoyed the thought that they would go to someone in need.

Written by Michele Kelsey 10/1/15

Cheapest Way to Buy Yarn

Did you know that small yarn shops not only have designer yarn but also charge a fortune? Now if you are talented and know how to use the most expensive and fine yarn, before purchasing at a store consider checking online sources such as eBay or Amazon. Often Walmart carries clearance yarn, so frequently you should check that out. Keep in mind the bigger the Walmart super center, the bigger the variety and quantity of yarn. eBay often has great deals on huge lots of yarn. I have had much success buying yarn that way. Hobby Lobby has sales every week and also has a clearance section so check it out!!

Written by Michele Kelsey 9/23/15

Welcome to My Knitting Blog!

Hello my dear followers (or those who will soon be, I hope),

I apologize for it being, uh, like at least 4 years since I gave this poor blog some water. Besides what was posted on here already (posts from 2015), I found a lot of drafts from that year that were neglected and not nursed into blog posted. I will take a look at those posts them right away and send them out here.

Also, the posts that were published on this blog were not, in my opinion, very well written and the photos were crappy. However, I'm going to leave them on here because well they were the first little babies to make it on this antique blog. I may, one day, change my mind and keep only gold nuggets of truth on this blog, but for now, this big post will take the babies into this big bad blog!

I choose to share the photo above because its as close to what I'm knitting as anything. I love that one, though it is still a WIP (work in progress). I picked those colors to be a masculine afghan for my husband. The one I am currently working on is a little different; I will discuss it more later on. I'm calling it my 5 year anniversary afghan.

I want to take the time to write you a proper welcome message so that you can get to know me and my story better, but you know what? I have learned that if you take your time to write the perfect introduction or welcome message, that before you know it, you will come across a 5 year old blog that has nothing useful on it - in other words a neglected blog like this one, one I need to slowly nurse back to health; so, please forgive me for this not so well thought out introduction.

Instead, I will say this brief introduction and bid you a farewell for now, and I also send out some of those neglected "drafts" that I found lying around. 

My brief introduction?

My name is Michele Kelsey; I have been married and living in Oklahoma, USA, for 5 years now. I previously was a Managing Accountant with a MBA. I loved school; I have 4 degrees with the highest honors. I am now a stay at home wife with three cats. I'm not a "cat lady" lol. Our cats are all grey tabbies: King (10 years old), Princess (7 years old), and Fiona Glenanne (3 years old - and yes she was named after Fiona from Burn Notice). I design knitting patterns and am very active in the knitting social networking websites. I am going to soon offer my original patterns to the public. I usually have about 10 projects going at a time. I'm sure many of you can say that too, lol. So, that's me, in a small nutshell.

I look forward to meeting you all.

xoxo,

Michele Kelsey

The easiest knitting project

I guess I'm going to choose 2 things to be the easiest knitting projects: bookmarks and doll blankets. Here are the reasons why they are the best choices for a beginner: 1. You can complete a project in a few minutes. 2. The patterns if you need them are very easy to follow. 3. Quick gratification 4. You can complete them by only using the knit stitch if you want to.

Tags: bookmark, doll blanket, knitting, easy, fast, beginner, project 

Sweet Angel Dishcloth

www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sweet-angel-dishcloth

Linking Hearts Cloth

www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/linking-hearts-cloth

Happy to Be Home Dishcloth

www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/happy-to-be-home-dishcloth

Gingerbreadman Cloth

www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/gingerbreadman-cloth

Baby Cradle Dishcloth

www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/baby-cradle-dishcloth

2 Hearts Becoming 1 Cloth

www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/2-hearts-becoming-1-cloth

Yummy Cherry Cloth

www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/yummy-cherry-cloth

Tropical Palm Trees Cloth

www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/tropical-palm-trees-cloth