A question about yarn ~

Hi everyone -

I have been knitting and crocheting for most of my life - about forty
years. I learned from the older female members of my family, who have
always bought Red Heart or Red Heart-type yarn, put loads of time and
effort into the things they made and always ended up with
cheap-looking stuff. I gave up knitting and crocheting for years
because I always thought I was mediocre at it. However, I have been
reading this group and various knitting/crocheting websites and it
occurs to me that perhaps the reason my finished articles were always
mediocre-looking is because of the yarn I was using - duh!! I've
recently learned to knit Joan's Socks using 2 strands of Wool-Ease
(the most upscale yarn I've used so far, lol) and now I would like to
make a pair of socks using really good 100% wool or wool/nylon blend
yarn. My question is this: What reputable websites are there that
sell good yarn online (hopefully for a reasonable price)? And does
anyone have any suggestions as to what specific yarn to substitute for
the Wool-Ease (similar in weight/thickness - Wool-Ease seems a little
thinner than regular worsted to me, but it may be just because I've
always used big thick 100% acrylic worsted for everything).

Any suggestions for this old/newbie will be very much appreciated!

Viv

Hi Viv,

Welcome to this great group. I can't help you with the type of yarn, but know
all the sock makers can. I use Red Heart as I do afghans for Project Linus and
a couple of other charities and they need washable yarns. Did you look at
yarnforward.com? Roger will have yarn that you are looking for too.

Nora

Hi!

a) I don't consider Red Heart lousy yarn - but I'll have to admit that I
normally use it for things like afghans and rugs and the such

b) I can't recommend any on-line stores and there's so many wool yarns
now . . . I'll give you a few places to start researching at, maybe
someone else can recommend some particular yarns. . . (most cost more
than I want to pay - so I'm learning to spin my own sock yarn) . . .

A good place to look is he

http://home.teleport.com/~noelvn/socks/categories.html

as you can see - it has patterns, separated by yarn weight - THAN as you
look at various patterns, many give brand names. . .

Or for a similar list (this one is a table - may take a while to come in
BUT for your purpose of getting yarn names - might be better):

http://www.socknitters.com/sockpatterns/weight.htm


If you have a hobby lobby nearby, they sell a sock yarn made by Lion
Brand yarns - (wool and a little nylon) but it's sock weight.

But first of all you need to consider whether you want machine wash and
dry or not. . . quite a bit of the 'sock' yarn is not machine wash/dry -
so it needs to be hand washed (carefully) and no machine drying.


Good luck!

Sonya



Vivia wrote:

Hi everyone -

snip
recently learned to knit Joan's Socks using 2 strands of Wool-Ease
(the most upscale yarn I've used so far, lol) and now I would like to
make a pair of socks using really good 100% wool or wool/nylon blend
yarn. My question is this: What reputable websites are there that
sell good yarn online (hopefully for a reasonable price)? And does
anyone have any suggestions as to what specific yarn to substitute for
the Wool-Ease (similar in weight/thickness - Wool-Ease seems a little
thinner than regular worsted to me, but it may be just because I've
always used big thick 100% acrylic worsted for everything).

Any suggestions for this old/newbie will be very much appreciated!

Viv

Hi Viv -- Welcome - we love to share ideas and information.
Good advice about Roger at www.yarnforward.com -- I have gotten good service
there. The descriptions of the yarns are helpful and Roger has some useful
information on the site as well - cleverly identified at the top of the page as
Information (so click that and see all sorts of topics to click.
I also use a variety of other online sources -- like www.elann.com and
www.allegroyarns.com -- both of which have always been reliable as well.
Someone here recently recommended http://townsearch.com/cottagecraft/index.htm
and their yarns seem to be very reasonable -- I haven't tried them yet, though.

Your observation about Red Heart being heavier than regular worsted is
accurate. Checking gauge is a pain but the results of not doing so are even
more painful. Don't ask how I know that. ( LOL)

JCT

Hi Viv
I knit a LOT of socks, and have been ordering my sock yarn from
Elann.com.(http://www.elann.com) I use the fingering/sock weight, 75%
superwash wool/25% nylon blend. This yarn is wonderful as the finished
socks can be thrown in the washer and dryer without any worries of
shrinkage. They have their own collection called "Sock It To Me". Also,
the prices and service at Elann are great.

Regarding the substitution for Wool-Ease. I just went to the Lion Brand
site and they consider Wool-Ease to be a "medium worsted weight yarn", which
is likely to be 18 stitches and 24 rows to a 4" gauge swatch, using 4.5 or 5
mm needles. You could probably substitute most worsted weight yarns, as
long as you use whatever size needles you need to get the proper gauge
required for the pattern you use.

