Yarn Attributes

A very nice blog reader, who obviously has more trust in me than I deserve, wrote this in a comment:

I don’t know much about the attributes of different yarns as I re-enter the pleasures of knitting.  When I began decades ago, I only knew entry-level yarn.  Some of us could learn a lot from your knowledge of and experience with different kinds of yarns.  As you order or use yarns, would you consider sharing a bit about their characteristics and advantages/disadvantages?

I would be happy to do a little blurb on the yarns I choose and from now on, will write a bit about each yarn as I buy it or as I use yarns I have not written about before. I can remember that not long ago, I was begging others for their opinions on yarns. Ravelry does have an area where people review yarns but I find that so many of those reviews . . like 99% of those reviews are written when people receive the yarn or when they first start knitting. What I want to know is “how does it look after four or five washes?”

Any time I share my opinion about a yarn, please leave comments and add your 2 cents. My opinion is just that . . my opinion so the more opinions we have, the better idea we will have about different yarns.

At this point, I will say that what matters to me is how well yarns hold up. If I’m paying $100+ for yarn to make a sweater, I expect to be able to wear it without it looking like I found it on the side of the road after one wearing. I’m not even real picky about whether a yarn is soft or not if it’s being used for a sweater. I’m not allergic to anything . . except maybe the credit card bill! 🙂

If I’m making a shawl, a scarf or a cowl that is going to be right next to my skin, yes, I want it to be soft and snuggly but those kinds of projects don’t get a lot of rough wear, and are very rarely washed. Sweaters get pilly around the belly (seatbelt, sitting up against tables, carrying things in and out of the house), at the elbows and under the arms. Cardigans are obviously not worn next to the skin unless I wear a short sleeved shirt under one. Pullovers can be worn next to the skin but I almost always have a shirt of some kind on under mine because you never know when I’m going to have a power surge and need to take the sweater off.

In Texas, my part at least, we so rarely need heavy coats and sweaters are about all we need almost all the time. Even in the summer, inside theaters, offices, restaurants . . it’s often downright cold so I keep either a shawl or sweater in the car all the time . . even when it’s 120 degrees outside.