Anyone buy yarn online?

My town has a very sad selection of yarn in stores and I've been browsing for an online supplier, but I have not come across any outstanding online stores either.

Do any of you know of a good online shop? My favorite yarns are finger weight (I love to knit socks), but I'd take suggestions for any good site.

Hey lefty! My favorite place to buy sock and lace yarn is www.theloopyewe.com. There is a great selection and fantastic customer service. One of the coolest things is that after you spend $250, you get $25 back in credit.

I also like www.knitpicks.com when I'm on a budget (which is most of the time) - the downside for them (in my experience) is that the shipping takes forever.

Good luck!

If you are looking for really great deals and don't mind the fiber content, I love to shop the Yarn Sale at Herrschner's every week ... I have found sock yarn for as little as 99cents a skein (Regia & Bernat Sox) but mostly you will find them around 2.99USD there.

Just 2 problems with them though ... sometimes shipping seems to take forever, and they can run out early on some of the really great deals -- selections change every Wed night (be sure to sign up for email updates).

hope this helps - but when i want to know exactly what I'm getting I will go to knitpicks and spend a little extra mney .... Herrschner's Yarn sale is kind of like going to a closeout sale so be sure to buy enough the first time!!

I buy most of my yarn online (fiber too since I spin). My favorites are Woodland Woolworks and The Bellwether (mostly fiber).
Etsy is addictive too!

lefty33, while I would like to support my local yarn shops more the prices are so much better on line.

I often find the yarn I want then I search for the yarn by name and the word sale in google and see which yarn shops pop up. I also have gotten incredible deals from some British yarn shops that have ebay stores. I got the yarn for four sweaters last year in close out Rowan colors for about $120 and they had free shipping from the UK. (To be clear this is in the package new Rowan yarn.)

I enjoy the yarnmarket.com newsletter but haven't found their prices to be better. I also have perused jimmybeanswool.com but have not bought anything there.

I am afraid I will always go with the best deal.

kpixie.com has awesome sock yarn. I also like yarn.com, they have sales all the time, you can sign up for their email list to be notified.

Patternworks has a very good online shop, at www.patternworks.com. I'm also fond of my hometown yarn shop, Web's in Northampton, Mass., which has grown considerably since I used to buy wool there in college -- they have www.yarn.com as an address. And just yesterday I found some discontinued colors of Noro Kureyon at a shop called Personal Threads -- www.personalthreads.com -- it's the second time I've ordered from them and in both cases the service has been excellent. (They called me today to let me know the yarn was from two different dye lots and to ask if I still wanted all of the skeins I ordered.) I like knitpicks.com and their catalogue but I've never actually ordered anything from them.

Excellent! These are really great stores -- exactly what I was hoping for! You guys are the best. I can't wait to buy stuff now. :D

#2 Fasci, I noticed The Loopy Ewe gives you $5 for recommending a friend when they place their first order. My email is on my profile if you'd like to email me an invite so you get credit for telling me. And I love your LT name -- how very clever! :)

#5 Mar, If I had a local yarn shop I would feel the same dilemma, and then go for the better deal too. ::sigh::

I will second LeesyLou with her recommendation of Woodland Woolworks. I have never used their online service - they are located close enough to Portland that I usually make a weekend exursion out there - but their selection is fantastic, and their prices seem more than competitive with other local stores.

Oh, and if you use fine yarns, Colourmart is fantastic--their prices can't be beaten, and they ship free (from the UK) so fast that yarns arrive here within about 3-5 days, much quicker than from many US shops (I'm on the East Coast in the US).

Lefty, thanks for reminding me about the $5 credit for inviting a friend! I sent you an invite just a few seconds ago. I hope you like The Loopy Ewe!

I don't often buy yarn online, since I like getting a sense of the feel and colors in person. That said, I did order some Cascade 220 from WEBS this spring when it was on sale. So far I've made my "Blue Tam Swirl" and a pair of Salad Wristers with it, and have a striped feather and fan scarf semi-going.

http://www.sockpixie.com/newhome.html
this woman makes her yarn and sells it online... her specialty is socks, also if you check out her blog http://sockpixie.blogspot.com/2007/12/sunshine-socks-free.html
she references other favorite knitting blogs of hers, a lot of these people also make and sell their own yarn.
Another good place to get yarn is www.etsy.com

I have bought yarn from Yarn By The Bag. www.yarnbythebag.com. I have been very pleased with the yarn, the prices and the shipping.

I have also used The Local Needle. www.localneedle.com

I also got a lovely kit of merino wool from Moreshead Farm. They have an online store.

