Thrifty Crochet

Future me again. After three days my mystery project is about half done, so I thought I'd post an update. Day two. When I tried to follow the pattern counts I kept having issues, so I likely have some extra stitches that shouldn't be there (and I will take the blame for that.) I'm doing better now that I've stopped following the pattern and just keep repeating the rows in a logical fashion. It looks nice and graphic, and should be quite pretty when it's done. I'll probably wrap it up in three more days.

Last month I had two stuffed toy patterns I wanted to try, one for a one-skein rabbit and the other for a cat made from blanket yarn , and I opted first for the latter because I have a lot of this yarn in my stash, and I've yet to figure out what to do with it. This was only the second time I tried to use blanket yarn for a toy. Although I like many of Bernat's yarns, their baby blanket polyester is not my favorite. I have to say upfront that it is very soft, doesn't shed and works up quickly. I made the cat in one night. Things that bother me about the yarn: the heavy chenille feel, the awkwardness of working with it and the requisite big hook, and lack of stitch definition. My lack of experience with blanket yarns in general contributes, but so does my maker's pride. Blanket yarn is a shortcut for anyone wanting to make projects very fast, which is a plus for anyone looking to sell their work. Yet the end result isn't as impressive as something ma...

I was intrigued by this lot of yarn, tools and books at the online auction as soon as I saw it. The listing title was "Mixed Craft Lot 5.8 lbs Yarn Bulk Crochet Hooks Set Quilting Sewing Books" and it was my kind of lot. When I'm thinking of bidding on a lot online I study and evaluate the photos as to the condition of the items and the potential value to see if thrifting them without being able to see them in person is worth it. The better the photos are, and the more details I can see, the more informed my decision is. The hooks are probably an economy set off Amazon, but they're still in their plastic sleeves, and the case is nice. They also probably came as part of a set that included those yarn needles and stitch markers. The price for these is anywhere from $7 to $30, depending on the manufacturer and what came with the hooks originally. Now the yarn displayed in the listing photos: here we can see eleven or twelve skeins, and nearly all of the...

In another go at switching tactics with my bidding, I put in a bid on this big lot of yarn an hour before the auction ended, and won it for that. I'm finding that auctions that end early in the day tend not to turn into bidding wars during the last hour. From the photos this lot seems to have about 22 skeins and cakes, most new and unused, with several multiples, which I rarely see. I am a little surprised no one bid against me at the last minute, but maybe all the snipers are at their day jobs. This is pricey yarn, too. That Big Twist Super Nova sells for $9.99 a cake, and I count three of them. Lion Brand Coboo yarn (cotton and bamboo blend, I believe) runs $5.99 per skein new, and I see four of those. to purchase just those seven skeins new would cost $53.93 retail. Not everything will come with a label, but even those skeins look great. The retail for everrything is likely worth about ten times what I paid for it, but we'll see what the reality is when the...

I was so busy over Valentine's Day I didn't get to crochet the little basket I had planned with the red, pink and white yarns I'd pulled from my stash. Since I still want to do something with them, last night I talked to my friend B about it, and she recommended a mystery project challenge. Evidently this is when you make a pattern without the name or any photo of the project. I agreed to give it a go, and she e-mailed me the instructions. Although the instructions were evidently written by someone without a lot of experience at that, I was able to follow, and this is what I made in the hour before I went to bed. I already suspect this is the infamous 6-day star blanket that has been trending on social media. Just in case it is, this is when I started working on it. Let's see if I can make whatever it is in six days. :)

After finishing the Mandala Ombre yarn throw last month I wanted to make something fun, but I didn't know how many of this pattern I could make in a single night. Instant crochet challenge: have a hen party! I have a lot of bulky yarn in my stash, which is what this pattern from YarnPalsByNR uses, so I grabbed a 3.5 oz. skein Premier Serenity Chunky Weight in Almond, plus some bulky scrap bits I save for using for the comb, eyes and beak. One skein made two emotional support chickens with a little ball leftover. I had another unlabeled skein of what I was sure was super bulky weight, so I pulled that and a skein of Wool Ease with a label. This is a trick I use to estimate the weight and size of the yarn by comparing an unlabeled skein to one from my stash with a label that looks like it. They matched so well I'm thinking my unlabeled skein is Wool Ease, too (I went hunting around the internet while I was writing this and yep, it's a variegated Wool Ease shad...

While we were at a farmer's market last weekend we stopped by a brick and mortar Goodwill, where I thrifted two baskets and two books. The basket were 50% off, so I got both for $5.50. The books were $1.99 for the paperback (I love Val McDermid) and $2.99 for the hardcover. I rounded up with a donation, so my total was $12.00 for everything.

One of my neighbors is a social media influencer, and over the years I've observed her promoting certain products that companies give influencers for free (and often also pay them) in return for recommendations on their social media platforms. The neighbor makes good money at this, too, and receives a lot of free merchandise. There's nothing wrong with this as long as the influencer lets their followers know that they've received a free product and/or are paid to endorse the product. This disclosure is required by law, too, and if you're curious you can read the .pdf of the FTC's Guides covering disclosures here . There's no way even the FTC can police the internet, so influencers can offer endorsements without those disclosures, and you'd never know. I can tell you right now, for example, that I really love this Mandala Ombre yarn, which is soft and light and works up like a dream, but am I being paid or given freebies to tell you that? Have I b...

