I have some Plymouth and Baby Soft. I was just wondering which brands were considered higher end?
I believe it would be the Plymouth. I’ve never seen Plymouth sold at chain stores such as Michael’s or Hobby Lobby. I have seen the Plymouth at dedicated yarn stores, though. That’s kind of my personal measuring stick for yarns. If I can’t find it in a local chain store, then it’s higher end. Of course, I don’t live in a big area…
Plymouth sells in Ben Franklin stores, a craft/variety chain, as well as LYS. So I dunno. Why worry about it being a `higher end’ yarn? Use what you like.
My “definition” of higher end would be yarns like Schaefer, Noro, Debbie Bliss, Art Yarns, Jaeger etc. Yarn that is hand dyed or spun, yarn that is 100% “what ever” without a breath of acrylic. Yarn that is DEFINATELY not available at AC Mooore, JoAnnes or Michaels!
I think Plymouth is a good quality yarn but would not consider it “high end”.
Only because people buy me yarn as gifts and I want to be able to tell them that it’s a higher end one as a compliment to their taste. Also, if I am going to make a gift for someone, I’d like to use a really good yarn.
There are a lot of higher end yarns: Tahki Stacy Charles, Filatura di Crosa, Fiesta, Cascade, Rowan, Jaeger, Malabrigo, Lorna’s Laces… You can also find some great quality yarns which aren’t branded, but which because they are hand-dyed top notch fibers, I’d also consider to be higher edn.
For me anything over $3.00 an ounce is higher end.
Ohhh. I agree that hand dyed stuff is really nice. I like the uniqueness of something that you can’t get all over the place. As for brands, Fleece Artist, Malabrigo, Manos del Uruguay, Rowan, Debbie Bliss, Lorna’s Laces, and anything with alpaca.
i’d add handmaiden yarns to the above. not to be elitist but i can’t imagine finding $3.00 yarns, at least not in my neighborhood. my regular yarns i try and get on sale for $5 to $8. my special yarns are anywhere from $32 to $52 per skein. of course those are used for scarves etc. i can’t afford a $200 sweater! Altho my LYSO made the most gorgeous afghan ever and it was over $200! wish i had a pic of it.
Plantgoddess+ said that she considered anything over $3.00 an ounce as high-end, not $3.00 for the whole hank.
I agree with Plantgoddess. I feel like I have something very nice if I pay more than $6-7 for a skein or hank. I’m pickier about the fibers and the quality than the name.
I’ve really enjoyed the yarn at KP and so far the most I’ve paid is $2.99 a skein for KP Essential sock yarn. I did buy some yarn at LYS and paid $7.50 for bamboo and some self striping sock yarn but didn’t feel it was any nicer than KP’s yarn. I also bought cotton yarn on closeout at Elann for about $1.60 a skein in 10 skein bags.
That said 30 years ago my husband did a job for a craft store and got paid in yarn so my stash consisted of alpaca, silk, linen, camel hair, lambs wool etc in brand name, at the time yarns.
I will not pay huge amounts of money for yarn simply because I couldn’t afford my habit. I am glad that some people can afford to support those beautiful luxury yarns, its just not in my budget.
I’m with Plantgoddess+ – good for those who can afford the luxury yarns, but I’m not making heirlooms here – I’m perfectly pleased that there’s someone out there like Lion Brand making it possible for me to indulge my habit. (On the other hand, if I could get my DH to take a gig for a yarn shop & bring home a stash of extra-nice yarn, I’d be thrilled beyond measure!)
I’m a single mom and feel guilty every penny I spend but I insist on natural fibers and good quality. Knitpicks was made for me!