Smiley's has super prices but the minimum order is $40. http://www.smileysyarns.com/ I have purchased yarn from Sarah's Yarns which has Jaegerspun Merino among other luxury yarns and can be ordered in 2 oz, in custom sized 2 oz increments or 1 kg cones. http://sarahsyarns.com/index.html

Try Yarn Barn in Lawrence, KS. http://www.yarnbarn-ks.com

I love jimmybeanswool.com--very fast and cheap shipping and great customer service. I've ordered from them many times. Little Knits is another favorite--really good service and some good deals (on the left side of your screen--it's not the easiest site to navigate).

If I'm buying yarn by the bag, I check Discount Yarn Sale, but their shipping is slooooooow and they often have to have stuff sent from the manufacturer (I think a Lorna's Laces order took 4 weeks!). And Webs usually has some very good prices.

ETA: Can't believe I forgot the cheap (but good) yarn places: KnitPicks and Elann.com!

And, hi! I just noticed we had a knitting group on LT :)

If you like hand dyed high end sock yarn, try bluemoonfiberarts.com - they are very nice folks and Tina, their dyer is a master. Pricey though!!!!

I've had good success with loopy ewe as well.

Mostly I try to shop from my LYS but if I didn't have one nearby I would be satisfied with the online options.

Thanks all for sharing your sources - treasures all!!!

Join Ravelry, and you will find more shops and other than you could dream of ! (sorry for the broken english)

Elann.com is easy on the finances and has very nice yarns. I usually buy my yarn on the cone for machine knitting at junebugsplace.com and BTYarns.com.

Also try the Yarn Barn in Virginia, which is on-line, YarnMarket.com, knitpicks.com and if you know what yarn your want, ebay often has good deals, I like Yarnbow as a dealer and aileen55 also has great deals on the British yarns. And yes, joinging ravelry will hook you up to many, many things.

Schoolhouse Press is one of the oldest and most reputable mail order yarn resources. You'll find the best selection of wool yarns at reasonable prices, books, videos, and a wealth of knitting information. They are absolutely tops.

Try Yarnmarket.com and BargainYarns.com for an unbelievably wide selection of yarns, books and accessories.

I admit to being terminally frugal (tight as a tick). I do shop LYS, but mostly buy online. In general, I buy from KnitPicks, but I *always* invest in the color cards first. I find their color fidelity on the monitor is the worst of any online store. With the color card, I'm safe, yarn is good and inexpensive.

My other store-of-choice online is elann.com. Also good yarns, in general a better color selection for any given yarn, and good prices. I don't buy their color cards, I haven't needed to.

In addition, there are a number of etsy shops with hand-dyed yarn, spunky eclectic (gorgeous natural color alpaca), black bunny, pigeon roof studios, fritzl, fearless fibers. Lots of others, just do a search.

Don't forget about etsy.com! I'm convinced you can buy almost anything on that site. I've gotten some fantastic handspun/dyed yarns from different sellers on the site.

Reptiliancandy (love the name) - as a new knitter I never thought of that. What a great way of getting something different!

As a UK member, I use http://www.cucumberpatch.co.uk, but have used Ebay.

Oh I got yarn from cucumberpatch through ebay. They were fantastic and very reasonable.

Love your name by the way Moomin Mama. Tove Jansson is splendid!

If you are looking for a slightly different take on Yarn Buying- check out http://www.dizzysheep.com . They offer one type of yarn per day, and once its sold out, its gone, until the next day. The yarn is also at a discount too. Its a bit addicting :) I'm not sure on shipping, but I suspect it might be US only.

Marensr - I think I discovered Cucumberpatch through Ebay. So far I've found them to be helpful, reliable, with pretty fast delivery. And there are no decent haberdasheries round here so I pretty much rely on them for my wooden needles (metal ones hurt my hands).

I love the Moomins. I get just as many "what does your name mean?" as "love the name/Moomins" here on LT. I'm always pleased to enlighten people (can you imagine the joy of discovering the Moomins for the first time as an adult?), but it's equally nice when a fellow fan recognises the name.

TheDivineOomba (now THAT'S a cool name) - just had a look and yep, shipping is US only :(

Moomin_Mama I regret to say I did find them as an adult (although I am glad to have found them at all)and I love them just as much, I made sure my niece got to enjoy them while she is young. It is such a great, magical series.

I love wooden needles too although I have some old bakelite ones I love as well and I knit with them- why not?

>10 LeesyLou::
LeesyLou, I will definitely check out Colourmart. Thanks for the tip!