There are always classes you can pay for to learn how to do something, but the internet has so many no-cost options that literally anyone with a computer (or who can access one at a library) can learn to crochet for free. Here are three opportunities that I found in five minutes: Bella Coco has five how-to videos for absolute beginners, and this is good for anyone like me who prefers to learn by watching. Crocheting101.com is a website devoted to teaching beginners how to crochet for free by offering an e-book and videos for no charge. It takes fifteen to eighteen hours to get through EasyCrochet.com's free crochet masterclass course, but it was also designed for beginners with no experience. I have nothing against paying to learn anything, but as a kid I could never afford that. I was five when my grandmother, who made berets out of worsted and really only knew two stitches, taught me to crochet. It was a wonderful hobby and I was totally hooked, excuse the pun. As...

A few years back when I started crocheting again I had no idea there were so many free patterns available online to download and print. I assumed I'd have to pay for anything I wanted to make, but a few searches turned up some wonderful resources that I keep going back to time and again. Lion Brand has a library of over four thousand crochet patterns that you can search with a bunch of different filters, such as project, yarn weight and skill level. This is the site I go to most often to search for patterns for throws, like this one that I tweaked to make my V-stitch sea throw last year. Although their library is much smaller, Mary Maxim also offers free crochet patterns with the same sort of search filters. I've found a few here that have become favorites, including the Worth Street Afghan pattern . The largest online library of free crochet patterns I've found so far is at Yarnspirations , which offers over six thousand free patterns, including the easy Gra...

Last month three lots on the online auction site caught my eye, and I ended up buying one directly and bidding on the other two. This 20 skein yarn lot was the purchase, as it offers many skeins of the same color. The nine Sweet Rolls skeins currently retail for $7.99 each at Wal-Mart, so that's $71.91 worth of yarn right there. The seven Herrschners Worsted 8 is $4.97 each, for a retail total of $34.79. Most of the skeins look brand new and very clean, which was an extra incentive. I sometimes bid on quilts I find attractive, and I wanted this one for no other reason than it would look fabulous in my home office for spring (green is my favorite color.) This big lot of yarn, hooks and books was too interesting to pass up. Stay tuned to the blog to see the 20 skein lot when it arrives, and find out if I won the other two.

As I mentioned in part one of this post, half of the books in this 12-edition auction lot were those I didn't want, but I decided to put in a bid to see if I could win it anyway. A brief bidding war insued, and a last-minute sniper ended up winning the lot. I went back to see what it would have cost me with shipping if I had won it, which would have been $37.21. Although I was disappointed, I then went on Alibris , my favorite site to thrift used books, and ordered 5 crochet books that I did want for a total of $35.19. The first three books in that order arrived about a week later, and then another week went by until the last two landed in my mailbox. I'm really happy I decided to buy these books new versus getting sucked into a bidding war at the online auction. For one thing I was able to hand-pick what I wanted, which included a copy of one of the books from the auction I actually wanted. The fact that the five books were $2.02 cheaper also factored in. Cro...

Happy Valentine's Day from Thrifty Crochet. Image credit: Carla Bosteder from Pixabay

I wanted to recommend some throw patterns for anyone looking for a nice project that won't give you headaches. These three throws are the ones I most enjoyed making last year. The first time I tried Anastacia Zittel's Ocean Tranquility pattern was at the beginning of 2025, when I needed some peace very badly (that month was pretty rough on me in real life.) I wanted to make a throw that made me imagine sitting on the beach and watching the waves roll in, which is why the colors are so odd. This is a pattern that would be a bit challenging for a beginner, but it's worth it once you memorize the repeating rows because it's actually very simple and works up beautifully. Because of the serenity that came with the making I think I'll be making repeats of this pattern for a long time to come. When I made this throw I just wanted to work on something mindless that would loosen up my fingers after hand-quilting a Halloween quilt last year, and it was certainl...

When I was looking up the retail on the small lot of yarn plus a tapestry kit I got a lot of surprises. This Red Heart Roll with It Sparkle skein in "Diamonds" was actually a cake that sells $10.99 on Yarnspirations. The lot included two Red Heart Super Saver Jumbo skeins, which retail for $8.99 each, and stuck in the center of the buff color I found a 5.5 mm crochet hook. This is a skein of 100% Icelandic wool, which can be really expensive. It's marked with a price tag of $7.00, and I found it selling for $8.00 online. The needlepoint kit is the biggest surprise of all. It makes a pillow, and hails from the UK, where it sells for £45.00 ($60.76 US). Since it's flamingos I definitely have to finish it if I can. Altogether my eight plus lot retails for $125.04; I paid $21.30 total for the lot with the buy-it-now option and one penny shipping. I indeed got a very nice bargain.

I decided to take an online quiz to find out what sort of crochet personality I have, and the results were not really a big surprise: The Chill Stitcher You're the cozy vibe we all want in our lives. You treat crochet like meditation—slow, steady, and deeply satisfying. Your favorite projects involve soft yarn, simple repeats, and zero stress. You’re not in a race to finish; your hook moves at the speed of serenity. Your motto: “It’ll be done when it’s done.” Signature move: Falling asleep mid-row and picking up exactly where you left off the next day. Weakness: Gauge swatches. You’ll get to it… eventually. Strength: Unbothered. Untangled. Unstoppable (in your own time). I've never fallen asleep while crocheting, and my weakness is more like I skip doing the gauge swatches and just wing it, but the rest is definitely me. I think the main issue I have is a lack of ambition. I'd rather make something I know well in a pattern I've made several times at a s...

One of the small lots of yarn I thrifted in January arrived, let's see what I got. I remember you! Ha. I bought this lot with the buy-it-now option, and got shipping for one penny. There are eight skeins, all unused, odorless, and labelled. There's also a half-finished needlepoint picture of two flamingos with what looks like all the supplies to complete the piece. I'm going to look up the retail on this and see if it's the bargain I think it is. Stop by the blog tomorrow to find out.