HTH
Shelagh


"Vivia" wrote in message
...
Hi everyone -

I have been knitting and crocheting for most of my life - about forty
years. I learned from the older female members of my family, who have
always bought Red Heart or Red Heart-type yarn, put loads of time and
effort into the things they made and always ended up with
cheap-looking stuff. I gave up knitting and crocheting for years
because I always thought I was mediocre at it. However, I have been
reading this group and various knitting/crocheting websites and it
occurs to me that perhaps the reason my finished articles were always
mediocre-looking is because of the yarn I was using - duh!! I've
recently learned to knit Joan's Socks using 2 strands of Wool-Ease
(the most upscale yarn I've used so far, lol) and now I would like to
make a pair of socks using really good 100% wool or wool/nylon blend
yarn. My question is this: What reputable websites are there that
sell good yarn online (hopefully for a reasonable price)? And does
anyone have any suggestions as to what specific yarn to substitute for
the Wool-Ease (similar in weight/thickness - Wool-Ease seems a little
thinner than regular worsted to me, but it may be just because I've
always used big thick 100% acrylic worsted for everything).

Any suggestions for this old/newbie will be very much appreciated!

Viv

Hallo Viv ,, welcome back into knit.croch life ..
By al means but good wools , and wash them properly ,,, this way you
will fel that your work is more to your liking .
New technologies enable now better treatment of wools as well as man
made threads ,, read washing instructions on the labels
mirjam

Hi everyone -

I have been knitting and crocheting for most of my life - about forty
years. I learned from the older female members of my family, who have
always bought Red Heart or Red Heart-type yarn, put loads of time and
effort into the things they made and always ended up with
cheap-looking stuff. I gave up knitting and crocheting for years
because I always thought I was mediocre at it. However, I have been
reading this group and various knitting/crocheting websites and it
occurs to me that perhaps the reason my finished articles were always
mediocre-looking is because of the yarn I was using - duh!! I've
recently learned to knit Joan's Socks using 2 strands of Wool-Ease
(the most upscale yarn I've used so far, lol) and now I would like to
make a pair of socks using really good 100% wool or wool/nylon blend
yarn. My question is this: What reputable websites are there that
sell good yarn online (hopefully for a reasonable price)? And does
anyone have any suggestions as to what specific yarn to substitute for
the Wool-Ease (similar in weight/thickness - Wool-Ease seems a little
thinner than regular worsted to me, but it may be just because I've
always used big thick 100% acrylic worsted for everything).

Any suggestions for this old/newbie will be very much appreciated!

Viv

Viv,
I can't answer your questions about sock yarn, as I have only made 1
pair of socks in a class. And then I did use sock yarn for a tie, and have
so much left over that DD#2 keeps begging me for socks.

BUT, I did want to welcome you to RCTY and back to knitting and
crocheting. Come back here often.

Janise


"Vivia" wrote in message
...
Hi everyone -

I have been knitting and crocheting for most of my life - about forty
years. I learned from the older female members of my family, who have
always bought Red Heart or Red Heart-type yarn, put loads of time and
effort into the things they made and always ended up with
cheap-looking stuff. I gave up knitting and crocheting for years
because I always thought I was mediocre at it. However, I have been
reading this group and various knitting/crocheting websites and it
occurs to me that perhaps the reason my finished articles were always
mediocre-looking is because of the yarn I was using - duh!! I've
recently learned to knit Joan's Socks using 2 strands of Wool-Ease
(the most upscale yarn I've used so far, lol) and now I would like to
make a pair of socks using really good 100% wool or wool/nylon blend
yarn. My question is this: What reputable websites are there that
sell good yarn online (hopefully for a reasonable price)? And does
anyone have any suggestions as to what specific yarn to substitute for
the Wool-Ease (similar in weight/thickness - Wool-Ease seems a little
thinner than regular worsted to me, but it may be just because I've
always used big thick 100% acrylic worsted for everything).

Any suggestions for this old/newbie will be very much appreciated!

