One of my most prized possessions is a very simple blue cardigan knitted by my mother. I've never worn it. She never wore it. Sadly, she passed away at a young age and never had the opportunity.
What the sweater is not--expensive, "cheap", or unimportant.
What the sweater is--economical, a demonstration of skill and effort, and a treasure.
The sweater is made from 100% "el cheapo" acrylic.
Why?
It's what she had, what she could afford, and what we had available locally. Growing up, we didn't have the luxury of high-end local yarn stores. It wouldn't have mattered anyway--we didn't have the money for such things. My memories of her in the quest for yarn was in the back of Hills, Kmart, a Ben Franklin or two--digging through stacks of economy yarn. I prized myself as being THE dye-lot finder...and we made quite a game of it. At the time, I wasn't a knitter, so this was my only contribution to the effort.
Baby blanket after baby blanket--knit and crochet--with my mom's limited time, making small items for others was her goal. I was never quite sure if that simple blue cardigan was even made for her--I only assumed. If that's the case, it's the only item she ever made for her own use.
I say all this in defense of CHEAP YARN.
Not too long ago, on a machine knitting forum, I was attacked by a poster for my defense of Red Heart Super Saver. Seriously--that lady needed to go knit herself a straight jacket. Comments such as "why would you waste your time." or "I don't bother with low quality yarns..." were the nice comments. YARN. SNOBBERY.
Now, as a knitter myself, it's not as if I haven't considered expensive yarns. I quickly did the math on the poster's suggested yarn for my project and compared it to my RHSS version. Her project? Over $200. Mine? Under $9. That's 191 reasons I'm not crazy.
However, I have, from time to time, considered smaller projects like cowls and hats made from better, or even premium, yarns. One recent lovely cowl pattern really grabbed my attention--LOVED IT--and I decided to ask for "THE" yarn for Christmas. Then--math loomed--and the cowl would have cost $70. I just can't. $70???? for a cowl?!?!
For all of these reasons, and because I'm tired of digging through forum files to find photos of inexpensive and reasonable knitting projects, I've started this blog. If you have a project or story to share--please email me at equestrianknits@gmail.com so that your story can become a full post, not just a comment.
What you will find here is
1. a few of my own patterns made using inexpensive materials
2. examples of high-end projects made with less expensive materials
3. absence of yarn snobs. EVER. Seriously, if you're a yarn snob, there are plenty of other places on the web for you to visit.
What I hope to have
- YOU and YOUR projects! I hope you will join in--share your honest cheaper yarn knitting and crochet adventures--successes and failures--in defense of cheap yarn everywhere.
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