Affordable Yarn Shopping Websites
Online Retailer "Webs" Carries Affordable Supplies for Knitters.
This is the first in a three-part series on Web retailers that reliably deliver knitting products of terrific quality for a manageable cost.
As hobbies go, knitting is a practical one—the end result is both useful and beautiful—but new knitters are often surprised to discover that it can also be a pricey one. Webs is one of several companies that sells beautiful yarn at affordable prices.
Webs bills itself as “The complete source for knitting, weaving, spinning, and crocheting yarns and supplies.” For the knitter (and crocheter), they carry a huge range of yarns from major manufacturers, including Noro, Cascade, Debbie Bliss, Laines du Nord, Jaeger, Plymouth, and Tahki. They also stock their own Valley Yarns line, with everything from lace-weight alpaca-silk blend to a super-bulky wool in a palette of 35 colors. Many of the yarns are offered at standard prices, and the selection and strong customer service certainly support the cost. But for the bargain hunter, Webs offers three great ways to cash in on big savings:
- Webs discounts allow shoppers to deduct 20% from a $60 yarn order and 25% from an order of $120. Some yarns are not included in this discount, usually because they have already been deeply discounted. But most “mainstream” lines qualify, which means big savings on an order for a large project or a major stash restocking.
- “Grampa’s Garage Sale” offers deep discounts on closeouts, usually on selected colorways. Prices as low as $2.00 a ball can be found in this area, and there are some luxury yarns here as well, like a worsted-weight cashmere for $9.99 a ball (as of this printing).
- Grab bags are a fun way to surprise yourself with yarn. “Lonely” yarns (those with only a few skeins in stock) are grouped into bags of 10 skeins, and sold in groups of 5 or 10 bags. Customers can choose from the Standard (less-expensive name brand) at 50 skeins for $99.99, or Supreme (luxury, pricier yarns) at 50 skeins for $129.99. Grab bags of 100 skeins offer even deeper discounts. While the shopper doesn’t get to choose the yarn, the order packers are guided by fiber, weight, and/or color preferences which can be entered on the order form. A tip: these are tough to find directly on the website, so try entering “grab bag” into the site’s search tool.
In addition to their great knitting yarn selection, Webs carries a large selection of patterns, videos, books, knitting needles and crochet hooks, and spinning supplies and weaving supplies (looms and spinning wheels ship free!). Their customer service and order fulfillment are efficient and professional. Webs also has a retail store in Northampton, MA, which offers classes and access to their 20,000+ square foot warehouse.
