Wool quality.

[oneboy3girls]

I have quite a lot of wool from pound type shop. Is it better to get very good quality wool or does it not make much difference. to how much you enjoy the finished product? If yes it is better, what could I make with wool ,so doesn't get wasted. Slow ,intermediate knitter .

I think it very much depends on what you're happy with.

I became a bit of a yarn snob when I was knitting more regularly so mostly used natural fibres, but obviously you do have to be more careful with washing natural wool, and cotton can be heavy and prone to stretch.

There's no doubt that good quality man-made fibres can wash well and hold their shape, but cheap acrylic can also feel a bit squeaky.

If you like the feel of the fibre that you're using, it knits well and holds its shape, and if its affordability means that you can take on projects that would otherwise be unaffordable - well more power to you!

I'll never forget the feeling of having to keep a bright smile on my face when I discovered my aunt had put ds's lovingly handknitted with Debbie Bliss cream cashmerino sweater through the wash when he got a stain on it at her house.

Don't know what she washed it with but it was horrible afterwards! £30 of yarn and hours of my (painfully slow) knitting time down the swannie!

I think it depends on what you like making. I've used cheaper wool to make toys for the kids (I love making amigurumi, blankets for their teddies, that sort of thing), but if I wanted to make a special blanket or nice item of clothing, or a gift, I'd use pricier wool. Like @sleepyhead said, I've become a bit of a snob the longer I've knitted and crocheted!

That said I've used acrylic yarns/man made blends, which have felt nicer than expensive wool. And washed well!

If you want to use up yarn then I'd recommend making things like baskets, cloths, toys. Decorative stuff like wall hangings?

Drops do reasonably priced mostly natural fibres. Mostly hand wash but not all. The sell it on Wool Warehouse and Purple Sheep.

Although in my head I prefer 100% wool, a little while ago I had some of the multi-coloured yarn from Aldi, which is something like a 40%wool 60% acrylic mix and washes beautifully, not requiring a separate wool wash.

This is all very informative. I'll use up my cheaper yarn .Do you knit the wall hangings? This would be ideal .Any links or references.Thankyou so much.

Have you discovered Ravelry yet? You can search for something like 'wall hanging' and then refine by craft, skill level, free patterns etc. It's a bit mind ending to work out how to use as a site but very useful.

Thankyou.

Cheap wool is good for knitting kids toys. Also the bread and butter DK Acrylics like Stylecraft DK are ace for granny blankets. They come in so many colours.

For things worn next to the skin - hats, scarves, jumpers etc I tend to be a bit more of a yarn snob. Agreed with other posters here - acrylic can feel stiff and squeaky on the skin once it's been washed a bit.

Thankyou Batley.