HOW much?

I bought a knitting magazine - I shouldn't have. Apart from anything else I don't think I was in any way part of its target audience.

You see, I remember the days when knitting was a good way of making a cheap sweater and it didn't matter that it wasn't 'branded'. I also like knitting because I occasionally finish things and it is a way of producing a sweater that is comfortable, fits, is the colour you like and the shape you like. Sometimes it is hard to find that in the shops. I don't follow fashion, so getting the sort of clothes I want is a little bit of a trial sometimes. So I knit. However, now Catherine Zeta Jones is knitting, things aren't quite the same.

I can't remember the name of the magazine, but it was beautifully artistic. It ran a feature on buttons. This included some buttons that were £5.60 EACH! My reaction was quite predictable. I mean, how much? I was used to knitting sweaters, but you can get some very respectable buttons for a tenth of that on the local market, ebay is of course your friend and the buttons on some clothes in the charity shops are beautiful. Why would you want to pay £5.60 EACH for a button? I should add that these were the sort that were bought in sixes for a cardigan or jacket.

Then there was the garment - Knit this from only £59 it proclaimed. HOW much? It would make me nervous knitting yarn that expensive in case evil cat happened. And it was promoted as the cheap knit!

And the pattern for an apron. Who knits an apron? Why knit an apron? For me an apron is to protect your clothes and wipe your hands on when you need to in a rush. For me reused flannel sheets are ideal. And if you are going to knit an apron for heaven's sake knit it longer than 10 inches unless it is for someone in primary school. 10 inches is not an apron, it is a saggy belt.

And they did a feature on yarns. Now I tend to hunt the cheaper end of the yarn market if I actually need to buy yarn (I don't, I have a flock of sheep's worth stashed) and paying more than £1.99 for 100g makes me break out into a sweat. Of course, if you are knitting for a present and that present is a fancy scarf, then perhaps I could be persuaded to buy at £2.99 for 100g.

This feature had lots of different yarns, including Stylecraft which I have found inexpensive and easy to knit and wash. It also included one, I think I have repressed the name but the yarn was £26 for 100g - yes, twenty six pounds sterling! I nearly fell off my chair. It is 49% silk and 51% bamboo. At that price it ought to be spun by angels. To knit anything remotely the size of little bear would cost over £100!

I think I am missing the point somewhere. I suppose if you have the money you pay for what you like. And I look at the hand painted, hand spun, organic, bamboo, soya, wool, silk, cotton, banana fibre (yes, banana fibre!) offerings and think that what do you do with it, half of it you couldn't wear to the shops, a lot of it is wash with extreme caution, and what do you do if you run out of people to knit scarves for?