>29 Marensr::
I think the Moomins are magical at any age :)

Never seen bakelite needles before, what are they like to knit with? Wooden and bamboo ones are much more comfortable on my fingers than metal, and so much nicer than plastic.

Speaking of buying online, I found a wrap of bamboo needles in 8 sizes for £14.99, which would have saved me a bit if I'd have come across it earlier:

http://www.mcadirect.com/shop/bamboo-knitting-pin-set-kc05-filled-p-1839.html

Having said that I've never ordered from MCADirect before, so I don't know what they are like.

Moomin_Mama Agreed!

Bakelite is nicer than plastic. It is an early form of plastic but it was made to simulate Ivory and tortoise shell so it has more heft than usual plastic- it doesn't feel cheap somehow. I have great old ones from Australia in blue and green and tortoiseshell and ivory.

I like bamboo as well though.

I would also recommend Colourmart and Elann. Not only great yarn, but also great customer service and support.

I try to support my LYS but online offers an opportunity to find anything you need. Knit Picks, Loopy Ewe, Yarnmart, Jimmy Beans, an endless world of yarn.
Also, regarding the needle discussion, I splurged and got an interchangeable set of Harmony wood circular needles from Knit Picks that I REALLY love. The points are sharp enough for getting into tight stitches and being able to change tips and cable lengths gives so many possibilities of combinations.

I have bought a starter kit and a few extra sizes of these and also love the sharp points and they are so beautiful.

Ok Peeps! My favorite online yarn store is having a spin-off... that is, they sell one yarn related product until it sells out (including yarn and needles), then immediately post another yarn related product. They will be doing this from Friday 12:00 Eastern time to the Monday (Labor Day) at 11:59 pm. I have this very nifty referral code that will give you 10% off your first order, and me 5% percent plus 1% Percent for every referral. Sounds a bit like a pyramid scheme :) But its not. Trust me. Its a lot of fun, especially if you like yarn, like randomness, and like sleep deprivation. Also, have an unlimited bank account really helps too. This is my third spin-off, and it really is a lot of fun.

Unfortunately, this store ships only to the US. So sorry people who live outside the US.

So the website is http://www.dizzysheep.com
the referral code is: REFHMHRMWMWR
and, for this spin-off, this is a 10% coupon code. LABOR10
And, if you like Ravelry, here's the Dizzy Sheep Group, with an active forum during the spin-off. http://www.ravelry.com/groups/dizzy-sheep-groupies

I really like this online store. I'd be babbling about it even without the referral code. if you are familiar with woot.com, it works on a similar principal. Anyway, Spin-Off starts in one hour! For those of you who make it, Have fun!

For a really fabulous selection of yarns in lighter weights, look at colourmart.com Their yarns range in weight from cobweb (little more than sewing thread weight and perfect for lacy lace) to aran weight. Beautiful colors, great selection, amazingly great customer service.

No affiliation, just a very satisfied customer.

#35-----

Thanks so much for the heads-up and all the info on the sale, Divine! That was very sweet of you. :)

As far as my personal favorite online sites for yarn, I have to agree with #7; keywest, I agree with you about WEBS! They have such a great (and HUGE) selection of yarn! Great sales too! Including a bunch of discontinued yarns, which can be a real pain in the arse to find when you need it. Lol.

The only thing I don't like is the wait for the actual shipping. It seems like it takes a long time for your order to be processed and then actually shipped out. But, then again, it is like that for most knitting web sites that I've noticed. *sigh* Yet another reason I wish I lived in a different state! I have yet to find a good yarn site in California.

If you're looking for more unique yarns, a lot of people sell their handspun on etsy.com. Plus you're buying directly from the person, which I really like.

Also, if you're looking for yarn sales, there is a group on ravelry for just that: http://www.ravelry.com/groups/yarn-sales

I'm sure all three of these have been mentioned in this thread already but as it happens I recently placed orders with KnitPicks, Patternworks and Webs (yarn.com) -- Webs was the last placed and the first to arrive, which made me happy since that happened to be my LYS when I was in college 20 years ago -- it wasn't a superstore then, it was a downstairs-of-a-house little yarn shop. Still waiting on the other two ...

Hi Laceym19,
I work with Sockpixie's husband and she's participated in a couple of holiday fairs here where I found her yarn. She had her baby a boy and is now using http://thecoloralchemist.blogspot.com/ instead of the soxpixie blog.

Hi,
I buy my yarn in http://lanasparatejer.yarnshopping.com
The send to all countries.

I've made an order and I'm really satisfied.

placed an order thrice. they carry yarn brands that i love - https://www.deramores.com