Crocheters - I need some yarn advice please.

[AmberGamble]

I want to make this. I've bought the pattern.

The materials part says:
I use medium weight yarn, 3.5 skeins at 251 yards each

Can anyone suggest where to start with yarn?! Up to now I've mainly worked with Stylecraft and RICO cotton (bless Attic 24) - I'd like to branch out a bit more but don't want to spend a fortune (although happier to spend more than I do on Stylecraft and RICO)!

Check out Deramores web site. You can search by weight. I think medium weight is equivalent to 4-ply

Cost varies based on the type of yarn (cashmere, wool, bamboo, cotton, acrylic). I've found the range on the site is great, and lots of good deals.

Hth

Take a look at Drops yarn here from Woolwarehouse the Lima looks lovely - I have used a chunkier weight drops yarn and it was very nice. I am assuming "medium weight" would mean DK BTW.

Have a look at the Drops yarns. I buy mine from Wool Warehouse.

Looking at the picture, it looks thick enough for a DK yarn but the descriptions says you can use anything.

LOLOL X post :)

X post!

Just to clarify I have just assumed DK is medium weight. There may be a conversion chart on Ravelry.

Thanks all. I've gone for a dk yarn - Wendy's merino which had just the right shade and was £4/ball so wasn't too bad. I fell in love with a rowan alpaca skein but at £8 a skein it was out of my price range!

The wendy merino will be about 110/120m a ball though, so hopefully you bought 8 or 9 balls?

Yes I did! 9 balls, the lady in the shop said I could return the last one if I didn't use it. All the same lot number too - I'm learning (although I have just received a lecture from my mum about not working from a skein as she un-muddles the horrendous mess I've made - apparently I should have rolled it into a ball first )

I have fond memories of going into our local wool shop as a child. They used to hold all the balls you needed for a project and you could go and buy the next ball from your "stash" when you needed it.

I have some skeins to work from for future projects - I'm hoping I can avoid winding them into a ball by putting the hank into the sheep yarn holder I made. I think it will stop it tangling but I'm not sure - I've never used a skein before!

I've used Wendy merino - it is a centre pull ball not a hank so I'm not sure what your mum is on about. Very soft, tends to grow a bit, often has knots.

Soupy - if you have actual hanks you will have to wind them, unless you untwist them and hang them around your neck while you work

I ended up donating some horribly tangled Debbie Bliss Andes yarn from a hank to a reveller in the Knot a Problem group

Um... they're long twisty things. This and this to be precise.

Yes, you will need to wind them into balls before you use them. Preferably with a volunteer.

Happy memories of this summer after a large G and T decided to wind my 300g hank of Wollmeise Lace. 1722 yards. It turned into such a massive ball I could barely hold it still not knitted it up either

I treated myself to a hand powered wool winder, and a rotary thing to hold the skeins. It makes winding yarn so much easier.

I have fond memories of sitting with skeins of reclaimed yarn on my out stretched arms whilst my maternal grandmother wound it into a ball [sigh]

There's no way I can get away with putting the skein in my yarn holder then... ? [hopeful]

My mum was 'on about' the skein I'd muddled up rather than the balls of Wendy merino I've just bought and not used yet

Love the yarn holder soupy but no, I fear inadequate for preventing a skein situation

ah I see
lots of lovely yarns come in skeins. I think trying to work from one directly is just one of those things we all do once
or twice cos I didn't learn the first time

I knew deep down I had to wind them. I was just ignoring it :)

Although I've not even opened the envelope for the Louisa Harding yet.

I've nearly bought the beaded version of grace before now . Very pretty. IIRC its silk and wool though and I don't like silk as much as I thought I would.
but I am as I've been knitting King Cole big value dk today and it's a bit squeaky

Nip over to mine, Soupy, and we can have coffee and yarn chat whilst you borrow my yarn winder. It might be a bit of a trek for you, but I do make a good cup of coffee, and I promise to get out the good biscuits!

It's one hell of a "nip" over from South London :)

One of my earliest memories is being a "skein holder" for my Mum too. Plus our local wool shop would hold your stash of wool for you so you would only need to buy it as you need it.

I could do with that service now as i always buy too much or too little...and my stash is mahoosive

I suppose it is, Soupy.