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/diy/ - Do It Yourself

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121944 No.121944 [Reply] [Original]

Question for you dumpster divers.

I am an avid knitter, and in fact run my own little knitting business. I am always in need of yarn, and after visiting my local Michaels, I though of you guys.

Have any of you gone dumpster diving at either Michael's or JoAnn Fabrics? Do they ever throw away yarn?

>> No.121949

i'm sure they mainly just put it on sale until it sells. If anyone throws it away it's probably damaged in some way.

>> No.121967

>>121944
>Do they ever throw away yarn?
Yes, they throw it away if it is still on the shelf and past its expiration date, i.e. never.

Why would they throw away yarn (unless someone spilled something on it that they didn't want to deal with, like oil, glue, blood, etc).

>> No.121973

do this: build a bright pink bag out of colored duct tape. make sure it has a zipper. put a few things of yarn in, throw away in the nearest trash receptacle. Over the next few days, check every bag. You'll get your pink bag (very visible) and your yarn. BOOM!

>> No.121987

Corporate policy at Jo-Ann F&C for fabric discards is to bleach it in the dumpster to prevent divers from retrieving it.

Not sure about yarn, but it likely will get discarded at the same time, and therefor be covered in bleach.

>> No.121989

>>121973
How does this even work.


Also, I was thinking about diving from such places.
Ideas/tips/etc.?

>> No.121995

>>121967
Uhhh...I hate to be the one to tell you, but stores throw away things all the time. They _do_ have a sell by date, not exactly an expiration date - but after it has been reached they have to throw it away. They can fail their audit if they are found to have items in their store after the term it's been given (List, Sale, Clearance, Discard).

>> No.122431

>>121944
You run a knitting business? How does that work? Like Etsy and stuff?

>> No.122435

Careful OP, you'll get some guy calling you a kid for looking in his personal trashtreasure stash

>> No.122439

>>121944
Call them up and ask. Better yet. Go there and talk to some employees. Bring a case of cold beer. You may get some stuff in the long run without the need for beer.

>>121989
I think anon means you are making an excuse to dumpster dive to retrieve your own belonging (in case you are caught) and you grab up anything else you find useful.

>> No.122447

>>122435
typical kid post. op has done nothing wrong, except break the law.

what your doing is acting like a huge cunt, trying to start a flame war over nothing.

grow up kid

>> No.122454

>>121944

The way my mum used to get cheap yarn was to buy old sweaters at jumble sales, then she would unpick the yarn and ball up the wool, I still have a rather tattered crocheted blanket she made when I was a baby.

It's funny but I've seen a couple of those types of blanket make decent money in auction of late

>> No.122456

>>121995
Well fine, but the "sell by" date for yarn will probably be like 20 years. Most of it is synthetic, it doesn't rot, it doesn't rust, it's just there.

>> No.122459

I do weaving on top of all the other crazy stuff I do. While I do the expensive jobs with craft store. you should keep and eye out for a local natural yarn sale person. It seems to have picked up some pace with the Green movement and their prices are way better that the Big Box retails.

Also don't knock posting your search on craigslist.

>> No.122464

Go around communities and neighborhoods that have older people in them when they're having yard sales, and go to any church rummage sales. I find a lot of yarn this way, due to older people giving away any yarn they're not using.

>> No.122474

>>122456
it's something called a turnaround. If you spen $100 dollars on X and it's expected to sell within 10 days netting you $150, and it only sells after 50 days you don't earn as much. that $150:
$100 - X
$10 - electricity/water/gas
$10 - rent
$30 - your wage.

now the longer it sits there, the less money it earns you. eventually it's more efficient to just throw it away.

>> No.122513

>>122474
How "eventually" is this eventually, seeing as when you throw it away you're just going to have to spend another $100 on another X which may or may not sell?

>> No.122564
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122564

>>122431

As in I sell knitted goods. Considered going through Etsy but I didn't like how they charged fifty cents a month for each item, and some other stuff they do. I've been trying to set up a website but I'm not to great at web design yet.

Mostly I have been going around to local concerts (we have lots) and selling my stuff. Also hitting up art shows and book sales.

>> No.122572

>>121973

Clever idea, I'll consider it.

>>122439

How could I not have thought of this? I'm bros already with half the staff at Michael's, going to do this ASAP.

>>122459

You're lucky to live in a place where it is cheap - around here you pay out the nose for all the "natural" stuff. This past summer I bought a skein of yarn for fifteen dollars.

>>122464
>>122459

The problem I've found with this is a lot of the yarn I get smells really musty or like cigarette smoke.

>> No.122724

>>122572
If it's cheap, just spend a few minutes running it through the washer.

>> No.122802

I know Michaels will throw out yarn if the label becomes destroyed or the skein unraveled. I've seen JoAnns rewind and replace the paper.

>> No.122962

dumpster from thrift stores you can wash old sweaters and pull them apart and use them for knitting(don't have actual experience with this I read that someone did this in a zine)

>> No.124766

OP, let me know if you find a good source. The cost of yarn is a complete rip-off.

>> No.124802

This thread is not yet /diy/ enough.

Buy sheep. Feed sheep grass. Every spring, shear sheep and gather their wool to knit with. Profit!