SPENDTHRIFT CRAFTING
Yarn stash looking a bit sluggish? There’s no need to splash out. You can lighten and brighten your stash while saving bundles of cash, with tips from some canny crafters.
We’re always trying to find ways to rein in our spending, and that goes for our yarn buying, too. If, like us, you’d like to save some cash, not too mention whittle down your growing yarn stash a bit, read on for some frugal ideas from our favourite thrifty crafters. TREASURE SEEKERS Eirlys Penn of www.scrapiana.com is a bit of an expert at sourcing yarn without spending too much. “I look out for stray balls in charity shops and car boot sales,” she says. “I’m not too fussy, but I tend to ignore anything made from synthetic fibres. I like mending with the dense, traditional cotton crochet thread – it’s strong, turns up a lot in charity shops and you can work a wonderfully robust darn with it. I also occasionally make one- ball projects such as tea cosies and dishcloths with balls of charity shop yarn.”
A ramble through a charity shop is also a great way to stir up your imagination, says Tif Fussell, who blogs about cheery, crafty, thrifty things at the marvellous www. dottieangel.blogspot.com. “From time to time, I come across secondhand yarns in fabulous colours that I use for sewing, parcel wrapping and on occasion, if there is enough yarn, I will rustle up a nice neckwarmer to keep the chills at bay,” she says. “I love using secondhand goodness to create new things. Put me in a thrift store and my creative cogs start whirring!”
Tif advises: “Always keep a beady eye out for odd skeins at the thrift store. Often they can be found in the perfect granny colours, the likes of which are hard to source these days. I found all of my best peach- coloured yarns in this way.”
Charity shops are something of a gold mine for Eirlys. “I find it interesting that some people can’t bear the thought that