Yarn is expensive in the UK.
I had the opportunity to go into John Lewis in Sheffield on Monday, and I was glad I’d pre-decided yarn wasn’t going to be a souvenir of my England trip. The mean price of a 50gm skein seemed to be £4.00 more or less! That was more than what we’ve been spending on lunch these past few days. And you’d need at least 8-10 skeins for a decent-sized article.
John Lewis is a general department store which also has a craft section. Lots of wool and blends from Jaeger, Debbie Bliss, Rowan. All of them equally expensive. There were some bundles in clearance, but at £1.95 per skein, I’m afraid I wasn’t tempted much there either.
I’m not just multiplying by 84 and baulking. As I said, my lunch was cheaper than one skein. Maybe I’m not a die-hard yarnster? Or just a cheapskate.
The only needles on display were our very own Pony, in the same packaging as we get in India. They had large size Pony straights in plastic (the monster sizes). There were some bamboo straights of a different brand, but again, I’m only looking for circulars in small gauges and long lengths (I want to be able to do magic loop). Like in India, the gauge here seems to stop at 2 mm. I couldn’t find any smaller gauge needles. Perhaps a real yarn store would have some. The only thing I bought was a pack of split ring stitch markers and I’m resolutely refusing to multiply the price by 84. I doubt I’ll be going to a yarn store in the last days of my trip, so that perhaps will remain my only yarnly souvenir.
Is yarn expensive in the rest of Europe, too?
But I’m making lots of memories 🙂 More photos added to my Flickr account.
8 comments
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July 27, 2007 at 4:11 am
Deneen
Compared to the US, everything is expensive in the UK!
July 27, 2007 at 1:10 pm
Jen
Compared to anywhere, the UK is expensive! Going from Euros, it’s not so bad, but I still think, uhm nope.
I think knitting things in general are cheaper in Europe, unless it’s imported from the UK or the US. But when I do the exchange rate across countries, I find that generally works out to the same price. I’ve seen $8 balls (£4.00) in the US, and I’ve seen EUR6.00 balls as well. Some brands are just pricey, and I’m betting John Lewis was selling Rowan?
What I find to be really cheap over here is Addi needles. Their like the third of the price as in the US.
Sounds like your trip is going well though!
July 27, 2007 at 9:26 pm
Cathy
That’s astonishing – if I’m doing the math right in my head, that’s about the same price charged for Rowan or Debbie Bliss yarns in the US. I’d’ve figured they’d be cheaper in the UK.
I’m glad you’re enjoying your trip, though!
July 28, 2007 at 12:06 am
Andrea (noricum)
Nice yarn is expensive everywhere, from what I can tell.
July 28, 2007 at 3:24 am
Debbie
If you can find yarn by Lang, Gedifra and/or Lana Grossa, they MIGHT have somewhat better prices than you’ve seen so far (no guarantee, sorry). Also some businesses are starting to mark down their summer stock, so you may well luck into something nice. Enjoy your time, anyway!
July 29, 2007 at 10:21 am
heideho
Buying yarn and creating lovely works of art is not cheap here in the USA either. I always get a chuckle out of non-crafty people who think that I knit to save money. It sounds like England has even higher prices than we do here. I hope you’re enjoying your vacation.
July 30, 2007 at 4:36 pm
desiknitter
Lovely pictures, S! Yarn is too expensive in the UK, or even in Sweden, Norway etc where I went thinking it would be cheaper than in the US. Enjoy your trip, looks like you’re having a good time..
August 8, 2007 at 4:53 am
Kimberly
I wish I had been in Europe and not back in the US for my vacation during your trip to the UK as I would have popped across the channel…DRAT!!!!!
Yarn is expensive here in mainland Europe as well for those brands. I occasionally find some good bargains, but not that often!