Five Favorite Places to Buy Wool Online

My five favorite online yarn shops to find and buy wool.

I love to use wool when knitting and I must buy my yarn online. I’m sharing my five favorite shops for ordering the wool I like.

Here in Florida I love knitting with wool yarn. It is never cold like up north, so I knit using wool year round. I hate when summer for everyone else comes and all the yarn sellers start pushing their linen and cotton. Summer for me is a great time to knit as the air conditioner is running full time to keep me cool.

No single place offers all the types of wool I like to buy, so it’s good to know who has what, and at what price. I’ve discovered a few favorite places to keep in mind. Most places will let you sign up for e-mail notifications, and it’s worth doing so to keep an eye out for sales.

What I Look For When Shopping For My Favorite Yarns

I look for what most knitters look for: Good prices, big selections, good images, free shipping – or how much I need to spend to get it, yarn winding cost, and ease of use. Fast shipping is a plus, as is the little “thank you” on the receipt. Goodies are a bonus!

When it comes to buying wool, these five places stand out.

1. Dublin Bay

Only recently have I found a nice bargain on wool yarn at Dublin Bay. They are located in Montana and had a nice selection of Soft Donegal tweed yarn. For my first order, I purchased three skeins to knit the Kate’s Poncho. The yarn was priced way below other shops, and I received the yarn in two days!

They have lots of other wool available and I’ve noticed their Spindrift (J&S) is also priced low compared to some other online places. Shipping is free to the US for orders over $35 (at current writing, which is quite low). I will be shopping here again.

Soft Donegal tweed yarn skeins
Tweed wool to knit a poncho
Blocking the poncho to dry
Kate’s Poncho

2. Wool and Company

Most of the time, I order my yarn from Wool and Company. They offer …..free shipping for any amount of purchase, and they will ….. wind yarn for free!

I’ve never found any other online yarn seller who offers those two things!

They carry Rauma, Brooklyn Tweed, Woolfolk, and Lopi, just to name some of their wool selection.

When knitting a large garment, such as a sweater, the cost of yarn can be high. It pays to shop around – or wait for sale notifications – when planning a big knitting project.

yarn store wool and company packaging is polka dots in black and white

3. Fairlight Fibers

Fairlight Fibers is the place I’ve been buying Jamieson & Smith Shetland wool which they usually carry in many colors. They offer free shipping after spending so much, but that amount has gone up to $80 and used to be less. They will send out e-mails with sale and discount information so it’s worth signing up if you like the types of yarn they sell.

wool yarn Jamieson & Smith
Jamieson & Smith yarn

4. Eat, Sleep, Knit

This store has a huge selection of yarn. The website is easy to navigate and the notice of free shipping for orders over $100 is right there to see. Sign up for e-mails and get sale notices. They also send along a little collection of thank-you goodies! This is what I received when I recently purchased some Flette Bulky yarn by Woolfolk, on sale – a very good sale! – at their shop.

My recent order shipped very fast and was safely tucked inside a sturdy box. I’ve only ordered a couple of times, but they are one seller that will remain on my favorites list.

Little gifts that came in my yarn order from Eat, Sleep, Knit yarn shop
Wow, nice collection of goodies from Eat, Sleep, Knit!

5. The Woolly Thistle

When I began knitting, the Woolly Thistle was the first online place I found with lots of pretty wool for sale. The shop location is New Hampshire, my previous home state, which is what drew me in.

I moved away from NH because I couldn’t afford to live there. This yarn shop is pricey, which tends to go along with the whole New England vibe. But, they do have a wide variety of wool and some items that can be hard to find elsewhere here in the US.

At present time, get free shipping in the US for orders over $149. This is high compared to most other online sites.

wool fiber from sheep
Photo courtesy of Pixabay

Please Share Your Favorites

I’m sure there are many other online places to find nice wool, good sales, free shipping, and offer yarn winding. If you have any favorite places to buy your wool, please leave a comment and share the info to help the rest of us out. Thanks!

The featured image on this post was taken when I visited Harrisville Designs in New Hampshire.

Ponchos or Capelets For Staying Warm in the Office

If you work in a cold office, maybe a little poncho would keep you warm. Here is a list of knitting (and crochet) patterns for your consideration.

On this page you will find lists of patterns for knitting (and crocheting) ponchos, or poncho type apparel. I am looking for a pattern to knit and decided to share some of my favorite considerations.

My daughter recently began a new job and mentioned that it is freezing cold in her office. Everyone wears sweaters or wraps of some kind to stay warm. They are not able to regulate the temperature, as I think might be true of any large corporation where the higher-ups want control. “Lets save money and keep the AC turned to 60.” Who knows how they think, but the office workers just have to deal with it.

