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Knitting can get expensive, but it’s totally possible to make beautiful items on a budget, like this blue tweed hat I made for less than $5! (Not quite as impressive as the sweater I made for $5… but, you know: inflation.)
Here are my top three tips for knitting on a budget:
- Embrace Acrylic Yarn
- Buy an interchangeable circular needle set ASAP
- Learn how to spot high-quality free patterns.
Affordable Knitting Tip #1: Embrace Acrylic Yarn
A few decades ago, acrylic yarn was really scratchy and sometimes had a weird smell and I think that reputation still follows it around even though the technology involved in making it has improved ten-fold. I’ve worked with lots of acrylic yarns where you can’t event tell it’s acrylic. The yarn I used in this hat is the Loops & Threads Impeccable Tweed line from Michael’s, which is about $5 but I bought it with a 40% off coupon. I love how the tweed flecks are different colors – it’s a beautiful detail that makes it look a lot like a luxury yarn. It’s also super soft and has no smell – I promise!
Acrylic yarn is especially perfect for hats because a lot of people are sensitive to wool being itchy on the sensitive skin of the forehead and it’s washable. I’m donating this hat to Knit the Rainbow so I specifically sought out an acrylic because it so easy to care for.
This was my first time knitting with Impeccable and I really liked it. I also love Brava from Knit Picks, Simply Soft by Caron, and Vanna’s Choice by Lion Brand. If you want to go with an Acrylic-Wool blend, I love Mighty Stitch by Knit Picks and Wool-Ease by Lion Brand. You can usually find the Caron and Lion Brand yarns on Amazon, so if you are a Prime member, you can get free shipping, which is an extra budget win!
Affordable Knitting Tip #2: Buy Interchangeable Circular Needles ASAP
OK, so interchangeable circular needles aren’t exactly cheap, but if you do a lot of knitting they are WAY cheaper than buying different sizes of straights, fixed circulars, and dpns every time you want to start a new project. The real trick to this budget tip is to buy a set NOW before you spend any more money on individual needles.
I love Knit Picks Options interchangeable sets. I have the Nickel, Wood, and Aluminum sets (and I have my eye on the new stainless steel set!) I would invest in either the basic nickel-plated or the Sunstruck wood sets. You can get either of them for about $60 and they come with 9 needle sizes and four cables. I recommend picking up some extra cables in the longer sizes and learn how to do magic loop so you never need dpns again. Anyway, I know $60 doesn’t seem very budget friendly, but you are essentially replacing like 45 individual needle purchases. Can’t argue with that.
Affordable Knitting Tip #3: Learn How to Spot High-Quality Free Patterns
In knitting, as in life, you often get what you pay for… I use free patterns often and they are a mixed bag. Sometimes they are great, like the one I used for this hat (Jason’s Cashmere Hat by Melissa Thompson) Sometimes free patterns aren’t very well written or they contain mistakes. So, how do you spot good free patterns from bad ones?
First, try to figure out of the designer is being compensated for their work: like, did a yarn company sponsor the free pattern (like this hat)? Or do they also sell patterns and this is more like a free sample? Designers who are making money in some way typically provide ongoing support for the pattern in the form of correcting mistakes or answering knitters’ questions.
Next, look up the pattern on Ravelry and see how many people have used the pattern. If thousands of people have knitted it without issue, chances are that it’s a good pattern. If only a handful of people have knit it… I’ll suggest that the “buyer” beware. (Although, just because you pay for a pattern doesn’t mean you’re in the clear. You should probably still do some Ravelry research!)
I hope these tips help you in your budget knitting journey! Here is some more info about the hat I knitted for this post:
yarn details
Loops & Threads Impeccable Tweed in Blue Haze
Aran Weight
100% Acrylic
Machine Wash & Dry
$4.99 per 127 g/285 yd skein
Purchased in January 2023
project details
pattern: “Jason’s Cashmere Hat ” by Melissa Thompson (I linked to the pattern above, here is the Ravelry page)
needles: US size 6 & 8 (4.0 & 5.0 mm), wood circs
yarn used: basically the whole ball… 276 yards (123 grams)
duration: Feb 12 – 18, 2023
notes
- It’s a little long. Next time I’ll end one pattern repeat early and maybe make the brim an inch shorter.
Now, just for funsies… here’s Ody crashing my photo shoot!
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