Choosing the best yarn for the job: Cables and fancy stitchwork
Things to consider when choosing the best yarn for your project
When knitting an item it's important to consider what type of yarn is going to be most suitable for the project you have in mind. Getting this right means an enjoyable and deeply rewarding knit. Getting it wrong, however, can be a truly disheartening and costly experience in terms of the time and money you'll feel you will have wasted. There is such a plethora of different yarns available out there to choose from, but how do you go about choosing the one that's going to work best for your project?
The key is to consider the different characteristics of the yarn which includes the weight (i.e. thickness or fineness), texture, colour, fibre and handle. I touched on some of these previously in my tutorial on substituting yarns, but here I'm going to talk you through a specific example.
Tip: It's a good idea to consider this before you start looking at the yarns, otherwise you'll not be focussed on the job in hand. Once surrounded by all that knitterly loveliness, you'll be seduced by whatever most catches your eye and pay less attention to your mission - which is to ensure a wonderfully successful and satisfying result for your intended project.
What is the brief?
When choosing your project yarn it's helpful to consider the following questions:
Who or what's it intended for?
Will it require frequent washing?
How hard wearing does it need to be?
Any relevant factors about the wearer - do they have a wool allergy for example?
What season is going to be worn for?
These are by no means exhaustive, and you may have other questions or considerations of your own.
An example - designing the Marilyn Cowl
So for my brief, I was looking to design a women's neckwear item for early autumn or spring. As it's worn around the neck it can't be 'scratchy' as your skin is very sensitive in that area. Also it'll probably be worn very regularly so will need to wash well and easily. I intended to have plenty of stitch detail with cables, textured stitches and maybe some beads to boot.
A good range of colours is always a plus so you have plenty of choice, and I like my colours to be rich but not harsh. I always like to use a quality yarn if I'm investing all those valuable life seconds into something, but I wasn't looking for anything too luxurious in this case. So putting all that into the equation, I plumped for Rowan Wool Cotton (NB this yarn is sadly discontinued).
Yarn Characteristics
Weight: A DK yarn knitted on 4mm needles - this won't be the quickest knit, but is a great weight for showing off detailed stitchwork such as cables. The thicker the yarn, the bigger the scale of the cables, and as this is for a relatively small area I need to keep it to a pretty small scale.
Fibre & Handle: 50% wool and 50% cotton makes for a very soft, non-scratchy feeling fibre. With some of the the plump springiness of wool but with the coolness and drape of cotton, this is a great choice for early Autumn wear
Texture: The smooth texture and high twist spin of the yarn makes for excellent stitch definition which is hard to be beat - great for showing off all that lovely cable stitchwork
Colour: Wool Cotton was available in a wide range of delicious solid colours, ideal for showing off detail and stitchwork which would be obscured by a fancier colour treatment. With 20 shades to choose from, there was bound to be at least one colour the intended wearer would love.
Aftercare: Machine washable at 40% this yarn washes exceptionally well, softening even more in the process.As well as helping you make a good decision for what yarn to choose for a project, the same principles will help you choose the right project for yarn you already have in your stash. Understanding the nature of yarns will enable you to make confident decisions, allowing you more creative freedom and to be master of your own craft.Why not have a rummage through the yarns in your stash and see if you can identify what sort of projects they'd be great for? I'd love to know how you get on - leave a comment below.
PS if you like the look of my Marilyn Cowl, you can get the pattern here