Knitting Yarn
From LoveToKnow Crafts
As a knitter, it’s easy to become obsessed with fiber. Whether you’re a purist who only want to knit with natural fibers like wool and alpaca or a wild child who loves the novelty yarns, there is truly something for every taste available at your local yarn shop.
But if you’re a beginning knitter, picking out the perfect yarn for your scarf or sweater may prove a daunting challenge. There’s just so much to choose from, where do you begin?
Pick a pattern
The easiest way to determine the type of yarn to use is to find a pattern for something you want to knit and buy the type of yarn that was used in the pattern. You can go with a different color if you want, but using the yarn that was used in the pattern is the easiest way to achieve pattern success. That’s because the pattern will tell you exactly how much of that particular yarn to buy, so you won’t end up buying too much or too little.
But what if you have a pattern you love but you can’t find the yarn used, or you need to use something else because, say, you’re allergic to wool? Look on the pattern instructions for a description of the yarn that was initially used. It might say something like 100 percent cotton, worsted weight, 100 yards per ball. Then you know if the pattern takes eight skeins, you’ll need to buy a worsted weight yarn and at least 800 yards.
Another way to do this is to look at the gauge listed on the pattern. If it says the pattern requires 5 stitches per inch on size ten needles, look around at the yarn in your favorite crafts or knitting store to find something with an equivalent gauge. If you shop at a store dedicated to yarn, ask someone who works there. They’ll be happy to help and will direct you to some great fiber.
Or you can start with the kind of yarn you want to use and find a weight that works with your pattern. Some people only knit with wool or cotton, others use acrylic, nylon or different kinds of blends. If you’re making something that will be close to your skin for long periods, shopping by fiber content can be a really good idea. You want something that is going to feel good to you, so if you don’t like wool, don’t buy it, no matter what all those natural fiber knitting snobs say.
Weights and measures
I mentioned worsted weight a minute ago. That’s a generic measurement of the thickness of the yarn. There are six types of yarn available on the market: superfine, fine, light, medium, bulky and super bulky. These categories are based on the thickness of the yarn. As the size goes up, the size needles you will use goes up and the number of stitches per inch goes down.
Worsted is another name for a medium-weight yarn, much like sport is another name for fine yarn. The names aren’t really that important, but it can help to know basically what the different thicknesses look and feel like so, for instance, if you know that you need a bulky yarn you automatically eliminate all those yarns that don’t look bulky.
There is no common measurement for how much yardage is in a ball or skein of yarn. Unfortunately, knitting is one of those hobbies that requires math. But if you have a pattern you are starting from, you will know about how much yarn the project requires and can then figure out how many skeins of a particularly yarn you need by dividing the yardage needed for the project by the yardage in each ball. Say your project requires 1,300 yards of yarn and you’re shopping for skeins that have 250 yards each. You’ll need a little over five to get the necessary yardage, so buy six and you should be fine.
It’s a good rule of thumb to always buy more yarn than you think you are going to need. It’s better to have more yarn (which you can always use for another project later) than not enough. You may never be able to find that particular yarn and that particular dye lot again, so stock up while you can.
Dye lot nightmares
Almost every knitter has a story about how they learned about dye lots. For a friend of mine it was working on a square for a communal baby blanket. She ran out of yarn in the middle of the square and started knitting from a new ball, only to realize the color didn’t match.
Commercial yarn is dyed in large vats, many, many skeins at a time. Each skein that is dyed together has the same dye lot, which is a number found on the yarn label. When you’re buying yarn for a project, you need to make sure not only that you have enough yarn to finish the project, but also that you are purchasing yarn that all comes from the same dye lot. If not, your sweater may come out with an unintended stripe.
Turnover at craft stores and yarn shops is often high enough that you won’t be able to find the same dye lot again, particularly if you buy yarn long before you start the project. Save yourself some heartbreak and take the time to make sure those numbers match.
How much to buy?
It happens to everyone. You go to the yarn shop or craft store “just to look” and find some irresistible yarn. It could be super expensive sari silk, a fun novelty yarn you just can’t pass up, or the perfect wool for that sweater you’ve been meaning to make “some day.” Maybe it’s even on sale. How much of this great yarn should you buy?
If you have a project in mind, you could rush home, find the pattern and go back to the store with a number in hand (or ask the store to hold you, say, 10 skeins until the next day when you can come back and buy what you need). But if the shop is far from home or you don’t have a pattern in mind, you may have to do some guessing. What do you think you might like to make out of this material?
If you know you want to make a scarf, you can probably buy just one ball (or two if they are very small). If you’re thinking a wrap, two or three balls might get you there. For bigger projects, it’s harder to eyeball, but one good trick is to look at the pattern books in the store (particularly if they carry a book you own). Look at the yardage requirements for projects like the one you think you might like to do (a sweater, a bag, a blanket, etc.). Then buy one skein more than you think you might need.
If the yarn is a total splurge, something really expensive but beautiful, buy one skein. You can use it as an accent on the ends of a plain scarf, or to add a little pretty to a pair of mittens or the top of a knitted bag. Or you could make a small bag (like a coin purse, cell-phone holder or makeup bag) so you can carry that great yarn around with you all the time.
Buying yarn is a lot of fun and can quickly turn to an addiction. Have fun with fiber and you’ll be making all sorts of great projects and building an enviable stash.
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