Many of us have experienced the particular sort of heartache and disappointment of knitting something with a sumptuous 35-bucks-a-skein yarn and it turned out…. sort of blah. Or how many of us are holding onto special, expensive yarn because we haven’t found the absolute perfect pattern that would go with it – and it’s been 8 years?

Not everyone has the money to knit a sweater that will cost them $200 in yarn, and no knitter should feel badly for this. Not just beginner knitters, but knitters at every stage of their knitting. Because there are a lot of great yarns in the craft stores these days more than even this yarn omnivore expected.

Yarn Snob? Try Yarn Omnivore

I define a Yarn Omnivore as someone who crafts with all sorts of yarn fibers and uses materials that fall all across the cost spectrum. I have expensive needles that died too quickly and inexpensive ones that were surprisingly durable and solid. I’ve got yarn that cost eye-watering sums and some that cost a few bucks a skein.  How much they cost has had no impact on how easily they pill or wear through, or if they are durable and wet block beautifully. I’ve got silks, wool from several different breeds of sheep, buffalo, alpaca, cottons and linen, acrylic, nylon,  viscose and everything in between. There’s even a yarn made from milk protein somewhere in my stash. This broad approach to my knitting has made me a happier knitter because I love trying out new yarn, and I love being happily surprised by a skein of yarn that was a great bargain.

My Favourite “Craft Yarn” Projects

I believe there is room for more than one type of yarn in your stash. There was definitely a time in my knitting life when it was clear to me that working with ‘craft store’ yarn was seen as something you moved out of in your knitting life, but I never quite understood why (looking back on old posts, I’m practically apologizing for using it, which is crazy). Recently I reviewed my Ravelry projects to see what I had made with those types of yarns, and was surprised at how many items there really were. Some of my favourites (and baby Lila!):

Top row, from left to right: Kitten hat, Squirrel, Bunny hat.

Bottom row, from left to right: Pot Cozies, Tiger, Pugsley.

I knit many of these in Bernat Satin, a very soft acrylic that I picked up at my local Michaels, because they needed to be very soft and machine washable. The Bernat Satin is very soft to the touch, and made at a time when I wasn’t sure how a new baby’s skin would deal with real wool. I love how the yarns has held up over the years, and the toys are in good shape – although I made the tiger eleven years ago for a friend’s now 11 year old, so I’ll have to ask how it’s held up!

The plant pot cozies, which I now use as coffee sleeves, were knit in Patons Classic Wool Worsted, a 100% worsted weight wool that I hadn’t tried before that project, and was really impressed with. The yarn has held up wonderfully, and they look exactly the same as in the photos after washing, even with the stitched on face details and ears. If you were looking for a very affordable, 100% classic wool, it would definitely do a great job.

This isn’t the first time that I’ve expressed my feelings on this subject- I wrote this post back in 2016 originally to speak about being more inclusive when it came to slow fashion October, and I still feel the same. But it’s easy to have an opinion, it’s another thing to actually walk your own talk.

Some New-to-Me Finds

Recently I had a stroll through my local Michaels and took a look at the yarns. There were a lot of happy discoveries for me, things I hadn’t realized would be there. And it occurred to me that there were definitely some yarns that were absolutely perfect to buy at a big craft store!

Shown here, from Left to Right: Patons Shetland Tweeds Chunky (In Aran Tweed the light cream, and the grey is Pewter), Patons Alpaca Blend, Bernat Velvet in Burgundy Plum.

Ideal purchases from the yarn aisle of your big craft store? Marled yarns, inexpensive 100% wool, tweeds, and yarns with different fabric effects – like the velvet shown above on the right.

I’m swatching with some of the Shetland Chunky Tweeds, which is an acrylic and wool blend. In the lighter swatch I wanted to see how the flecks came out in simple stockinette, and in the grey, I’m checking the stitch definition with a thick cable- I’m knitting chunky braided headband, which you can see is coming along nicely!

I have been loving the velvet trend that has been popping up in clothing stores recently, but you know what sucks about velvet fabric? The back of it, which is the part next to your skin. It’s not soft at all. What is the point in wearing velvet if the only way to feel the softness is to stroke your own arm?!  But velvet yarn? Well, that’s some 360 degree softness, right there. Case and point – I’m madly in love with this Bernat Velvet yarn.

Honestly, if you go to the craft store for no other yarn, please go and pet this yarn. It’s incredible. I want to knit a whole sweater out of it, but  it would also be brilliant for some very soft and luxurious cowls or mittens. Then I want to knit sheets out of this yarn, and sleep between them. Everything I touch should be as soft as this yarn!

And come to think of it, would be great for holiday gift knitting- assuming you can part with any of it once you’ve touched it. Surely we all know someone who would love a luxe cowl or mittens in a velvety yarn like this. And the skeins are HUGE – 315 yards per skein of a chunky weight yarn. Not too bad at all.

The other thing more affordable yarns are perfect for- yarn crafts. You don’t really want to use your cashmere blend to make a pom pom, do you? Holiday decorations that are going to spend most of the year in storage will likely become treasured keepsakes if crafted in non-organic fibers, as my Nana’s holiday decorations (crocheted more than 30 years ago) can attest. Moths don’t like to munch acrylic! I’m thinking of making a big pom pom wreath this year, and I doubt I’ll be looking for anything in my merino stash for it. No, I’ll be looking for something fun and festive, in the yarn aisles of my local craft store.

** This post was graciously sponsored by Spinrite yarns. All opinions are my own, and I chose all the yarn myself.**