Acrylics: a great majority of knitters “cut their teeth” with this synthetic fiber. I was among them. My first scarf was knit (and unknit) in Lion Brand Wool-Ease Chunky, which is a blend heavy on acrylic. As time goes by, many knitters prefer to work with other yarns, expanding their repertoire by using various natural fibers. I have developed a taste for the natural fibers as well, and usually prefer a nice wool over an acrylic, or a blended yarn.
However, as the market has expanded, and new knitters come into “the fold”, the large yarn companies represented in the craft stores (Lion Brand, Caron, and yes, even Red Heart) have truly raised the bar. Rarely do the new acrylics squeak against the needles as they used to, and there is often no competition on the price.
There is such a thing as a nice quality acrylic yarn.
Don’t get all high-horse, holier-than-thou on me. Admit it. Go into a craft store’s yarn department and tell me that there is not one yarn -not even one- that doesn’t tempt you or make its way into your basket.
Last fall, I was shopping with my mom and my aunt. We decided to stop in the craft store. I decided to check out the yarn and needle selection.
I saw some fugly fuzzy yarns, yes, but I also saw some really pretty colorways, and they felt great too. I came home with 3 skeins for $6.00. No denying that that is a deal.
Fast Forward.
I was working on my stash inventory spreadsheet and found these three balls again. Fell in love with the yarn all over. Also loved the ball band pattern. Why not swatch it up and see how it looks? Well, the swatch turned into a sleeve…
Stacey called it Noro-ish. The great thing is, I didn’t pay Noro-ish price for it! and I can throw it in the washing machine without a care!
…That is the beginning of this…
Free Pattern on Caron’s site. I am using a slightly darker colorway than the one shown here. The color I bought is called “Dark Moss”. Kind of like a worsted weight Trekking yarn, don’t you think? That is probably what drew me to it. Dark Moss is a emerald base with lime, turquoise, magenta, and yellow highlights. Sounds like a pretty match for the next Project Spectrum sequence!
The ball band called it Simple Shrug, but because of the luscious green, I am going to call it VERDANT.
What about you? Is there an acrylic yarn that you love? what are some of your favorite acrylic projects?
Updates: I bought the yarn… I got the pink colorway. Also, Glee is done. Still trying to figure out if I like it…
i guess i just love all yarns. i am addicted to colors and then if they feel good, i buy it! i usually stick to natural fibers, but on a trip to michaels in january i was amazed at some of the nicer acrylics and even more amazed by the prices. i just wish they were called something else, the word acrylic really is like nails on a blackboard to me!
Caron Simply Soft is my favorite acrylic…because it really is soft enough that you forget it is acrylic. I haven’t seen the shadows, though, and I love that shrug. Another one to add to the ever expanding “to knit” list.
Thanks!
Great question! I can’t wait to bear about people’s favorites.
I hate knitting with 100% cotton, but I do love me some cotton/acrylic blends, like TLC Cotton Plus.
Yes, I buy and use some acrylics. Caron and Patons have some really good stuff. My own LYS just bought a huge allotment of Universal Yarns acrylic/wool. It feels just as soft as Caron Simply Soft to me. I don’t like to knit things for my children that can’t be washed.
I love TLC Cotton Plus as well. You can’t really tell there is any acrylic in it and it’s great for baby clothes.
That is pretty! And a whole shrug for $6? Who can beat that?
My mom knitted me a throw out of the greem colorway of that yarn and I LOVE IT!!!!
Hmm, must find me some Caron to feel up, asap. Looks good to me…
I’m definitely a fan of Caron Simply Soft, too. I’ve never seen the Shadows type in person, but I think I’d have a hard time resisting, too. My grandmother crocheted me a blanket out of it and I also knit my first sweater (Knitty’s Tubey) from it.
I was just thinking today that I could use a shrug – so thanks for the pattern link! It’s probably going to go on my to-knit list very soon. I really like the colorway you’re using.
I love how it’s striping – much more subtle than Noro, I must say…
A friend of mine swears by Caron Simply Soft. I use acrylic yarns for all of my kitchen projects because they are so easy to toss in the machine – lets face it, kitchen things get dirty! (I haven’t made dishcloths, yet, and I’ve heard they should be cotton.)
