Suggestions on yarns?

#1

I admit it…I have been buying cheapo yarn. Mainly because I didn’t want to waste a bunch of beautiful yarn on my bumbled beginning projects.

But now, I have been knitting for two whole months! :cheering: I am ready to grow.

Suggestions? At some point, I would like to experiment with felting (found an AMAZING felted tote pattern that I LOVE). I would also like to experiment with sweaters…and socks for dh. I would love to start an afghan. And I need to get started on Christmas presents for next year.

So many excuses to knit!

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am such a novice.

Misty

#2

well my suggestion would be to visit a local yarn shop and touch everything to see what you like (assuming you have and LYS anyway :shrug:)

Those projects you are talking about all take different kinds of yarn really. You COULD do an afghan in sock yarn but you will likely be killing yourself with the needles before you get done i would think.

Do you know which project you want to do next and do you have a price that would make you gasp if you saw it and shudder at the thought of buying it? (yeah i like to work from the top end down! :teehee:)

#3

Well, I have been buying acrylic yarn (mainly Red Heart) to get me off and onto my feet.

I received 3 bags of yarn from a lady on Freecycle.org, but she had already unwrapped it all and thrown the labels away, so I have no idea what the good stuff is (seriously, who does that?!).

I have no idea what yarn even costs (beyond the $6 Lion Brand “Thick” yarn I bought at WalMart)…

Why don’t ya’ll just tell me what your favorites are and I will start doing my own research from there?

Misty

#4

I usually use WOTA for felting and you can get that at knitpicks.com… I like a lot of their yarns and they are pretty reasonable… I also like Plymouth Encore DK for sweaters for my kids… its nice and can be also machine washed… I think one skein at my LYS runs about 3.50ish…I like Plymouth’s Galaway too… and their alpaca is soo soft… I also like Patons SWS and can only find that at Joanns.com… and Patons Merino wool it also felts great… I like Lamb’s pride wool it felts great too… I like brown sheep’s cotton fleece… I like Cleckheaton Country Naturals… Ashford Tekapo is nice… and I also like Crystal Palace Breeze… for socks I use Patons Kroy… Knit picks sock yarn… wild foote… cherry tree hill… Regia
:rofl: thats a quick list… of all the yarns I could reach while sitting here… and I like Malabrigo although I’ve only used it once… and have 3 skeins waiting for the perfect project…

#5

lol Dustina’s got a pretty good list there. Most of what I have in my stash is Malabrigo and Koigu. Cascade 220 is good too (felts great!) Lamb’s pride is another big one in my stash.

MISTI ALPACA!!! Yummmmm! I didn’t think i was ever going to love malabrigo again after using misti alpaca! (i got over it.)

#6

I agree with Bendajos
Misti Alpaca
Marabrigio

and SWS or Tapestry

ecb

#7

Here are my favorite low-budget yarns.

From Michaels:
Patons Classic Merino - worsted wool in solid colors, can be felted
Patons Soy Wool Stripes - worsted soy wool blend in yummy colorways, can be felted

From Hancock Fabrics:
Lion Brand Magic Stripes - sockweight machine washable blend in fun striped colorways

From your LYS:
Cascade 220: worsted wool in just about every color known to mankind, can be felted

Also, lots of lovely yarn is available at your local thrift store in the form of slightly used sweaters. I found a cashmere sweater the other day for less than $3. Most of my stash is recycled - it’s really easy and fun.

#8

How can you take yarn from sweaters (I realize this should be fairly simple, but just can’t wrap my mind around it…)?

Do you cut somewhere and then start unraveling? Or do you pick at it until it unravels? I have some great wool sweaters from Ireland that I have absolutely loved, but all have developed one tiny moth hole over the summer. :pout: If I could recycle them, the yarn is absolutely gorgeous.

Misty

#9

Misty, so glad you asked!

http://www.neauveau.com/recycledyarn.html
http://www.az.com/~andrade/knit/thrifty.html
http://frugalliving.about.com/od/craftsandhobbies/a/yarnstash.htm

Main things to look for:

  1. Non-serged seams - if you don’t see shiny sewing thread or tufts of yarn peeking out from the seams, that’s good.
  2. Good fiber - I generally don’t unravel synthetic sweaters, but that’s just my personal preference.
  3. Gauge of yarn - unless you want to make socks for a small army or a lace bedspread or you’ll double (or triple) strand the yarn, don’t try to work with a super-fine-knit sweater.
#10

for inexpensive, bulky quality yarn, i recommend the sierra from knitpicks. soft enough for the skin with great colors