Acrylics like Stylecraft are great for blankets, they really can take a hammering for frequent washing for babies or, on my case, smelly hounds! I love the Attic24 crichet kits on WoolWarehouse, they use Stylecraft & I wash the blankets every couple of weeks (see one of my dog’s legs in the pic below, the blanket underneath is a modified Attic24 kit, I used her pattern but swapped the colours around to make a more autumnal rainbow).
Attic24 always uses such great colour that works well together so it takes the thinking out of trying to figure out which colours work well together. She has a really good blog & does weekly crochet alongs too.
My Mum knits a lot of baby blankets, she swears by acrylic yarn, again for ease of washing. Baby knits are usually in 3ply or DK wool/acrylic mixes. We’re lucky that we have a John Lewis nearby, so we can feel the types of yarn to see what might work best, then order it online because wow, they’re expensive & I’ve found you can always get it cheaper elsewhere lol!
I wish we had the old wool shops like we used to, because they were always staffed with experienced knitting or crochet fans, who were a wealth of knowledge. And, you could touch the yarn to see how it would feel on the skin!
I’m sensitive to pure wool (and every pure wool item I’ve ever owned has been shrunken by my helpful husband, who would stick anything on a 40° quick wash until I taught him the way of reading the bloody washing labels!). I received some money from my Dad for my birthday last year, so I treated myself to the King Cole Riot variegated yarn below, to make a 3 panel wrap (using corned to corner crochet squares, to give a bit of a falling leaf effect). Also, by the length of the yarn colour repeat, it would’ve lost impact if I’d done a single large square, the smaller squares worked better.
As I’ve made up the pattern based on one I saw somewhere on YouTube, I had to kind of guess the amount I needed, buying 10, but then decided to make the pattern larger for bought another 4. As I’m at the making up stage now, I’ll probably be left with 3 full balls so may just have enough to add a hood, or pockets. YouTube crochet & knitting channels are great, but if they’re from the US they use yarn lengths not weight, so you have to convert them! Weird 😂.
This project has a bit of sadness though as Dad died unexpectedly in May, so I’ve been doing it in fits & starts whenever time is allowing.
Anyway, good luck with your wool adventures! I’ve always knitted since I was a child but crochet…it’s the crack of yarn projects! I only started 5 years ago & it’s just so fast compared with knitting! Husband asks when I don’t have a hook in my hands when I’m free, am I feeling ill 🤣
Pic, 1 wrap crocheted panel, King Cole Riot in Autumn.