Viv

On Sun, 09 Jan 2005 23:32:23 GMT, Vivia wrote:

Hi everyone -

I have been knitting and crocheting for most of my life - about forty
years. I learned from the older female members of my family, who have
always bought Red Heart or Red Heart-type yarn, put loads of time and
effort into the things they made and always ended up with
cheap-looking stuff. I gave up knitting and crocheting for years
because I always thought I was mediocre at it. However, I have been
reading this group and various knitting/crocheting websites and it
occurs to me that perhaps the reason my finished articles were always
mediocre-looking is because of the yarn I was using - duh!! I've
recently learned to knit Joan's Socks using 2 strands of Wool-Ease
(the most upscale yarn I've used so far, lol) and now I would like to
make a pair of socks using really good 100% wool or wool/nylon blend
yarn. My question is this: What reputable websites are there that
sell good yarn online (hopefully for a reasonable price)? And does
anyone have any suggestions as to what specific yarn to substitute for
the Wool-Ease (similar in weight/thickness - Wool-Ease seems a little
thinner than regular worsted to me, but it may be just because I've
always used big thick 100% acrylic worsted for everything).

Any suggestions for this old/newbie will be very much appreciated!

Viv
Welcome to the group.

Sorry I can't help with sock yarn. I do use Red Heart yarn for a lot
of my charity projects. Most people don't realize that it is Red
Heart that I'm using.


Darlene in Toronto
http://members.rogers.com/craftkitten

In article ,
Vivia wrote:

I have been knitting and crocheting for most of my life - about forty
years. I learned from the older female members of my family, who have
always bought Red Heart or Red Heart-type yarn, put loads of time and
effort into the things they made and always ended up with
cheap-looking stuff. I gave up knitting and crocheting for years
because I always thought I was mediocre at it. However, I have been
reading this group and various knitting/crocheting websites and it
occurs to me that perhaps the reason my finished articles were always
mediocre-looking is because of the yarn I was using - duh!!

Welcome back to knitting!

Much depends on your definition of "cheap"-looking. If you're looking
at the visible difference between acrylic and wool, then the problem
was probably the material. If you're looking at the texture, the
problem may have been a gauge issue. For instance, knitting done on
size 10 needles with worsted weight yarn will be loose and look like
something inexpensive; the same yarn knitted on size 4 or 6 needles
will have a much tighter gauge and can look like a more expensive item.
(I'm leaving out the issue of patterns and styles, because that changes
so much. Drop-shoulder sweaters used to be considered "sloppy peasant"
work, now they're standard.)

Red Heart yarn is thicker than most acrylic worsteds (possibly because of
a filler that washes out later). Finer yarn and finer needles (which
require more stitches to fill a given area) will make almost anything
look better, in my opinion. I'm not that great a knitter, but I made a
Christmas stocking on size 1 needles (132 stitches around) and the
difference in texture was impressive.

Another, much more subtle effect with wool yarn is blocking. Acrylic
doesn't change much when it's blocked, but with wool it can make or
break a sweater.

I've recently learned to knit Joan's Socks using 2 strands of Wool-Ease
(the most upscale yarn I've used so far, lol) and now I would like to
make a pair of socks using really good 100% wool or wool/nylon blend
yarn. My question is this: What reputable websites are there that
sell good yarn online (hopefully for a reasonable price)? And does
anyone have any suggestions as to what specific yarn to substitute for
the Wool-Ease (similar in weight/thickness - Wool-Ease seems a little
thinner than regular worsted to me, but it may be just because I've
always used big thick 100% acrylic worsted for everything).

I recommend a wool blend yarn for socks because they wear out so fast
otherwise. Some companies sell a fine nylon yarn to be knitted with a
wool yarn to reinforce heels and toes. I think the Webs company sells
it, among others. I forget their website, it's probably something like
www.webs.com

Wool-Ease is thinner than regular worsted because, as far as I know, it's
actually a sock yarn, and sock yarns tend to be thinner, like fingering
yarn. Baby yarn used to be even finer, practically lace-weight, but some
manufacturers seem to be lumping baby-weight, fingering, and sock-weight
all together now.

Some people knit socks on very fine needles, finer than the manufacturer
recommends, because they like the denser texture, but you have to do a
test swatch with the actual yarn because some yarns don't respond the
same way.

=Tamar

Thanks for all the great advice and the welcomes to the group (and
back to knitting and crocheting)! I have read through all your
replies and I really appreciate all the help.

Someone mentioned about using Red Heart for afghans and rugs and such
- I think it's an excellent yarn for those things. I've also knitted
a ton of winter hats for various members of my family using Red Heart
and they look fine and wear well (and no big worries if one gets lost
either!) I will probably always use Red Heart for some things, but I
am also really excited by the prospect of trying yarns with fiber
content other than acrylic now

Off to get another pair of socks started (using Encore worsted this
time) - thanks again everybody!! What a nice group

Viv