Hi
I was wondering if a person has to go by the drape of a yarn ?I have heard that animal fibers have less drape and you have to go buy plant fibers like silk,lace etc?is that true what do you guys think?
The plant fiber yarns are kinda to expensive for me.
can a person still get drape from animal fibers or does a person have to buy the other stuff? I only like buying less expensive yarn.
I use plant based fibers most often; they are of a rather ancient variety called acrylic.
I
My five seven year socks (still on the needles) are a wool blend. I Will finish them some day.
I have worked with cotton for dish towels and cloths. Very soft but no stretch. Can be hard to work with.
Silk is an animal fiber. Lace isn’t a fiber.
I would think Drape is affected as much by needle size and tension as it is by the fiber source.
It really depends on the yarn…generally I’ve found softer yarns in general have a better drape. Silk and linen tend to have decent drape, but ive tried a few acrylics that would do fine as well. Try to do a decent size swatch ( maybe a little bigger than usual) to see how the yarn is as fabric.
Also, if you knit on a larger needle the knit will be a little looser and drape a little nicer. It might be tough figuring out the adjusted gauge if you’re making a sweater though. If you’re making a shawl or a wrap though I don’t think it would matter as much as long as you have enough yarn.
As for animal yarns vs plant yarns… You can get a lot of blends out there which might help your price point out. A wool blend with silk or viscose might be a little drapier than a plain wool but not as expensive as a pure silk blend.