I really hate the Lions Brand Wool Ease, but I really like their Homespun yarns. It’s not great to work with (although it doesn’t suck), but when it’s knit into scarves, people really like them. I get more compliments on my crocheted Lions Brand Homespun scarf than on anything else that I’ve ever made (which drove me nuts until a friend of mine told me that it “looks” homemade whereas things like my convertible gloves look store bought – I think that is supposed to be a compliment for both). This yarn isn’t always fun for knitting with, but it makes some great, soft, washable items.
I have to admit, that yarn looks pretty fab. and that is going to be a darling shrug.
I love me a good acrylic blend. Lion Brand Wool Ease is one of my favorite yarns. I love being able to throw it in the washer and dryer and not having to wonder how it’s going to come out.
It seems that when I hand wash, things tend to stretch out, I just finished “A Cardigan for Arwen,” wore it on St. Patricks Day (so what if it’s blue? I know I’m part Irish, I don’t need to wear green clothes) and now I need to wash it. I’m afraid that when I wash it, it’s going to be ginormous. I’m a plus size, so sweaters are heavier when they’re done anyway. Anyway, I used Swish Superwash for the cardigan, I’m planning on washing tonight. I’m crossing my fingers…
I’ve never knit with Simply Soft, my MIL was looking at it in the store last year and I remember thinking that it might be splitty while knitting. Yours is such a pretty color!
One of my favorite yarns is Lion Brand Cotton-Ease, so I guess I do use acrylic yarns from time to time.
All acrylics are NOT created equal! I agree completely and also acrylic – even the “stainless steel” stuff has it’s place. I work in a GREAt yarn shop (www.thepurlygates.com) and let me tell you – even the “high-end” yarn companies bring out some doozies that are crunchy, scratchy, or just plain UG-LY!
Your Verdant looks great and I hope you love every minute of it!
I do like some acrylic blends… but a non acrylic blend put out by a larger craft venue is Patons SWS. That stuff also has noro like striping quality to it, but without a noro price! and no sticks! It sure made me happy to buy it. I subbed it in for the Fake Isle hat on magknits.com
You look lovely in Glee and in your brown dress. I do love how blue your eyes look in that dress. You look fabulous!
Kisses!
I, uh, well…I kind of love Red Heart. But only for crocheting! Red Heart makes great blankets – the one our bed was crocheted 10 years ago and is still going strong, washer and dryer and all. I can’t stand to crochet with wool – it just feels so weird. And I can’t knit with acrylic. Go figure.
I used some of that yarn for a red scarf and liked how the colors knit up. I really like your little shrug. I guess I need to go back and look at that yarn again. And thanks for the link! I think I need one of those.
I bought that same yarn for that pattern. I’m not above using a nice acrylic, especially for kid’s wear.
I am with Kaet: I just like yarn! If it it is a pretty color and soft (like Caron Simply Soft and some of the Lion Brand stuff), I’ll use it. I’ve got a baby blanket in Caron on the needles and it is lovely to work with (though I haven’t since summer). And it will be easy to clean too.
Cute shrug pattern and pretty green yarn! Verdant is a great name for it.
I love the Caron shadows and tweed-y looking yarn, myself. My favorite acrylic blend yarn is LB Wool Ease. It’s washable and I enjoy using it.
I don’t feel guilty knitting a sweater with it, either since it’s $2.50 per skein.
One of the funniest buttons in blogland is a pic of red heart yarn with ‘ghetto knitter’ splashed on the front, it’s hilarious. Yes, it is so true that major strides have been made recently in the A.C. Moore/Michael’s realm. I for one am for it: sometimes LYS prices are truly cost prohibitive.
While I am usually a lover of the natural fibers, I think all yarn has its merits. I am especially a fan of TLC Cotton plus, I think it’s half acrylic or 49%, I think it’s pretty good for kid knits.
I admit to being a total acrylic free zone, but I picked up some Cascade Cherub acrylic in a yarn swap and used it to make a baby sweater recently and really enjoyed it.
I’ve always been the first to say that “there are no bad yarns. There are only yarns that may or may not be suitable for the project at hand.”
One of my frequent knitting projects is small pot scrubbers. The pattern was in the Pattern a Day calendar for 2006, I forget which page. Anyway, the best yarn to use for them is the toughest acrylic yarn you can find, since that scrubs the best.
