Lately I've been trying to decide if I'm a cheap knitter. Cheap as in miserly.
The other day I saw a kit for a baby hat for $57. For a tiny wool hat. For a baby. That sort of stuff boggles my mind. Looking at the price of the glitzy scarf yarns in the newest Patternworks makes me think that scarf knitters must be a lot wealthier than the rest of us.
In my defense I knit a lot. If every item I knit cost $200 I'd have to stop knitting in about 2 weeks. I mostly knit with wool. I don't really like knitting with silk and mohair much. I only buy angora if I know the producer (like at a fiber festival) because I probably don't want to know how the rabbits are treated for commercial angora yarns. I like cashmere and fine alpaca yarns but I can absolutely live without them.
I generally only shop sales. In fact, one of my guiding principles is to pay less than $4 a skein for DK and thinner weights of yarn. There are some times I will spend extra money on a project. So far I've spent $60 on yarn for yarn for a tam because I want to do a Fair Isle with plenty of colors. Still it is only Shetland Spindrift which is reasonably priced in the first place. And there will be plenty of lovely leftovers.
Yes, I fear I'm a cheap knitter.