Hand Stitching - Yarns, Needlepoint, Plus

Yarn is a very popular item for crochet, knitting, and a lot of other crafts which I will go into later. There are a lot of things to take into consideration when thinking about purchasing yarn. Some of you might not be aware of these, and others might have forgotten about them.

Ok are you ready? This might be a little confusing to you at first but once you understand these few things you will be better able to choose The yarn for any project you wish to make and probably save yourself heartache, time, and maybe even money. First of all there are a lot of yarns on the market for sale today so where do you start? You start by learning about yarn itself.

Yarn is made in different ply's, which is one or more yarns are twisted together to form a larger piece of yarn. Ply counts the number of individual yarn pieces comprising the whole.

Also you have to take into consideration how tight of a twist the yarn was made with. A tight twist will not split as easily as a loose twist. A tight twist might not be as soft as a loose twist (but not always true).

Yarn comes in different weights: lace, fingering, sock & sweater, sport, DK, Worsted, Bulky, & Chunky

Yarn comes in a large variety of
blends. Blends are the type of material such as linen, acrylic, wool,rayon, silk, etc. Today's yarns are usually a combination of at least 2 or 3 different materials. An example of one yarn might be 66% wool, 16% silk,& 18% cotton.  Others are straight acrylic, wool, etc.  Wool is a whole other subject for another article.

I am writing this for beginners and experience yarn users.
First a lot of you decide you want to knit or crochet a sweater, scarf, or another item then go out and buy the yarn your pattern calls for.
This is your first mistake.
When you decide what you want to make ask yourself  a few basic questions:

1. Is this something you are going to use often?

 2. Is this item going to go through a lot of washings?

3. Is this something you want to last for a long time or is it something that is just a novelty?(only for a season or less)

IF the answer to the first three questions is Yes you want it to last, then you want to buy a better quality yarn to start with. A lesser quality yarn will not hold up, will lose its shape, Fuzz up and look awful. The price plays a part in this but a better yarn is not always that much more expensive when you consider the amout of Time you will be investing in making it.

4. Do you want something to work up quick?

If you are a beginner or just want to knit something quick you will want to work with a worsted weight. If you want real quick you want larger.

5. Does the weight of the garment matter? (heaviness of finished garment, bulkiness, is it for warmth or for decorative purpose?)

6. Is this for you or someone else? What would you/they like, and what would you/they look good in? (Patten style and weight of material used)

7. Color: there are so many colors, shades, and variations of shades of colors! Patterns can be made with Straight color, straight color combos. or variegated

      Colors.( A lot of people see a pattern and like the style but not the colors and move on to find a pattern they like both color and style because they can not picture that pattern in the color of their choice. If you know you or the person you are making the garment for looks good in a particular color go with it. It usually turns out better than you imagined. If you like a pattern and not the colors let's say because it is striped across then just do it in one solid color.)                                                                             If you like a pattern but want to brighten it up with multi colors instead of one color go for it.

8.    Shrinkage - Machine Wash, Hand Wash, or Dry Cleaning - this has to be checked when you are purchasing yarn.

9. YARDAGE per skein or ball. Some people look for a cheap yarn and see a low price and think it is a bargain when in fact it is not. Some only have as little  as 47 yards per skein. Thinner yarns like Lace,Fingering,Sock & Sweater,& Sport Weight Yarn most of the time will have better yardage than Worsted, Bulky, or Chunky. The more yardage per skein or ball the less tie ins you have.

10. When you are actually ready to purchase a yarn talk to others who are shopping and see if they have used a yarn you are thinking of using. Another Knit/crochet might not like the yarn ask why. It did not hold its shape, too much shrinkage, and then determine if it is still suitable for your purpose.

Years ago there were limited yarn blends, and colors. Some would cringe at the idea of using a yarn other then what the pattern called for.             Today there are so many blends, and colors and it depends on the creator's creativity. There is really no limit as to what can be mixed and matched.  Thinner yarns can be doubled to create a heaver weight yarn, you can mix a worsted weight with a fingering , lace, or sport weight.

If you are a beginner I recommend you start with the weight called for in the pattern and do your own colors. When you become more experienced then start experimenting with doubling thinner yarns etc.