but I basically hate it. I hate 100% acrylic to the point that I can’t do prayer shawls because they need to be washable, so I’m giving all of my crochet yarn (read: acrylic) to someone at my LYS for her shawl ministry. I haven’t found a yarn yet that has acrylic in it that I don’t hate. I’m even disliking the inexpensive cotton yarns.
Why do I always have champagne taste and a beer pocketbook?
:shrug:
I don’t like the way most of it feels as well.But for me almost all of the time if I want to knit, I will use it. I am on SSI and my DH is going to school so there just isint money for me to be as picky at all . Sometimes we have to do with what we can get or not do at all. (at least in my case) When I want to knit with something nicer I have to save up and use coupons at Michaels or Joann’s, I really can never afford to go to LYS and get the really nice stuff. So I guess its a choice of doing what you can with what you can afford, or not doing all the things you want, going into debt (not a good idea), or not doing it at all. Thats what I had to decide. I understand your situation, but not everybody can be a yarn snob, even if they really want to. Also I found some fairly inexpensive wool (I think it was lion fisherman’s It cames in a big skein and I used coupons so that it was about $4) that can be dyed (using koolaid, wiltons, or food coloring, and I did find some actual wool dye for not to much online) at Joann’s, thats what I am going to do for a bag I want to make that has to be felted. Maybe you could do that. Just my thoughts on the subject. Also sometimes they have good deals on Ebay, just watch the shipping cost or it can make it more expensive that it would be in the first place. I hope you find a solution!
I have knitted with red heart super saver and similar acrylic yarns for years, mostly because it was all I could find and more than likely even if natural fibers were available, all I could afford.
Receiving natural fiber yarns in a swap or from an odd gift are more like treats than the norm.
I discovered that I am really getting picky about finding perfect patterns for them - for I don’t want to waste the yarn trying something too hard or with too many new techniques at once. I also want something I know I will wear or use - not something that will end up folded up in a drawer forgotten.
I also dislike acrylic yarns. Nor to I buy acrylic or polyester clothing (except for fleece).
What weight yarn do you use for prayer shawls? I am sure we can help you find some great deals online with fibers that you will like more.
candice
At Hobby Lobby a couple days ago I discovered Lion Brand 100% wool called Lion Wool for under $5.00 a skein…
:mrgreen: The bills get paid and I’m not paying interest on my yarn purchases, so it’s not that. I just wish sheep were more plentiful or something! :mrgreen:
Patons Classic Merino can often be found for less than $5.00, and is a joy to work with. I’d also recommend hitting every clearance and sale you can, and haunting Knit Picks.
I think sometimes people can be a bit obsessed about brand names, and maybe miss out on a good thing because its not the in thing.
I don’t like some of the acrylic yarns that I have found in this country but since doing the oddball baby blankets I have found out and bought some Lion Brand Micro spun which I am quite impressed with and would use again for myself.
My kids suffer from allergies and sensitive skins and usually I buy cotton Like Rowan Hand knit which is lovely to knit with and the new Bamboo yarn is beautifully soft love it a lot.
I did last week buy a knitting magazine with a lovely poncho for a child that used Noro Iro yarn and since hearing a lot about how brilliant etc Noro is I went ahead and bought £50 worth of wool over the Internet as I have no real yarn shops where I live. I have to say if I had felt the yarn first I would never have bought it. It looks nice but feels like sandpaper pretty much hate it.
I dislike acrylics too. I’d recommend checking out Knitpicks for good cheap yarns. Their “Bare” line of wools have double-sized (100g) hanks for $3.50, with free shipping over $50. The superwash is more expensive of course. But their yarns are just lovely and I can’t find a better price anywhere, even with sales. The cheapest I’ve found Paton’s for locally is $4 on sale. Even their cottons are cheaper than buying Peaches & Cream locally for me.
And the bonus to buying your wools undyed is that you can choose your own colors.
