Crochet blanket yarn

[ArgyMargy]

I'm quite new to crochet although knitted a bit years ago. I'm in the mood to do a blanket and have seen a lovely pattern. It advises acrylic DK yarn but I'm not a fan of pure acrylic. Do you think I could use cotton or a cotton/acrylic mix? Other yarns would make it prohibitively expensive! If I use a cotton yarn is there anything I should be wary of eg tension? Thanks in advance!

Agree with the above Stylecraft Special is a great quality acrylic, and good value, plus washes and wears brilliantly. Cygnet is also quite good. I find Robin yarn very squeaky, personally (Think that's the same as paintbox?)

Drops merino is very good value, but I can't comment on how it washes and wears.

Cotton will be very heavy for a blanket, will take longer to dry, and can be quite "splitty" when crocheting, meaning it takes longer as you have to rework stitches fairly often.

I don't particularly crochet, I'm more of a knitter but there are some fab acrylic/other yarns around. Drops is a very affordable range, I've used a few different ones of theirs (not merino, think Peru or something like that?). Sirdar have some very soft yarns, the baby ranges are very tactile, I've made many baby cardigans using that. There's also bamboo yarn, which again is much softer than cotton.
And I'd highly recommend wool warehouse for buying online, I get all my yarn from there now.

I get all my wool from wool warehouse too. Stylecraft special is my favourite for doing crochet blankets, washes well and crochets lovely

I'm quite a fan of cotton/acrylic mix as it holds its shape, isn't too heavy and washes and tumbles dries easily. James C Brett's Cotton On is lovely but has a limited colour palette. There's a few cotton mixes here worth a look. I did a king-sized blanket in Sirdar Calico but I think that's been discontinued.

Drops Cotton Merino is well worth a look too and Wool Warehouse often have Drops yarns on sale.

Why don't you go into your local yarn shop and have a squidge and a feel of some different yarns to see what you like. They will be able to advise you too

I agree with pp - I had never used Stylecraft Special DK until I started helping with Woolly Hugs , always used Sirdar , but the quality for the price - is good its soft and not scratchy at all.

Personally I'd advise aran or chunky as a bigger hook will be more comfortable. I use bamboo as I find easier on the fingers. Cotton has less give than acrylic and so is very achy to work with, I find - I had to abandon the one cotton crochet project I tried. It killed my fingers.

How about a wool blend? Hayfield Aran with Tweed and Marriner Aran with wool are both reasonably priced.

Thanks all. I'm looking at a cotton/bamboo mix now as I think it might be easier than cotton. I just have a huge aversion to acrylic, which is stupid given the massive price difference!!

Sorry I meant to say thank you for all the suggestions! I will have a look at all of them.

I'm a total yarn snob but for blankets Stylecraft is good and affordable - Bergere do some lovely yarns too but more pricey.

The only trouble with a cotton/bamboo mix ( and I it a fair bit for smaller things ) is they are somewhat heavy, and tend to go baggy when washed .

I use it !

I like the WI wool in hobbycraft which is always on 3 for 2.

So if the cotton or cotton/bamboo mix yarns are heavier than acrylic, does that mean a 100g ball will not be long enough to substitute for a 100g acrylic ball in a pattern designed with an acrylic in mind?

Agree about the washing although I don't expect to need to wash it often, if at all.

mm thats a question ! :) - these days you tend to get yardage on the ball , so maybe better to go with that. I said heavy, but its not actually heavier , just how it hangs , not holding it's shape so well IYSWIM? I'm not explaining this well at all!

& always do a test/swAtch to see how it drapes

DROPS do very, very lovely yarns and are incredibly reasonably priced.

Brilliant - thank you all!

Be careful if you use bamboo it will stretch. Particularly if you wash it

And yes the yardage of the yarn is more important than the weight of the ball. If the pattern says it needs 1000 metres of dk you will need 1000 metres, regardless of how many balls that is. I am a huge advocate for local yarn shops. The experts who run these should ensure you get the right materials. Online retailers are efficient but up to three independent yarn shops a week are closing in the U.K. And the craft is a much poorer place without them. If you go on the 'love your yarn shop' page on Facebook you will be able to find one local to you.

If I'm making a baby blanket as a gift I use Scheepjes Merino Soft which is lovely and soft but, importantly, washable. The blankets usually comes to around £30 overall.

If I'm whipping up a blanket for myself I use Stylecraft Special DK. Always disappointing going back to acrylic after using merino but it's a good acrylic!