Once upon a time, many moons ago, your Aunty used to teach workshops on spinning. This was a time of Birkenstocks and flowers in the hair and dirt under the fingernails and livestock out in the barn that needed to get sheared once a year. And once in a workshop, I was approached by a very earnest couple who asked me this: “I want to make a sweater – what sort of sheep should I get?” And I asked what their goal was. If it was to get sweaters, then they should go to a store and get sweaters. If it was to learn how to knit, then go to a yarn store, get some yarn and get lessons and learn to knit a sweater. If it was fiber work, they could buy fleeces and learn how to clean and dye them and get them carded for spinning into yarn. But NONE of any of those things, I explained, was as expensive or time consuming as buying, raising, and caring for a sheep. And this has a bit of connection to a topic that is near and dear to my heart, which is: Is it worth it to make your own clothing or clothing for family members? This is a two-part post which talks about this in terms of this issue. (more…)
You hear this from people all the time, “I saved xxx much money.” “I got a great bargain; on sale, it was $xxx but I paid $yyy.” “I found a way to only pay, $xxx for thus and such; I saved so much money.”