It depends on who I’m knitting for as to whether I use natural fibers or not. Right now I’m knitting a felted backpack for my DD so that obviously is wool. I’m also working on sweaters for my 3 y/o boys for next fall. Knowing how they are, I’m doing that in Lion Brand (Vanna’s Choice) acrylic. I need it to be durable, washable, and cheap so I won’t :waah:if they do something to it. A woman my mom works with is due w/her 2nd baby in a couple of months. She’s seen my knitting and wants me to do something for the baby but I’m also quite sure she won’t care for it well. She’ll also get something in acrylic. Anything for me - bring on the good stuff! :teehee: :mmm:
Seeing that I am sensitve/allergic to pure wool, I use a lot of acrylics. There are some that are nicer than others, I find Simply Soft to be very nice. I do have some luck with wool blends and have used Wool-Ease and Paton’s SWS sucessfully. I guess i just go with the feel test and if I like how it feels, I’ll use it.
I can’t afford expensive yarn, unless it is on sale either but I get so much enjoyment out of knitting that I will work with what’s available. And like others, I really use my coupons and order on line during sales. I’ve gotten some really nice stuff for very reasonable prices.
wish i could use more expensive wools but am so allergic to pure wool. more then i thought i was, yesterday i went to the lys and found some lovely patterned wool and was looking at it but i hadn’t looked at the label at what it was till it was too late. My eyes started itching and the drive home it looked like i was crying my heart out as my eyes streamed.:waah:
Its taken 24 hrs for my eyes to recover
have got some bamboo wool to try so far no reaction
i use some acrylic, but its really really hard and sticky. i prefer wool, but im trying to put all of my wool in my stash. have you tried knit picks cotlin?
Lion Wool is cheap and pretty soft (I just got two skeins in my birthday package). I’d never felt it before and I’m really impressed - it’s a cheap, soft natural fiber. Simply Soft is a very soft acrylic and I used to love love love it - but the more I use natural fibers, even extremely soft acrylic still feels… plastic-y. It is soft though, and works well if you’re on a tight budget and need a lot of yarn.
I do think I would recommend a nice cheap wool like Lion Wool, but if you need washable, you can get 100% wools that are superwash - no acrylic but easy to care for. Knitpicks has Swish Superwash that is cheap also. It may tend to pill some, but it’s a very cost efficient, washable 100% natural fiber.
Good luck finding something that works for you 
I can’t knit with acrylic for too long or it makes my hands hot and itchy. But…I don’t have much of a choice. I just don’t have the money to be buying anything else, either online or in a store. I’ve found that no matter what, there’s always going to be two very definite sides to this battle.
While I like wool, and I can spend hours in a yarn shop petting balls and hanks and skeins, I normally walk out with nothing. There are so many different types of fibers out there…natural, synthetic, blends, etc, that there will always be something for everyone.
On a side note…I absolutely HATE the way Noro feels. It seems there’s been such a fuss over how lovely this yarn is, but I refuse to buy it. It feels icky (to me anyways).
[B]Try the Mercerized cotton.
Susan[/B]
[B]When it comes to Super Wash, I love elann.com[/B]
K I just found this yarn the other day or brand of yarn I should say. It’s called “Dark Horse Yarns” It’s soft like good quality wool, comes in lovely shadings and solids, and… are you ready for this? And… it’s synthetic. Not one animal fibre. It is decently priced also. www.darkhorseyarn.com I hope I got that link right.:happydance:
Well dang, they do have woolens too but most of their yarn is synthetic. They do have some out there yarns though!!!
I’m glad I like cheap yarn.
I’m a fan of wool but I won’t (and can’t) pay what they want to charge for most of it.
It costs me $20-$30 to crochet a blanket with Red Heart SS and I think that’s outrageous.
I almost said forget about knitting when I saw so many sweater patterns calling for $75-$150 worth of yarn.
It only costs about $100 for the whole lamb and not only do you get the wool you get the leather and the meat.
I’m a yarn snob. I freely admit it, and don’t want to change. However,there are a lot of very nice yarns out there that don’t cost that much. Guess I can pretty much sum it up by saying that if I’m going to spend time knitting something, it’s going to be done with nice yarns.