My daughter mentioned how much she would love to have a poncho!

I’ve had a love for ponchos since I was a kid. My grandmother knit, or crocheted, ponchos form my sister and I and I remember just loving the feel of wool wrapped around me.

Ponchos are warm yet loose. There is freedom of movement and the feeling of being snuggled all at once. Hide your hands, or reach out and easily grab something. Or wear something shorter that won’t get in the way at all.

Because I have lived in Florida for most of my adult life, I never had a need for a poncho. Now that I knit, I have been saving up favorite poncho patterns while browsing the Ravelry website.

A smaller version of the poncho may work better in an office environment. These little ponchos can be called capelets or cowls or wraps. They would be pretty simple to knit. On this page I have a collection of possibilities and have not decided on a pattern yet. Some are free patterns also.

Capelets

Capelets are the smaller / shorter version of a poncho. They only cover the neck and shoulders. Some are listed as cowls.

  • Bonjour Hi – Capelet from Espace Tricot. This one is a free pattern and uses two yarns together to equal a fingering weight.
  • Getting Warmer – Cowl from Espace Tricot. Knit this cowl bottom up in bulky yarn to create a cowl with a larger bottom section. This is also a free pattern.
  • Converging Lines Cowl – from Purl Soho is knit in a sport weight yarn. This is a free pattern.
  • Lake Harriet Capelet – This one has colorwork designs. It can be purchased at the link.

Ponchos

  • Nascha – by Andrea Mowry, this poncho is knit in brioche stitch. Yikes… I have had trouble knitting brioche, but this is a very lovely 2-color, reversible, poncho. It might be time to really learn this stitch. This one is not free, but it is not expensive. It is basically knit in a long rectangle then sewn up partially to create the neck opening.
  • Indigo Frost – by Isabell Kraemer, is knit in worsted weight yarn. It is a turtleneck with some mosaic colorwork stitches and tiny holes in a short poncho version which is really more like a capelet.
  • Kate’s Poncho – (see photo) Simple, long or short poncho with some seed stitch. Lots of knitters have made this.
Kate’s poncho on recipient
Kate’s Poncho modeled by my daughter

Crocheted Poncho Patterns

I don’t do much crocheting these days, but a lot of ponchos are crocheted. Here is a short list of some nice ones I found at Ravelry.

Poncho vs. Sweater Knitting

A poncho can be similar in some ways to knitting a sweater. Of course there are no sleeves to deal with, but some styles have a neck to knit with ribbing or similar. A poncho is perfect when knitting a gift for someone living far away. Size does not matter all that much.

I would prefer a pattern that uses a worsted weight yarn as it would knit up quicker. Also a washable yarn is needed.

Ponchos come in many styles. Some are simply long rectangles attached after knitting. Some have lots of intricate designs with buttons or other accessories. Depending on the size, they can be expensive to knit needing around six skeins of yarn (approximately for long versions).

I want to knit something fairly simple that would be comfortable to wear while working at a desk. A smaller / shorter capelet might be best for my daughter’s needs. I really like the Converging Lines Cowl or Kate’s Poncho (listed above). Then again, something like the Nascha poncho is appealing because it has such an open neckline. But is it too large? And can I knit brioche successfully? Decisions, decisions.

More from the blog…

Honey Cowl Three in Mrs. Crosby Yarn

Infinity cowl pattern to knit for free.

This is my third knitting of the Honey Cowl pattern and this time I chose a lighter weight yarn. The free pattern is simple enough for a beginner to knit and gives a lovely textured project.

I’ve always made the longer version that wraps twice around the neck. This time I used Mrs. Crosby Satchel yarn in “Dogwood” color.

Honey cowl knit using fingering weight yarn in long infinity scarf project.
Honey Cowl
Continue reading “Honey Cowl Three in Mrs. Crosby Yarn”

Shetland Wool Week Hat Pattern For 2022

Knitting up the newest in the line of Shetland Wool Week hat patterns, called Bonnie Isle.

I’m late to the party, but apparently every year there is a hat pattern to celebrate Shetland Wool Week. I’ve seen the cute lambs hat from a few years ago (Baa-ble), and knit Katie’s Kep twice, but otherwise haven’t paid much attention.

The latest SWW pattern – Bonnie Isle Hat – has come out for 2022, and I have begun knitting it. The nautical theme features waves and anchors and a bit of a unique cast-on and rib beginning.

Continue reading “Shetland Wool Week Hat Pattern For 2022”