I’m beginning to feel like a yarn idiot, LOL!!! All I’ve ever used is acrylic. I can’t stand to wear wool (I break out like crazy!), and most cottons I’ve seen are hand wash and dry flat. Pretty much everything I’ve done, I’ve gone for convenience for the wearer.
Are there varying “degrees” of acrylics, like one is the “cheap cousin” and one is the “cream of the crop”? :??
Since I have only knitted for children or dogs, I only use acrylic or cotton. I want everything to be machine washable and dryable. I’m looking for more blends in the future.
There is “oh my God this is horrible” acrylic and there is “this works for me” acrylic.
There are some that I just can’t stand the feel of, though others are soft. When I make an easy-care child’s sweater, I lean toward Plymouth Encore, which is a blend, because I find it soft, the colors are great, and it washes and dries in the machine.
Last Christmas I knitted my (male) room mate a lovely ( if I say so myself) Aran sweater. It`s a cream sweater for a guy - you bet your life it was knitted in Acrylic - that thing is going need washing a lot !! ( If you want to see said sweater pictures - and a more detailed blurb about the making are at the bottom of my blog )
http://scubagirlsknitting.blogspot.com
I did take the half finished project to a knitting group at one point - while most people were very nice about my sweater - someone said something about knitting it in acrylic. I explained it was for a guy - There then follow much garbage about sweater curses < insert eye roll >
Anyway - the gift was well received - room mate commented how soft it was - he doesn`t seem to be cursed and neither do I.
I actually have knitted a couple of garments with “real wool” recently and honestly they look like crap in no time because the pill and fluff and bobble so much - not to mention the TLC they need to was them… I say yeah for anything I can stuff in a washing machine that doesn`t leave hair balls every where !
My feelings are that if I’m going to spend incredible amounts of time knitting something, I am going to take darn good care of it. If I want something I can throw in the wash, I’ll take myself to Target and get something for $9.99. 
You might look at Cascade Sierra – machine washable/dryable, and a cotton/wool blend.
Have you tried some of the super duper soft (like cashmere soft) wools out there?
There are some acrylics which I like to use for knitting baby stuff, including Caron Simply Soft, and Bernat Baby Softee. I like that they’re washable for spitting babies , and they are very soft. Though heirloom knitting is nice, most of the mom’s I know whom I knit for won’t be giving the garments that type of care. These acrylics hold up well for the life of the garment, which is not needed for that long of a period of time, since babies grow so quickly. 
For me it’s all about who it’s for and what it is. Most of what I knit these days is either socks or garments for my kids. Kids garments {including socks} are done in acrylic or acrylic blends. I am working on a throw for DH’s desk chair that’s all acrylics… one regular blended with a boucle or a thick-n-thin. Socks for DH are always wool {scratchy or otherwise, he doesn’t care!}, and socks for me are made out of whatever I have.
Totally. Kids, pets, some men and other dirty people get acrylic. FOlks who know how to appreciate real wool get real wool.
There are acrylics and acrylics. Even in the scratchy ones sometimes some colours are softer. For the dogs, anything goes. I knit almost always in acrylics for the grandkids because I know my DILs won’t want to fuss. Some of those sweaters are on the third wearer now. I have used wool blends, washable ones for a couple of sweaters for the kids but they all have sensitive skins. I itch like crazy in wools and some bother my hands to knit them. Galway is okay, and I’m going to make a little aran sweater for my lys soon. I guess for me I use whatever will welcome to the user. My budget is pretty tight too! Forgot about that issue. samm who isn’t all that particular if the colours are great and the feel is pretty good. :XX:
I love plymouth Encore and its in my budget… with 2 kids I don’t want to handwash so thats usually what I knit with… I have used other like wool… alpaca… but its all gotta fit in my budget and if acrylic does at that time its what I use :lol: don’t feel bad if thats all you knit with my grandmother has crochet for I don’ t know how long and thats all she will use and everything I have that she made me/kids holds up great… I use alot of Sugar n Cream cottons too… and Knitpicks fits into my budget… If your happy with your yarn then thats all that matters 
True that… true that.
Just as there’s no one right way to knit, if it looks good and stays together and you’re happy with it and you enjoyed the process, then that’s all that matters. 
:roflhard:
I live in a small town, without a LYS, so the only yarn I have easy access to is icky acrylic at Walfart. I do use it for my niece and nephew a LOT thought, because they lose stuff ALL the time.
:roflhard: Woooo! That took me way back!! Fer REAL!
I want to say thanks to the original author of this thread and those of you who have responded. My stash is probably 70% acrylic and I’ve been feeling a littel timid about even using all that yarn I have piled up, thinking that the finished product won’t be “worthy” of all my knitting time, but I agree with most comments, if it’s what you can afford, and you like the FO - GO for it! After reading this, I won’t be such a snob to my own stash anymore.
I use mostly acrylic yarn, because it’s readily available, and friendly to my budget. We have a local craft store, but it’s not primarily a yarn store. I get most of my yarn at either Walmart or when we got out of town to the nearest Hobby Lobby.
I love Lion Brand Wool-Ease. It’s softer than Red Heart, but still machine washable.
My stash only has acrylic in it because I don’t feel that I’m worthy of better yarn yet. :lol: honestly, though, I don’t have a budget right now for wool, and I agree about the scratchy. And anything I can machine wash without ruining is ok in my book.
Another use I have for cheap acrylic yarn is when I’m attempting something new which I’ve not tried yet. If I’m knitting something with really nice yarn, it pains me to rip it out again and again, so I first attempt it on cheap acrylic until I’ve “got it”, then go back to the project with the nice yarn. I don’t mean I make the entire project with the cheaper yarn first, but I work my way through an area of a pattern which I’m not sure if I understand. Once it looks right, then I go back to the one I’m actually making.
I seem to have a mental block when it comes to reading patterns, and though I’ve been knitting a year now, I’m not all that advanced yet, so doing the above helps me alot. :rollseyes:
I use mostly wools (and am admitted yarn snob), but I have used Web’s Sugarloaf which is 50%merino 50% microfiber. It was a little splitty to work with but very soft. I think it is still handwash though. I made a scarf/hood/neck gaitor for my mom. It is really soft and flexible. I think “microfiber” is just fancy for acrylic.
Candice
I’ve found that often the acrylic skritchy ones will soften nicely after being washed. I always advise my DILs to wash the things first for the kids. samm
A lot of my projects have been using acrylic. If you want to knit and yet not blow a hole in your pocket, acrylic is the way to go. But there is JOY in trying and using different yarn and textures. Whatever feels right to an individual is the way to go.
I use blends a lot so far. Most wools make me itchy, but Encore is is acrylic/wool and is soft. I also like acrylic/cotton blends better than pure cotton except for dishcloths.