Thrifty Crochet

To kick off the last month of summer I wanted to have fun with picking a project, so I took out my dice and randomly pulled some ideas from my crochet binder: four single projects and two books. I rolled a two, so I will start with this large stuffed cat made of scrap yarn. The pattern is by Violeta Owl on Etsy . Good thing I got this project, as my scrap yarn basket is about to explode. I chose worsted weight acrylic scraps to use in making the cat. I could mix other types of yarns in but this is the first time I've made this pattern so I want to use a consistent weight. I got thirty-five rows done the first night I worked on it, so I'm humming along. It should take another two, three nights to complete.

This month I have a little pile of new-to-me yarns to test with one-skein projects, starting with this Premier Basix Mosaic worsted in the colorway Sea. I chose this yarn because of the pretty colors and the fun look; I'm guessing it will work up like a tweed. The second skein is Premier Anti-Pilling Every Worsted Painterly in the colorway Jam Session. Something about this yarn appealed to the artist in me, and I like the unusual sparse scattering of colors in the cream. This is variegated yarn for people who doesn't like variegated yarn, maybe. The third skein is Premier Cotton Sprout in the colorway Luau. I want to try more cotton yarns so I can get more experience working with them. The rainbow colorway is cute but I also want to see if it bleeds when hand-washed. Finally I got a Premier Anti-Pilling Everyday DK Color Pack, which is a collection of mini skeins. I first heard of this via Knotty by Maxine and while I'm not joining in the online ...

To start July on a happy note I made a basket out of fun bulky yarns from GuChet to hold a collection of the more GuChet yarns with which to play. I cobbled together a baby bird out of one partial skein of Premier Parfait XL Pom Party yarn (say that ten times fast!) and learned a lot from modifying the pattern. I made a patternless tray basket out of a single skein of Chinese t-shirt yarn. I crocheted a gift bag out of one thrifted skein of Red Heart Super Saver yarn in Polo. I crocheted a liner using Premier Parfait in crème de menthe for the art yarn gathering basket I made back in June. I made this throw out of Premier Puzzle in the Marbles colorway, an unusual, very pretty yarn, a skein of which I got in a mystery box. I crocheted a little basket to hold my rescued embroidery thread while experimenting with Hobbii wool blend boucle yarn. I made this holiday hat with one skein of Premier Basix Multi in Merry Multi. I crocheted this dishcloth out of Suga...

It seems like the yarn bidders at the online auction are all back to swarming, so I tried another strategy with bidding on two more big lots: placing bids on what I want right before the auction closes. I'm also bidding on one that ends in the evening to see if there's a difference in the results. All three of these lots had no bids when I checked them. Here's the lot that ended in the evening. In this lot there were some good quality yarns in the bag, and if there were as many as I estimate from with photos, the total cost would work out to about $1.50 per skein. I made my bid in the morning, and expected not to win it. I was very lucky and got it with no challengers. :) This 8 lbs. lot comes with one-cent shipping, and has a lot of the colors that I want for my stash. It's one of the morning ending auctions, and yep, I won it for the minimum bid without any challengers. Finally this 7.6 lbs. lot (also with one-cent shipping from the same source st...

To beef up my yarn stash I decided to try bidding on three more lots at the online auction, as long as I could get them for a max bid of $10.00. Here are the results: This seven lbs. lot with 26 skeins of new-looking yarn ended up being swarmed with bidders, and the winner (not me) got it for $21.00. Another 7 lbs. lot, this one with twenty skeins, went to a last-minute sniper for $11.00. The opening photo for this lot is a bit chaotic, but when I scrolled through the listing pics I saw some very nice yarn. Alas, another last-minute sniper got it for $11.00. Sticking to a preset max bid like I do often means not winning anything, but that's okay. It just gives me a chance to try again (maybe with the buy-it-now option!) Image credit: all of the pics in this post came from the original auction listings at ShopGoodwill.com.

I am blazing through my yarn stash with my summer projects, and will begin my winter projects next month. I'm also planning to ship a bunch of cotton yarn to my favorite person as yarn (and everything else) is insanely expensive where she lives. That's why my supplies are dwindling again (I also had a cancellation on a thrifted lot I was expecting to arrive, as they actually lost it, but they issued me a full refund.) I would rather thrift yarn than buy new, so I decided to try bidding on three more lots at the online auction, as long as I could get them for a max bid of $10.00. It's challenging because the bidders are now jumping on all the bargain lots. This is a seven lbs. lot with 26 skeins of new-looking yarn. I like it for the colors, the condition and the multiples. I probably won't win this one, but you never know. Another 7 lbs. lot, this one with twenty skeins. There are multiples of a yarn I want for a fall project in this one. The ope...