You are an insider. Welcome to the crazy world of yarnaholics. I love Little Knits and buy yarns from them I could never pay retail for.
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Wow, Grandma, Little Knits has some great deals!
And Jan, I have no idea who Iām making the afghan for - just making it for the sake of making it. Know anyone who needs an afghan?
Well you could donate them to a veterans group or something like habitat for humanity. Some times they work for a charity auction, too. I make and donate hats. Less yarn, quick knits and I love making up my own patterns and learning new techniques. I live in southern CA so there isnāt a lot of need for warm garments, but I still like to knit. Iāve never done an Afghan. Maybe some day.
I never buy retail.once I discovered that JoAnns acceptās at the register I havenāt paid full price anymore. The often have 1/2 off a regular priced item then I use my Hobby lobby 40% off coupon and then my Michaels 40% off. I have even done 3 separate transactions on the same visit during a slow time may not work on a busy day, and used the same coupons and walked away with paying only $11 on $36 of yarn, knitting needles, crochet hooks and other things I needed to purchase to complete my projects.
Michaelās will only let you use their coupon or a competitors but you can use one or the other. Hobby Lobby doesnāt accept other coupons. They have lost my business completely.
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Great ideas, Jan - Iāll look up local groups that might welcome donated items. As a beginner, I like making afghans because I donāt have to worry about measuring, gauges, size, etc. - a blanket that comes out a little larger or smaller than expected in still a blanket!
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It depends on how you want the finished afghan to look. I use size 13 needles when using 2 strands of worsted. But thatās what I like. Pick a needle size like 11 or 13 and cast on 20 sts with it using the double strands of yarn and knit a swatch with it.
If u like how that looks, then use that needle size. If not, try a different size. Thereās no right or wrong! Find what u like!! I like size 13 you might like something else!!
Love this answer, because I already have size 13 needles! Iāll try the swatch test
Another option is to go to your local Goodwill and find sweaters than can be unravelled. If you google āunravelling a sweater for yarnā, you will find videos that tell you how to do it and also what to look for when looking at sweaters. There are some that can be unravelled and some that canāt. Sometimes you can even find bags of yarn that people have given away. One of my friends scored a major haul of really good yarn this way, along with a ton of needles!
Check out Craigslist or FreeCycle for people giving away yarn and also for estate sales that have yarn in their listings.
If you are interested in just the process of crocheting or knitting and not a finished object for yourself, look for a charity group that provides the yarn for you to knit or crochet into useful items to be donated.
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Thanks for the great tips, ftlsweetle! Iām glad I joined this forum, because Iām learning so much here!
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I have loads of yarn , (definitely a yarnaholic) , and rarely pay much for it, or I wouldnāt have so much yarn. Youād be surprised at how little it costs at yard sales, estate sales and thrift stores. Then whenever the hobby shops like Joann and Michaels have their 50-60% off coupons, I buy what I can and stash it for a certain project for later. Like now i am stashing thicker blanket yarns but working on socks that I had stashed earlier. I find a skein at the thrift store and match it to a skein from the hobby store, if I need more. And thrift stores have coupons and Senior days too!
Also I do a lot of knitting with 2 different colors held together, especially for slippers, and it looks like Tweeds.
Have fun! Always discover new types and combos!
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Great timing with summer coming (40 degrees here the past week though) good reminder to check them out!
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I made a lap blanket out of Sugar ānā Cream cotton yarnāmade 22 strips of lace, then seamed them together. That plus the border was over 100 yarn ends to weave in. 
But, relatively speaking, it wasnāt too expensive for a wedding gift for my brother. And because I did it in strips, I carried it with me everywhere to work on it. I kind of became the joke around my friends for a few weeks.
Beyond that, Iād never do something that big again unless it was for an heirloom, and then Iād invest in good yarn. Afghans take up tons of yarn and I have more fun whipping up one-of-a-kind scarves and hats to give away.
That being said, I know some people who have much-beloved hand-crocheted cheapo-yarn afghans from the '80s they still use, so while Iād probably end up hating the stupid thing before I was finished with it, the recipient might love it for many years to come. Theyāre just not my thing!
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So Tangles64, are you saying that JoAnns takes coupons from all the other stores?? I can use coupons from Michaels, AC Moore and Hobby Lobby at JoAnns??
Knitcindy
Knitcindy Yes you can, I have all three apps (Hobby Lobby, JoAnns, and Michaels)
JoAnns usually has two coupons that you can use, then show them your Michaelās coupon, and then Hobby Lobbyās. They will take the percentage on the coupon off one regular priced item. Example I went in the other day and bought 2 three circular knitting needles $9.99 each JoAnns 50 % off one, Michaelās 40% off one, Hobby Lobby 40% off one and then JoAnns had an additional 20% off total purchase. I walked away spending around $15 
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I had no idea I could do that!! What a great reason to get those apps!!
Except u have to hunt around to hunt for stuff thatās not on sale!
THANKS!!
Knitcindy
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Wow, I had no idea! Thanks. ? - Iām probably missing something but how many - I read 2 three circular needles. Do you mean 2 #3 size circulars? Iām going to share this great tip with some of my friends 
I usually use it for my needles and yarn at regular price. The bamboo circular needles at JoAnnās are around $9.99 so I get them for $4.99 each. I also buy large skeens reg $9.99
For at least 40%-50% off
3 separate sets of regular and circular needles
Thanks 
thatās really amazing! I canāt wait to share it with my co-yarn addicted friend. We both are members of those stores.
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Glad I could help
Happy shopping
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