Crochet, knitting, astronomy & life in general.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Am I a yarn snob?

I have no problems with acrylic yarn. It's easy to wash, it's often just as soft as the natural fibers it's supposed to imitate, and it's much cheaper. James C. Brett's Marble Chunky is one of my favourite yarns. It's so soft and the colours are super fancy. I never really understood why people got all snuffy about using acrylic in their knitting projects, claiming it was stiff and squeaky... until recently.

I'm using an acrylic yarn, Paton's Astra, to make one of the numerous Christmas presents I'm planning to knit. It's a nice DK weight, it's reasonably soft and it comes in a lot of pretty colours (not just baby colours or whatever). However, I've noticed that when I knit with it, it squeaks! It's not terribly noticeable, and I wouldn't have noticed it if no one else had mentioned it, but now it's driving me crazy! I'm making other things with different yarns made of natural fibers, and of course, there's no squeaking... I feel like I've become a yarn snob! NOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Anyway, to cheer me up (and you too, dear reader... I know you feel my pain), I'll post a picture of my latest Knit Picks order. Yay! At least I can get natural fiber yarns at acrylic prices from that site...

2 comments:

  1. Not a yarn snob, not yet anyway ;) I find acrylic squeaks more when it's knit, not crocheted...and some more than others. I keep being tempted to order from knit picks...their shipping seems awfully high though...do they deliver fast?

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's true, I've never noticed acrylic yarn squeaking when I've crocheted it, only when I've knit it.

    Knit Picks is awesome if you're buying lots of yarn at once. I got 20 balls of yarn for $50 including shipping which was about $9. It usually arrives in about a week or two (but definitely less than 2 weeks).

    ReplyDelete