About a year ago, on Easter in fact, my family and I went to the beach for the day as it has been our tradition since I was little. We stopped in Cape May and walked around the main streets for a while before finding this completely charming little yarn store that was packed with the biggest selection of yarn I have ever seen. I browsed for a little while with my mom as my dad and brother waited patiently outside.
My mom then told me to pick out a few I liked and she would buy them for me as a little Easter gift. Because she thought it would be about a $20 gift. Well I found a couple skeins I liked for a project I had in mind, and this one really gorgeous skein that was handmade by someone somewheres. Now, that should have been my clue right there that it'd be a little pricey, but there were no price tags anywhere so I wasn't really thinking about it because of my knowledge of craft store yarn prices.
Well we get to the counter and when the total comes to seventy-something dollars, my mom and I were understandably like, ".....what?" The woman shows us the prices and that the handmade yarn was $50. I was horrified but my mom started cracking up! I told her I'd put it back immediately and she was like no, no we're already at the register, it's fine.. as she continued to laugh! I'm glad at least she was amused.. the woman ringing us up was a little "Pshh, it's handmade of course it's fifty dollars. We only carry the highest quality blahblahblah." Alright lady. Relax. We headed for the exit toting the billion dollar unicorn hair yarn and my mom says, "We just won't tell your father."
Anyway, a year later and I still have not used this yarn because let's face it, it'd be a crime to not do something amazing with it. That's a lot of pressure from a not-so-big skein of yarn! I finally thought I had an idea yesterday and decided to go for it. (You may have seen the instagram.) But after I made the base chain I realized just how small an amount there really is. It looks like there's a lot but that's because it's made up of different strands all worked together. (Pick any three strands you see in the photo and count them as one because they are twisted together.)
So my question is, what can you make with a small amount of yarn that is totally worth using awesome yarn on. Because it actually is really cool yarn so I guess I can understand the price. Sort of. I want to make it worthwhile but it's gotta be something smallish. Or a few smaller things.
Any suggestions are welcome!
That is an insane amount of money for yarn. I would be shocked too. People are so snooty sometimes. I understand if it is handmade and everything but if you are used to Michaels' pricing, you would never think of spending that much. (I wouldn't!)
ReplyDeleteAgreed! When the most expensive thing you've seen is some $7 organic cotton, you'd never imagine there's actually yarn out there way deep into the double digits! And now it's like a pretty little ball of guilt staring at me from my stash box. Nuts.
DeleteHa, that's too funny! I don't know that I would ever bring myself to buy yarn that expensive {though I can't really say, since I don't use yarn...}, but it's cute that your mom still got it for you. I guess she loves you ;)
ReplyDeletexoxo,
Joelle
That's too funny! Your mom sounds like an awesome lady, so sweet that she just went ahead and bought it for you! I'd be shocked at the price too - handmade, okay, but $50?? I can imagine you want to make something beautiful out of it. Is there enough for a pretty winter hat?
ReplyDelete$50?! lol, that's so funny! :)
ReplyDeleteI've had a similar experience with some chocolate I had wanted to buy... :D
Oh gosh, that is such a funny story! I feel like the same thing would happen to me and I would just buy it because I'd be too embarrassed to put it back! I can't think of any amazing projects off the top of my head, but I'm sure you'll figure something out! =)
ReplyDeleteThat price doesn't shock me since I'm more used to buying handspun, but I do have a rule that I don't spend more than $25 for 100 yards of handspun. Just because I can't afford to spend more!
ReplyDeleteHandspun yarn is a LOT of work though, we're talking hours and hours to make a skein. I've done it! Plus dyeing, setting, and depending on how the materials first get to the spinner, there's possibly washing and carding the wool too.
How many yards do you have?
I bet that yarn was also marked up considerably since you bought it from a shop--the spinner probably sold it to the shop for $25 at wholesale and the shop marked it up more.
Julie has some easy-to-follow crochet patterns, maybe a slouchy hat? Wouldn't take too much yarn! http://www.gleefulthings.com/blog/
What a funny story! I'm not sure what you could make with it - baby booties? Coasters? Mittens?
ReplyDeleteOh my lord, I've done exactly the same thing before. So embarrassing. I made a hat out of mine - do you have enough for a hat? Or a shawl? At least it's very pretty yarn.
ReplyDeleteDude, that is a lot of money for yarn! Even if it is super nice and handmade! Your mom sounds pretty awesome though.
ReplyDeleteIs there enough for some kind of beret?
If not, I recently made a belt from a lone ball that I had--sadly, not as cool as your yarn, mine was a pretty variegated cotton that I scored at the dollar store! I am pretty happy how it turned out and I really like that it's something that I can wear. Maybe some kind of belt would work for you too?
http://philwife.blogspot.com/2012/03/shades-of-green-belt.html
Ha! Your interaction with the clerk totally cracked me up :) What does one do with unicorn hair? If it were me, it would be sitting there gathering dust because of the pressure to make something amazing so I understand why you haven't used it yet! Whatever you choose will be awesome and you will remember the funny story :)
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