How to Choose Your Knitting Wool Online: Guide to Yarn Types
One of the major challenges in online purchasing is the lack of a ‘real’ experience with your product. With some items this doesn’t matter at all, but when you need a precise feel for texture, colour or sizing, as you do with wool, online purchasing becomes tricky. However, with a basic understanding of yarn types, weights and fibres, you’ll be able to confidently buy wool online at much better prices than you’ll find in physical wool shops! Here’s what you need to know to avoid disappointment.
Buy Wool in the Right Yarn Weight
Yarn weights are not often listed in a simple numbered system. That would be far too boring! Usually yarn weight is designated by the name of the yarn, and it is graduated as follows:
• Fingering yarn: Is also known as baby yarn. It is worked on small needles.
• Sport yarn: Is a light to medium weight yarn worked on medium needles.
• Worsted yarn: Is the most common yarn weight, worked on medium to large needles.
• Bulky yarn: Is a medium to heavy weight yarn worked on large needles.
• Super bulky: Is a very heavy weight yarn worked on large or extra large needles.
Buying Wool in the Right Ply Rating
Ply rating and weight are two different characteristics of wool. An 8-ply yarn could be created from either a superfine yarn or a medium weight yarn, and as such look very different although the ply rating is the same. Generally it is more useful lto pay attention to the yarn weight than the ply.
Buy Wool in the Right Yarn Fibre
The best way to get a good idea of how different yarn fibres feel is to buy a sample ball from your local physical wool shop, and use it as a reference when you buy wool of the same fibre online.
When you buy ‘wool’ to knit with, it won’t always be spun from a sheep’s coat! Many different fibres are used for yarn now, including:
• Acrylic: This is the most common type of ‘wool’ used in projects nowadays. It is an artificial fibre which is predictable, inexpensive, available in a huge variety of textures and weights including plenty of novelty yarns.
• Bamboo: This natural fibre can be harvested without killing the plant and has a renewal time of only a few months. Currently it is a specialty fibre so is a little more expensive than acrylic, but as the industry matures it should actually become a cheaper wool to buy.
• Cotton: Cotton fibre yarns are versatile and inexpensive, but not always predictable to work with. Cotton-knit garments tend to stretch irregularly with time.
• Wool: Buying wool from an actual sheep doesn’t mean that you’ll have an itchy, hot, shrink-prone project at the end! Choose merino or alpaca wool for softer textures.
Buying Wool in the Right Colour
This is tricky, because all cameras taking photos of the wool and all monitors displaying that photo will interpret and represent the colour differently
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Harry Potter Gryffindor House Scarf (Purple & Gold) $10.00 Officially licensed scarf is made of lambs wool and features the gryffindor coat of arms patch. 75 inches long. For kids or adults…. |
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NEW SKINNY BLACK COTTON SQUARE END KNIT TIE NECKTIE $17.95 This is a hard to find BRAND NEW never worn vintage knit tie! Features a skinny 2.25″ width and a 56″ length that finishes in a square end bottom. Made from 100% Cotton right here in the USA brand new! Check out our store for a full slection of these vintage ties…. |
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Apparel & Daily Wear Casual V-neck Sweater Cape Short Wool Knitting Cardigan Sweater – White – Size Medium $40.59 Directional, exciting and diverse the Dress Hope Collection makes and breaks the fashion rules. Scouring the globe for inspiration, our Design Team is inspired by fashion¡¯s most covetable trends; providing you with a cutting edge wardrobe season upon season…. |
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Knit Beanie Visor Hat – Scull Cap Style – Black $1.31 … |
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The Knitter’s Handy Book of Sweater Patterns $12.08 interweave press the handy book of sweater patterns is both a pattern book and a reference book. created for knitters who want standard sweater patterns in a variety of sizes and gauges as well as those who want a template from which to develope their own design ideas. includes easy to follow charted instructions for 18 sweaters 3 in each of the 6 most popular sweater constructions drop shoulder … |
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Hip Knit Hats: 40 Fabulous Designs $11.88 STERLING-Hip Knit Hats features forty fabulous designs that are timeless, fashionable, and extremely wearable. Even the simplest designs are stylish, using great color combinations and yarns with irresistible textures. Patterns come with both medium and large sizes. Hardcover: 144 pages. Made in China…. |
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Tiny Yarn Animals: Amigurumi Friends to Make and Enjoy $7.35 From the creator of RoxyCraft.com, a collection of adorable crocheted creatures. This colorful guide presents twenty-one sweet and simple-to-make yarn creatures for crafters young and old. Each animal is assembled using several basic crochet stitches?stitches even beginners can easily master?and the results, from a winsome little lamb to a wide-eyed lemur, make for delightful yarn friends…. |
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Angry Birds Bomb Black Bird Costume Knit Aviator Beanie Cap Hat / Hand Made in Nepal $14.20 Angry Birds Bomb Black Bird Costume Knit Aviator Beanie Cap Hat / Hand Made in Nepal. EACH HAT IS UNIQUELY DIFFERENT SINCE THESE ARE ALL HAND MADE. KEEP WARM ALL WINTER LONG IN THIS CUTE BEANIE HAT. ONE SIZE FITS MOST. FOR KIDS AND ADULTS!!! MAKES A GREAT GIFT!!… |
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NCAA BEANIE KNIT WOOL HAT KANSAS STATE WILDCATS PURPLE $9.99 … |