I go to a local community thrift shop but also we actually have a dime store in our small town, wood floors and all. Yarn is a big department and a couple of times a year they put out a sandwich sign saying Yarn Sale. It’s a magnet. They also do a 25% off everything in November.
Unfortunately, I have never found yarn at Goodwill. I’m sure it’s getting scarfed up (no pun intended) as soon as they put it out.
Most of my yarn (I’d say 95% of it) comes from AC Moore. They have moved store locations & in the new location, I could walk to it, if I had to. Since they have great coupons, I rarely pay full price, usually get at least 50% off. The sales are pretty good, too - just bought $20 worth of yarn for $10 on Saturday which was nice, because then I could use my 55% coupon on knitting needles. We do have a Hobby Lobby (next most frequent place I get yarn), then Michael’s (rarely) & even more rarely, Joann’s.
We have a new yarn shop that opened about a year ago, probably a good 20-30 minutes away in a small town. It’s a small, old RR town, tracks run down Main St so there is old fashioned ‘personality’ galore and I am looking forward to visiting - one of my goals for this year is to make it over there. Since they opened, it looks like they’ve moved down the street from their original location & now have an even bigger store - room for knit/crochet alongs & inventory. If I could afford it, I’d love to use more natural fiber yarns ... once in a blue moon, I’ll get some wool, but it has to be a really special project and (I’ll avoid a little rant here), the ‘giftee’ has to appreciate the yarn ... only two people in my sphere right now to which the ‘appreciate’ part applies. I’ve attended two Fall Fiber Festivals and just about OD over all the gorgeous yarns, many hand spun and/or dyed.
From natural fiber to ‘unnatural’ ... Sunday I ordered yarn from Amazon for the 2nd time. There are certain yarns/colors that I cannot find around here & have to order online. By the time you add in shipping, it’s just not worth it (to me). I have Prime so if I can find the yarn/color at the same price or less as it would be in the store, I can order it on Amazon & not pay shipping. My hairpin lace scarf yarn is yarn I purchased that way - no one locally had 3 skeins in a color I liked enough to spend the time/money on it in a project.
Of all the yarn I do use, I seem to end up with Lion Brand a lot and lately, Premier Puzzle has been a top choice for prayer wraps - it’s a 5 Bulky, but a ‘light’ 5, very soft & warm, many of the colors are quite pretty/attractive. The color variations make beautiful corner-to-corner wraps & I’ve gotten more positive comments on the Puzzle C2Cs than any other pattern I’ve used.
I did a KNITTING fingerless mitten binge this weekend (knitting speed is way up) - 3 pairs, but now I have 6 thumbs to knit - yikes!! Late last night, while looking for ‘help’, I found a video on knitting thumbs without gaps (between thumb & body of mitten - a real problem) and it was done on circular needles using Magic Loop, which is what I’m using. Super helpful! I’ll be working on thumbs in the next day or two. Started that mobius shawl wrap - yarn, which is 5 Bulky & soft, works up nicely ... changed the stitch pattern slightly. It will be easy to frog if I don’t like the finished piece - so far, so good.
Meanwhile, we had a big freeze Friday night & the kitchen countertops are loaded with jalapeno peppers rescued before they froze, red green & in-between .... I have to deal with them today before I can get back to ‘fiber arts’.