Recommend me a yarn please?

[festivefriedawhingesagain]

I have recently starting knitting and have been sticking to cheap yarns to practice with, so that when I cock them up it's not too huge a disaster.

But I want to move away from 100% acrylic and try something a bit nicer, but preferably something a little cheaper than stuff like Debbie Bliss Cashmerino. I'm thinking maybe a pure wool or a wool blend.

So can you recommend so something nice to have a try with, thanks.

I'm a big fan of Rowan Wool Cotton. It makes lovely baby clothes. Like all Rowan though, it's not overly cheap...

Sirdar Country Style is nice. It's got a low wool content but is a step up from 100% acrylic. I've made gloves from it, which have worn really well.

Have a look at Kemps wool shop. They have amazing prices and stock some good quality stuff (as well as lots of fun fur...)

They've got some Style Craft Ethical Twist which is organic wool and alpaca for only £2.50 a ball. I haven't tried it but would love to..

They've got some Wendy Merino DK for £2.29 a ball too and loads of Mode DK (50% wool, 50% acrylic) for £1.29 a ball

Thanks, I will have a look. I have got one ball of the Mode that I picked up in the odds and sods basket at my local wool shop, but then realised one ball probably isn't enough to actually make something, except maybe some booties or a hat.

Debbie Bliss cotton dk is lovely - I got some on eBay for a blanket and I'm sure it was less than £2.50 a ball.

King Cole merino blend is lovely - I have bought it from Texere online. Also, all acrylics are not equal - some are lovely and soft

Have a look in Hobbycraft (or their website) They have a pretty good range. Rowan is gordeous but so many ££££££££s

MMm, King Cole Merino sounds promising, I have got some of their baby DK which is quite nice for an 100% acrylic. I'm hoping to do little baby knits so not sure if a pure cotton would be the best thing to use though.

Got a little ribbed tank top half done and am thinking it would have been much nicer not in 100% acrylic you see...Not bad for a first go though

My hobbycraft is a bit of a trek TBH. Got a good local shop, quite well priced, and have bought online from hejhog, and knit and sew, so far.

Doing much more shopping than knitting ATM

I am using Jarol heritage DK to knit some socks at the moment - it is a wool, acrylic nylon blend - very reasonably priced and nice to knit with.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far, will pop back with a credit card once I've got the DCs settled down.

BornToFolk That shop you recommended has Sirdar Click 30% wool 70% acrylic very cheap - I have a stray ball of that too and it feels nice - they have some on sale at 89p a ball

Have just bought loads of their clearance stuff, v good prices I agree.

If you want to try a cotton yarn instead of wool this is cheap and comes in lovely colours.

I agree that not all acrylics are the same - I have been using Stylecraft Special DK for a crocheting and it is soft, cheap and comes in loads of colours.

Masons also have some cheapish Merino DK as well like this

Can't beat 89p a ball! Kemps have great customer service too.

love kemps - the ethical twist they have on atm at £2.50 per 100g is lovely. I have made lots of christmas pressies already.

Second the love of king cole merino. Their aran is perfect for knitting christmas stockings.

I've just bought some of the King Cole Merino for fingerless gloves for Christmas. I think the stylecraft dk life yarns have lots of really nice colours, I use these a lot as they are cheap and cheerful.

I got a few of the ethical twist too at £2.50 it was rude not to.

Been knitting a baby blanket with the Stylecraft Ethical Twist - it is lovely wool, really soft and gorgeous. Not finished yet, but need to crack on as it's for a baby due any day

Ethical Twist is lovely to crochet with, I've been working on a small crochet blanket for Little B.

I am also loving Sirdar Click DK with wool. it's a nice smooth and soft yarn.

Though I love Patons Smoothie DK, it's not highly recommended for beginners as it's got a habit of splitting, it's lovely once you have a finished item, but I find sewing in the ends hard work and sometimes notice skipped threads, which look messy.

I'm a big fan of ravelry for ideas on different yarns for projects. I love that you can see what other people have used for patterns in lieu of the recommended yarn.

I'm using this link as an example dragon skin gauntlets after the details tab there is a yarn ideas, it shows what other people have used, and if you click it will take you to more info on the yarn. It is mainly an american website, but if you type it in google you usually find it easily.

For online supplies I've used Purple Linda and [[http://www.getknitted.com/ Get Knitted] there tend to be a good selection of yarns on both sites.

i always stock up in the john lewis sale - it's a good place for cheap rowan and debbie bliss (they seem to stock little else). best buy was a big bag of mirasol sulka, half price, which has kept me in christmas presents for two years.