Advice needed on type of wool to use to crochet this blanket

[totiredtosleep]

Hi,

I'm about to attempt to make this blanket (first proper crochet project!) for my first niece/nephew due in October.
rosylittlethings.typepad.com/TiramisuBlanket.pdf

I don't want to use the suggested wool as it seems very expensive, can anyone suggest a cheaper option which would be about the same gauge. Would an acrylic wool still give a nice soft blanket, or would natural wool be better?

Any advice would be gratefully received!

Acrylic wool can be very soft, especially the baby stuff but I don't think that would be suitable for this blanket. It looks like it is a chunky yarn.

I think Stylecraft do a chunky and an aran that might be worth a look.

Natural wool is good but you get cheap and nasty natural wool sometimes so not always better than a more expensive acrylic and of course it would be more expensive.

The pattern is on Ravelry so there are lots of yarn suggestions there, too - although mainly for American yarns, which can be hard to source here. It seems to be a worsted weight, which is the equivalent of our aran or chunky as Bertha says.

As they've suggested cotton, one of my faves is the Patons Cotton Twist - I've linked to my fave website but it's widely available. Looks like Sirdar do a similar one.

Here's some info on the Stylecraft chunky and aran - both good value for money, esp for 100g balls (it looks as if the total length of yarn needed is 960m, so 5 balls of the Stylecraft Aran).

You could try this I have used the Stylecraft Special DK and it is really nice. Very soft, so far doesn't seem to be prone to bobbling (have had a part finished granny stripe blanket over the back of the sofa for ages) and much cheaper than wool.

tribpot's link reminded me of the Sirdar Click chunky - got side tracked by a pattern that way suggested for one of her links. . That is a nice quality yarn too and not too expensive here

I do like the original pattern with the cotton yarn - really pretty blanket and I like the stitch definition of the cotton. [busmile]

Yes, I like Sirdar Click chunky as well! Another thumbs up for that idea.

Wow, you guys are fab!
Thanks for the explanations, links and suggestions, I've been staring at wool websites for days getting more and more confused!

Going to get some sirdar click chunky and see how I get on!