Thriftism

It seems like lately everybody is pregnant, recently had a baby, or is looking at starting a family in the near future. While I am nowhere near catching the baby fever that seems to be going around, I have caught the love of knitting tiny things for those adorable babies. Besides the fact that I love to knit, making my own gifts for showers is a great money saver and adds that nice touch of personalization to your gift. Anyone can go out and buy toys or clothes or diapers, but how many people hand make their presents these days? Anyway yarn is one of the cheapest things you can buy. Granted your time counts for something, but if you're like me, it's a fun hobby anyway so you're not really giving up time that you'd be using elsewhere. Plus, knitting during movies/tv shows will keep you from snacking and I know this has really helped me reduce my calorie consumption. Back to my baby projects… I decided to start simple and work my way up to things like toys, cl...

My sister is moving into her first house later this month and I couldn't decide what I should get for a house warming gift. Usually if you buy something from a store, everyone knows how much you spent. Having said that, it reflects poorly if you spend say $5 when others might spend $20. So, I decided to make my presents. I recently taught myself to knit. It's pretty simple to learn and there are tons of how to guides with pictures and movies online. I didn't say I am great yet, but good enough to make something worth using. I searched for towels or dishcloths, anything that would be fairly simple, but still useful. After some searching I found this great pattern online and it is actually offered as a free pattern, making it even better! The pattern makes two hand towels and three dishcloths. It calls for three colors, but I bought my yarn on sale and only two matching colors were on sale, therefor, I am using only two. You can buy knitting needles fairly cheap on ebay or...