Choosing the Right Yarn for Your Project

Written By Liz Sroka

Choosing the right yarn for your project is the crucial first step before you cast on. There are a few key things to consider before you get into it to avoid frustration, excessive frogging or permanently banishing your project to the WIPs pile. These factors are:

  1. Weight

  2. Fiber Content

  3. Color(s)

  1. Weight

    Yarn weight is divided into categories that are somewhat broad. Your pattern will likely have been developed with a specific yarn listed, but for several reasons you may not want to or be able to use that yarn. (For me the biggest reason for this is usually cost. A pattern designer can develop a pattern in partnership with a yarn maker or dyer where they get the materials for free. I don’t usually want to fork out $400 to make a sweater…)

    The Craft Yarn Council (CYC) divides yarn into 8 weight categories:

    0 - Lace

    1 - Super Fine

    2 - Fine

    3 - Light

    4 - Medium

    5 - Bulky

    6 - Super Bulky

    7 - Jumbo

    There is so much variety among these categories, though, and though I keep lobbying for it, they haven’t yet passed a law demanding that yarn weight be regulated more closely. Maybe lawmakers have bigger issues to consider? Anyway, I once bought a massive amount of yarn allegedly in a DK weight, which is supposed to live in the 3-Light category, but when it showed up, it was thinner than some of the fingering weights I’ve worked with. That was three years ago and I’m STILL trying to find projects to use it all up!

    With the loose divisions of weight definition of yarns, so enters the conversation our fickle friend: gauge. Gauge refers to the number of stitches per inch (or centimeter, if you’re one of those types) and number of rows per inch/centimeter. It’s affected not only by the weight of your yarn, but the size of your needles and the tension you hold your yarn. Unfortunately, before you start your project, you need to make and block a gauge swatch. Sorry.

  2. Fiber Content

    Side by side with choosing your yarn by weight will be the material the yarn is made from. The three basic categories are animal fiber (from sheep, alpaca, yak, rabbit, goat, and the rest of McDonald’s farm), plant fiber (cotton, linen, hemp, jute, etc.) and synthetic (acrylic, polyester, nylon, polyolefin, and kind-of bamboo). They also come in 1,001 different blends of fibers from within the same group or across groups.

    These fibers behave in different ways. Wool and acrylic are known to be plumper, bouncier fibers so they are more forgiving of uneven tension, especially in knitting. Cotton has a beautiful drape, but can be pretty heavy when made into a bigger item, moreso in crochet garments which use yarn more densely than knits. Synthetic fibers are more likely to be machine washable and easier to care for, but they can pill and be less breathable. Plant fibers are cooler (temperature-wise, I’m not judging their fashion) but can betray uneven tension and increases/decreases.

    If you’re not sure how your crafting style comports with each fiber, I recommend checking Ravelry to scope out other people’s projects under the pattern you’re using.

    The other fiber factor is how you’re using it.

    Example: Fingering weight yarn is super versatile, but if you’re making socks, you’re going to want something with nylon in it. Otherwise your hard work is going to have holes in after just a few wears.

    Example 2: Baby clothes must always be machine washable. Babies eject vile fluids without notice. Do not make baby clothes in cashmere. Do not make baby clothes in silk. Do not make precious heirlooms for babies. Make machine washable things for babies.

  3. Colors

    This is the fun part if you have a talent for color pairing. I don’t have that so I agonize over colors. But here are the basics anyway.

    For absolute beginners, there are two colors to stay away from: white and black. Not because you don’t look good in them, because you do. It’s because your stitches will hide from you. White and black yarn so easily become just a mess of white and black and it gets hard to see your stitches. Truthfully the same goes for all very dark yarns. They may add to your frustration if you’re not yet confident in your hands.

    For colorwork, I’m really no advisor on the best color pairings, but I will tell you two things:

    1. Contrast makes for better looking colorwork and

    2. Contrast comes from value more than hue

    So here’s what I do. I take a photo of the two (or more) colors side by side then switch it to a black and white filter. If the two colors look basically the same in black and white, they aren’t going to stand out against each other as well as you might otherwise think.

Ultimately, the crafts you’re doing with your yarn are supposed to be fun. There are no craft police (yet) so there really are no “wrong” choices. (There are inadvisable ones.)

And after years and years of knitting and crocheting, there is no substitute for feeling and seeing the yarn before you buy it. Come on by The Woven End and see what cool options we have for your next project. We’d love to see you!

Liz Sroka