Following on from the work to grasp order from chaos by organising my project yarns, I’ve recorded my spending on new yarn alongside what I’ve pilfered from stash. More spending than pilfering, sadly, as my stash is pitiful. The two tables below cover it all and I’ll update periodically through the project. All mainly for my own information, but I hope it’s of wider interest; any knitter can lose sight of ‘how much’ in the face of gorgeous fibres.
Given that I’ve been at this since February and bought 28 balls of yarn, I feared the cost might be bigger than it is, because I haven’t scrimped. The yarn is all made from natural fibres and there are many repeats of those spendy lovelies, Rowan’s Kidsilk Haze and Felted Tweed.
£250 is not a small amount to spend on a project that is not quite a 10th of the way through (5 squares out of 49 plus a border that will add roughly 8 squares’ worth of knitting). But I won’t be spending 10 times the amount, because I’ve only used a small part of most balls and will revisit them in other squares. I’m hoping to come in under £500 for the whole work, which seems fair for a project that could take another 2 years to complete and which involves experimentation as well as final work. We’ll see in time whether that estimate proves reasonable.
A quick note on the tables, which are not very flexible in WordPress. A blank cell means the information is the same as in the cell above. There are some shocking differentials in price for the exact same yarn. In these cases, the lower-price ball was bought from my local store, Sharp Works in Herne Hill, and the higher sourced online, which includes a delivery cost. I want to avoid that in future. The blanket is developing organically, but as I get to understand what I’m likely to repeat, I hope to get better at buying what I need in one go.
I’d be interested in any thoughts on cost etc.
Table key
- F – used in final square
- T – used in test swatch
- F/D – used in final square that was ditched
- U – untried
Yarns bought for this project
| Yarn | Shade | F/T/U | Cost per ball | No. balls | Total cost |
| Adriafil Genziana | Olive (63) | F | 6.00 | 2 | 12.00 |
| Adriafil Merino Cotone | Pine Green (42) | F | 7.95 | 1 | 7.95 |
| U | 12.65 (P&P) | 1 | 12.65 | ||
| Adriafil Sierra Andina | Grass Green (36) | F | 7.95 | 1 | 7.95 |
| U | 10.49 (P&P) | 1 | 10.49 | ||
| Concept by Katia United Socks and More | (82) | T | 3.20 | 1 | 3.20 |
| Concept by Katia Merino | White (1) | U | 6.50 | 1 | 6.50 |
| Ella Rae Cashmerino Sport | Basalt (03) | U | 6.95 | 1 | 6.95 |
| Rico Essentials Organic Cotton | Silver Grey (24) | F | 4.99 | 1 | 4.99 |
| Rowan Cotton Glacé | Oyster (730) | F | 6.50 | 1 | 6.50 |
| Rowan Felted Tweed | Barn Red (196) | F | 10.50 | 1 | |
| Celadon (184) | U | 1 | |||
| Cucumber (K0016) | F/D | 1 | |||
| Clay (177) | F | 2 | |||
| Peach (212) | F | 1 | |||
| Rose Quartz (206) | F | 1 | |||
| Electric Green (203) | U | 1 | |||
| Shadow (224) | F | 1 | |||
| Stone (190) | F | 1 | |||
| Totals for this yarn | 10 | 105.00 | |||
| Rowan Handknit Cotton | North Sea (371) | U | 6.40 | 1 | 6.40 |
| Rowan Kidsilk Haze | Drab (611) | F | 12.20 | 1 | |
| Lustre (686) | F | 1 | |||
| Olive (721) | F | 1 | |||
| Smoke (605) | T | 1 | |||
| Totals for this yarn | 4 | 48.80 | |||
| Rowan Summerlite DK | Linen (460) | F | 6.30 | 1 | 6.30 |
| Yarnsmiths Merino DK Heathers | Forest Glade (H3620) | T | 3.85 | 1 | 3.85 |
| Totals for all yarns | 28 | 249.53 |
Yarns from (my tiny) stash
| Yarn | Shade | F/T/U |
| Ainworth & Prin Merino Silk | Malachite Table | F |
| Snowdrop | F | |
| Rico Ricorumi DK | Ice Green (37) | F/D |
| Pearl Grey (04) | F | |
| Yellow (06) | F/D | |
| Rowan Alpaca Soft | Off White (221) | F |
| Rowan Summerlite DK | Mocha (451) | F/D |
Featured image: Barrels of Money, Victor Dubreuil, 1889-1910. Public domain. Wikimedia Commons.
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