When is it frugal to buy a knitting book

Just like the sublime experience of browsing the local yarn store to touch and feel the fibers, knitting books can be addictive. There are so many available with new ones coming out every month with gorgeous photographs and and new twists to old ideas. Unfortunately, most range around twenty dollars in price which represents an investment for most household budgets. I often found myself having to choose between buying a knitting book for later projects or buying the yarn to work with now.

I have tried to manage the expense of knitting books by getting books from the local library, using my regional library's internet site and hold system to pull in books from several counties. There are some books though that the library does not acquire. I also look for knitting books on clearance racks, thrift stores and at yard sales. And there is always one or two that I campaign my family and friends to give me as a gift.

So when is it actually frugal to purchase a knitting book? As knitters we just **need** to have a few around, but also need to make sure we are using our resources wisely. Owning a knitting book means that you have ready access to ideas and patterns, but you also have to store and care for the item.

It is frugal to buy a knitting book when you will get as much use out of the book as you will be investing to purchase and own it. If I were to add $1-2 to the cost of a project to purchase a pattern, I would think that a reasonable expense. If I look at a knitting book and the number of projects in that book at $1-2 a project equals or exceeds to purchase price, then I would calculate that the book will pay for itself and is a good frugal investment. I test this before buying a knitting book by browsing titles at the local book store or using the "inside the book" features of the internet bookseller's websites. Of course if you can find a title you are looking for at a reduced cost, you get a frugal bonus. Check around to see if you can get a better price, a coupon or free shipping to sweeten the deal. Also investigate to see if you can get similiar patterns elsewhere.

I guess the moral of this story is to really consider the investment of a book before you buy it. I do have six knitting books of my own and I wouldn't give any of them up. The ones I do have bring me joy and are truly useful, thus they were a frugal investment.

Work in Progress: Blue, green & white dishcloth

This is my other dishcloth in progress being knitted on size three needles of a fine cotton sock yarn. I threw that label away and now do not remember the yarn's identity. I purchased it as a single skein from a LYS to see if I would like the yarn for summer weight socks. It is a garter stitch square with a six row K2, P2 rib top and bottom. Quick and Easy!

It has been my aim to finish projects before I start a new one but I now have three in progress. The other dishcloth was found in a bag, abandoned. I do need the dishcloth so I am going to complete it. This dishcloth is my official "to go" project, being very small and portable. The caps are on ongoing endeavor and will be worked in as my "main" knitting project. Now I just need some snow to create a little knitting time.

What are some of your favorite "to go" projects?

Work in Progress: Turquoise Ombre dishcloth

I have a penchant for homemade dishcloths. Made of cotton, they are more absorbant and indestructible that store bought cloths. This particular one of Sugar nCream 100% cotton in an ombre of turquoise, lime and yellow, will bright up my kitchen this winter making cleaning a cheerful activity. This is one I am just knitting up quick so it is a square of stockinette with a top and bottom border of six rows of garter stitch. Dishcloths at my house have a way of disappearing like socks so I always have a few in the works and I am always in a rush to get a few finished.

Work in Progress: MIFA Love Cap 2

Here is the second MIFA Love Cap that I am working on. I am using the remnants of the the Woolease Loden and combining it with a skein of black Caron Simply Soft. I am using size 7 bamboo needles with 92 cast on stitches, K2-P2 rib for 26 rows and garter stitch.

Found Items for Notions- Wipe containers for holding yarn

I have collected canister-style disposable cleaning wipe containers from the office to use to hold yarn balls while knitting to keep them from escaping while I work. A small project with double-pointed or circular needles can actually be stored in the container and the container tossed in a bag for a project on the go. A group can be used in a larger knitting bag or basket to use multiple yarns with a project without tangling the different strands of yarn. Just be sure to carefully clean the canisters before use to remove any residual chemicals that you would not want on your yarn.

MIFA Love Cap 1 is completed

Oh, the joy (or the pride) of a finished project. I have completed the MIFA Love Cap 1, it has been carefully packed in a large ziploc in the yarn stash drawers. I used a scrap of yarn to tie on a tag with the charity, fiber and the size from a recycled index card. The caps won't be sent in until fall and I might not remeber which project, material ad size goes where. As you can probably tell, I suffered from boredom by the 26th row of the rib-all-the-way-up pattern and diverted to stockinette for a little more activity. The cap ended up being a little smaller than I intended so I labeled it a child-size cap. I simply continued up the cap until I thought I had the desired length and began a gentle decrease taper. It does look lonely in the bag all by itself. I still have about half of the skein left over so I will start another with a stripe and use up some other similar yarns as well. I am adding a link to the MIFA Love Cap blog here on mine for anyone interested. Time for a knit break!

Found Items for Notions: Templates from laminating sheets

I love finding a useful every day item that can serve a double purpose or something that would normally be thrown away that can be put to use as a sewing or knitting notion.

At work, we use a lot of the self-adhesive laminating sheets to make cheat sheets and manage a lot of information we use every day. I found that the backing of the sheets is a strong but pliable paper and it would normally just be thrown away at the office. Some of the brands, I discovered, have perfect 1" grids on the back helpful in making templates for quilting squares and appliques. Working with the sheets can be tricky and even being careful we sometimes mess one up that has bubbles or sticks to it self. I will bring those home as well for see-thru templates to help see how the fabric pattern will lie in the cut piece or to make a really durable template. I will punch two small holes close together in the durable template to use pins repeatedly without damaging the template.

Happy New Knitting Year!

Happy New Year! May all your knitting gauges stay true and your stitches never drop!

Okay, enough of that. The new year brings around a cultural pressure to create resolutions with which I as a natural procrastinator/ perfectionist always struggle. This year my two simple resolutions were to learn to finish what I start in a timely fashion before starting something new and not buying any more yarn until I used all of the project-planable yarn in my stash. For a few hours there, everything was going according to plan, but then....

It was all my Mother's fault. She called to say that Michael's Crafts had all of their yarns on sale for 30% off. I agreed to go thinking I would pick up some of the cheaper yarn on sale for charity projects thus making it more frugal to do my charity projects. Well, then there were yarns I found to make Chistmas presents for next year...and well, you can probably guess. The Cash Flow Plan took a big hit and I have now filled up the yarn space in the dresser allotted for my existing stash thus leaving the existing stash without a home. So much for downscaling the yarn space.

One bright side to the situation is that there is only one true way to solve a problem of having too much yarn....get to knitting! (I don't think I will suffer a bit.)