When bargains attack

“But it’s so cheap” I hear you cry…

The lure of a bargain can be hard to resist for any knitter. I’m no exception. When an email lands in my inbox announcing a flash sale on yarn, it's tempting to fill my online basket without a second thought. I’ve discovered one or two things about these occasions that are helping me.

Stop and Breathe

It is worth my energy, to take a breath and pause and think about whether I really need these exact materials for my stash. A bargain is only a bargain if I will actually enjoy using the yarn for future projects. We are all about the using the Good Yarn here, we deserve it!

OK so depending on my needs, the reduced Drops Fable or Nord sock yarn might make the grade. Assuming I didn’t indulge in their last sale. I always have socks on my needles and those two are workhorses. Perfect for everyday socks. Nothing special though and not worth buying more if I already have a few <coughs > stored up. You know I do, right? 🤷‍♀️

What about a Kilo Sale? That’s when a mill is selling cones and partial cones in a sort of lucky dip.

Photo by Eric Muhr on Unsplash

Tricky. I might get an absolute bargain or I might end up with a lot of yarn for which I’ve no real use. I like the look of some of their yarns though and make a mental note to explore their yarns in more detail another time.

The Studio Donegal with 25% off in someone’s closing down sale is very tempting. It ticks the first couple of boxes.

It’s a yarn I love.

I would definitely use a sweater quantity very happily.

But. The colours available in sweater quantities are not singing to me. The petrol blue I love isn’t there. Someone else has snapped it up. I don’t really want a grey or an amethyst shade, lovely though it is. So no, it’s sadly not for me.

Feelings of Scarcity and Time Poverty

With the rising costs of living at the moment, we're all looking for ways to cut back on unnecessary spending. Belts are tightened budgets stretched. At time like this bargain yarn often feels like self care. It’s a little treat, an affordable luxury, easily justified. A comfort to hold and squish. “It’s not even the expensive stuff,” I can hear myself wheedling. “It was cheap to start with and now, well, it’s next to free!”

Photo by Justin Lim on Unsplash

Often we are buying potential too. It’s a promise to ourselves that we will give ourselves the gift of time to knit it. Maybe not right now in the busy whirl of life but we will knit it in some mythical future. When we have TIME. Meanwhile we have the transient comfort of knowing it is there for us. It saves us from those feelings of there never being enough time for ourselves.

The Reality Check

As much as we might want to stock up on luxury fibres for a fraction of the normal price, realistically many of us have extensive stashes, some are probably already bursting at the seams.

So here I am, feeling virtuous. I’ve been following my own good advice for a few years now. My stash is moderate, helped by a lot of pandemic stash diving combined with a serious funding crisis. In fact it is so low I’ve started to feel slightly concerned. Edgy even, hmm, this is dangerous!

Maybe I can give myself some leeway. Maybe it is time for some stash enhancement?

Time to take a good look at my existing supplies and WIPs and think about what I realistically expect to knit over the next year.

OK without even looking I know that I already have more than enough yarn and projects to keep me going.

Hard as it is, I will resist that temptation to snap up yarn just because it is reduced.

Except, except, except...

Of course, if I see a special offer on the kind of yarn that I have been coveting for a particular pattern, that's a different story.  Then it might be worth while and save me some money.

It also makes sense to purchase materials I will definitely use in upcoming projects. Show me a Shetland wool bargain sale and you will probably have to hold me back! Still I have a list of shades I will always need more of and those are the ones I’m likely to stockpile (Moorit, Shetland Black, Fawn, Sand etc).

Make a wish (list)

I invite  you to join me and make up a wish list of exactly which yarns you need to complete what’s already on your fantasy knitting radar. The yarns you’d love to knit with but can’t afford full price.  That will help us avoid those  frivolous impulse buys. It might also mean when the time comes we can actually afford those good yarns we deprive ourselves of because we spent our money on those ‘bargains’!

I’m going to keep my list on my iPad and my phone as those are the easiest places for me to see it and check when I’m confronted by a tempting deal.

At the end of the day, a bargain is only worthwhile if I actually use the yarn. Focusing on on targeted purchases of yarns I need for actual projects will help me resist the urge to stockpile cheap yarns "just in case." Sales on random yarns should be avoided. I might even unsubscribe from those who run sales too often.

If I simply can't say ‘no’ to a flash sale? Maybe I’ll try splitting the cost and the bounty with a local knitting friend so we aren't both tempted by a whole stash of unnecessary yarn. Last time I did that she turned out to have just the yarn I was craving already languishing in her stash! Wins all round!

Stay strong knitters!