Thanks, guys! I'll have try out some of these suggestions.
Silver King said:
You could contact our very own
K1P1, who might be able to answer your your questions. She's our resident knitting expert and an all around nice person.
cray said:
indeed. she took some time and helped me out quite a bit as well.
Sounds good. I'll need to PM her and see what she says.
MaryMumsy said:
I use a ton of Sugar N Cream. It is 100% cotton, comes in 4 oz balls, and you can get it at Michaels. They have the same thing in bigger balls at Joanne. There are probably 20 or so colors. It is 4-ply, which I think is the same thing as 'worsted weight'.
Dichroic said:
Sugar and Cream can be hard on your hands, as it has no give.
I've seen that brand in the stores! I take it from reading these statements that it's a good yarn, but I wouldn't want to use it for the hat and scarf at least?
Dichroic said:
Southwest Trading Company is based in Tempe, AZ, so is likely to be carried in lots of AZ stores (I can recommend ones in the Phx area, but not south of that). SWTC specializes in yarn made of anything from soy to corn to milk protein.
Darn, I do live farther south! Why does Phoenix get all the cool stuff?
Dichroic said:
My best suggestion really is to join Ravelry and read its reviews on hundreds of yarns (and see examples of finished objects in those yarns), or to look at the yarn reviews on
Wiseneedle, or just to go to a store and fondle yarn. (The first and third options will be most fun and distracting.)
I like that third option! I may rub it on the back of my neck, too, just to make sure.
AZ Dawn I don't work with cotton much, but i have a Lily Chin Pima Cotton/Merino Wool that's awesome, it's called Gotham.
nevada said:
AZ Dawn I don't work with cotton much, but i have a Lily Chin Pima Cotton/Merino Wool that's awesome, it's called Gotham.
Also Rowan Yarn Luxury Cotton DK is very nice, it's a cotton/viscose/silk blend.
nevada said:
I just checked my stash (stashette, it's not that large) and I have some cotton left that i worked in that I liked. It's Grace by Pattons. Very smooth, very soft. But it's cotton, so whatever you knit will have no stretch or give whatsoever. I'm just not a fan of cotton, can you tell? lol
I take it that you'd suggest a cotton blend rather than straight cotton?
nevada said:
Whatever you do, don't knit anything special in Acrylic. It never stands up and all your hard work will be wasted.
Too late. I've already made several hats (mostly for dolls, but still!) and a pair of booties for a stuffed toy. I made a hat for myself, too; that's how I found out that acrylic makes my forehead itch.
nevada said:
Phone around to the specialty stores and see who is having a sale. Or check out the yarn in the store and then find an online site where it's cheaper. If funds are an issue, of course. If not, only buy cashmere. lol
Don't know if we have specialty yarn stores in town, but I could check that out. I wouldn't say funds were a huge issue, but I've balked at $6 for a 3.5 ounce skein before. Cashmere's goat wool, right? Maybe that be less itchy than sheep wool.