Where can I buy wool online (with confidence) please?

[RedRosie]

As it says in the title ...

Can you tell me where you purchase wool online, Oh Wise And Crafty Women Of Mumsnet?

I am a beginner knitter, knitting a (very simple) baby cardigan for a friend's new little one, and I stupidly didn't buy enough of the wool I need.

Even worse [bublush] I can't remember where I purchased the wool I do have. I went a bit mad when I started knitting and purchased wool all over the place in frenzied random shopping, as it is all so lovely ...

I've tried Amazon and John Lewis online, and the specific wool in the colour I need is not stocked.

Where do you buy yours? I'm not keen on PayPal purchasing, but I will if I have to. I would like tried and tested website recommendations please ...

Thank you.

There are lots of fab websites - I buy mine from McA and Hulucrafts. Both very good. Deramores have a pretty good range of stuff, too.

And just in case it can help, this is my local yarn shop :)

A lot of the MN Blanketeers bought their yarn from cucumber patch. I've used them and they have been super reliable (pretty much next day) however I think they did have a bit of a wobble at the height of the last couple of blankets but suspect that was just a sheer volume issue.

McA direct was also good and quick for me recently.

IIRC correctly I paid cucumberpatch via PayPal but McA by credit card. There might have been other options though.

Thanks Tribpot. I will investigate.

I'm in Central London, but if I have to revisit every single shop I've shopped in since the knitting madness took over in January, well, I'll be visiting many shops ...

Its addictive. I should have been warned.

Thank you too Wincy. Great name!

Ah well you see RedRosie, the problem there is you live in a place that is jammed with yarn shops. I only have Hobbycraft and my lovely Baa Ram Ewe, so nearly all my shopping is done online with handy email receipts to explain where half my salary has been going :)

Its not so much the money, as the compulsions.

1. To buy nice wool/cotton when I see it (with no idea by the way, what I might actually to with it later - so I have many and varied balls of yarn about the place).

1. To do knitting! To the exclusion of other things I should be doing. Like business cases and budget management for work, or healthy nutritious dinners - poor DH and DSCs.

Hopefully I'll get my knitting-work-life balance back soon.

I am a big fan of Black Sheep

Thanks SoupDreggon.

Mumsnet always has answers. Its brilliant for this kind of thing ...

If you know what you've got (ie still have the ball band) you could just run it into Google and see who comes up with the goods.

My problem with Black Sheep is rummaging around in their bargain section [sigh]

Thanks all. I've tried the online search but not got anything specific with the colour I need (its not exotic wool or anything, just a Stylecraft Baby one). I will work my way through all these links and hunt it down.

Any suggestions for what can be done later on with all my random wool? Maybe I could try a few patterns for toys or something when I get a bit more competent ... Or knit a bonkers multi wool-type scarf ...

Deramores seem to have every Stylecraft wool known to man, which one are you looking for?

Lots of lovely things to be done with random wool - maybe something like one of Frankie's 10 stitch blankets? There's zigzags, a square spiral, or a double spiral (among others). Or a Zimmerman blanket or her piece de resistance, a baby surprise jacket. Or buy more of the wool you already have ... that way madness lies!

Depends a bit on how much you have of each type of wool and how thick it is.

I seek Stylecraft Wondersoft baby double knitting in "Miss Muffet" (I know, I know - how do they think up these names?)

And will do proper searching once I'm off my mobile and back on a PC.

I'll look at those ideas tribpot. I quite like the idea of creating something random from the 20 60 or so random single balls I have ... But not being in the least creative I'll need to follow a pattern/instruction of some kind.

Hmm, intriguing. Well, this is Stylecraft's list of stockists. It looks as if Knit and Sew may have the Miss Muffet in stock.

this any good?

Tribpot and Dutch - you are lovely.

Crafty types are the best types.

I've had good service from Cucmber patch and Deramores.

Thanks again all.

I have it!

The baby cardigan WILL get completed although it might not be very good and the scary neck bit is coming up

I am exploring all the lovely websites you've recommended ...

Well done Rosie. Just keep reading the pattern very carefully and if there is anything you don't get just come back on here, because it usually is quite simple to explain. Quite often I find people saying: I think it is right, but I'm not sure and usually they are quite right and it is just confidence they are lacking. Best of luck.

Will do. I am learning to knit from a book (Knitty Gritty by Aneeta Patel).

The nice thing about this is that is starts you with actual real things rather than practice squares ... but ... you suddenly find yourself on only! project 5 knitting an actual cardigan, which seems a huge leap from the previous project.

But you are right. It depends on reading very carefully and obsessively counting stitches

Woolforless is a good reliable website and they have good offers on regularly as well.

Yes, obsessivley counting stitches is what you have to do, whether you have 9,90 or 900 stitches on the needle (as I had in one of my last projects). Look on Ravelry if you like, same user name. It was a truly fantastic project, but wouldn't wish it on a beginner. Counting stitches was the key to it, though.

Thank you Strawberry. I will add it to my list.

900 stitches?

Respect! I'm almost afraid to look.

Deramores here. Plus Woolaballoo is excellent for naicer yarn.

Woolaballoo