I have an entire queen-size blanket I knit for my bed from Red Heart Supersaver. I wrap up with it next to my skin, and it’s comfortable. It’s also the warmest blanket I own!
The best approach overall is to keep an open mind, and honestly evaluate your project and its needs. Sometimes a high-end, expensive wool is the only answer. But sometimes – and I’ll bet more often than you’d imagine – an inexpensive acrylic is just the ticket!
I have to admit my first favorite yarn was Lion Brand Homespun. Like the person above, I still get more comments on that scarf than anything else! Although i’ve learned Homespun doesn’t wear all that well. But then neither do some high end yarns.
Since I’ve been exploring blended yarns I’ve been really surprised at the number that have acrylic in them and are actually really nice! And if it’s machine washable, that helps a lot in my house
It’s so pretty! I have some Caron Simply Soft in my stash that came from early yarn-buying, but it makes damn good stuffed toys for my 2 year old cousin (and my 22 year old friend). I have a little fuzzy yarn that was a gift, and maybe some random balls too. Not too bad. And I don’t mind the occasional acrylic or nylon content in some superwash wool blends, either. Rock.
I got my comeuppance in a yarn store about 4 years ago. I was walking around, taking in all the beauty and something caught my eye. A beautiful colorway and super soft. Then I looked at the label – 100% acrylic!! It was Encore, also in a marled Trekking-like colorway!!:::blush:::
As long as you like the yarn it doesn’t matter if it made out of recycled Diet Coke cans and you knit it with your feet. There are no knitting police!
PS – If not for acrylic content in cottons, I’d probably never knit for myself. Acrylic makes cotton good – no hand hurtin’!
I’ve yet to find an acrylic that doesn’t have that fuzzy look. A lot of store bought sweaters come in acrylics and I would love to work with some of those yarns. I have nothing against a good acrylic.
I love the shrug btw!
I like some acrylic yarns or combos..I made some purses for my niece for christmas out of Utopia from reynolds…I think. I really liked it. I have some of that same caron in my stash in the gray colorway. I was thinking abou tmaking a baby blanket with it, bu tmade a quilt instead. I was thinking about making that shrug you are with my 3 skeins!!
My all time favourite acrylic yarn is James C. Brett’s Marble. It’s 100% acrylic and it’ soft as butter. One $6 (and that’s CDN folks) skein has enough yardage to knit an entire baby cardigan. The colours are great and it still looks great after being accidentally thrown in the hot water wash. Can’t say that for most natural yarns.
I like King Cole Soft as Silk for inexpensive, washer-friendly knits, especially for kids. Harder to find with the demise of Lewiscraft, but my mom and I both stocked up when they were going out of business. Mine is now gone and hers is close to gone.
my favorite synthetics are Lion Brand Homespun (98% acrylic, 2% polyester) and Plymouth Dreambaby DK (50% Microfiber Acrylic, 50% Nylon). the Dreambaby is far softer (to me) than most other synthetic baby yarns, reasonably priced and washes/dries well in the machine. i use it for baby hats, slippers and booties. the Homespun i use for scarves & baby blankets.
i haven’t used Noro, but i have seen & touched it in shops and it is ROUGH. think i might prefer an acrylic to that (though the colors, admittedly, are nice).
There are good and bad things about every yarn. I prefer the natural fibres more since I can’t wear acrylics on my feet or hands and animal fibres are warmer in the kind of weather we get. I do like the washability of acrylics and the price though.
I totally agree that not all acylic yarns are bad. I like Bernat Satin for afghans and baby things, and I also like Lion Brand Tweed.
How pretty. I love the noro-ish colors.
I have to ask, what about Glee is not quite working? I’m about halfway down the body. Anything I need to look forward to would be appreciated.
I have nothing against acrylic yarns. I’m just against scratchy yarns (whatever their content may be). Although nowadays I tend to prefer natural fibers, so far I’ve come across very soft acrylic / acrylic blend yarns (it was a craft store brand, and is now discontinued, how sad!), and I’ve also seen scratchy 100% wool yarn. I guess we just have to weigh each yarn on their own merits.
I’ve always liked Zara yarn (I think the company name is Feza). It’s something like a 60/40 acrylic/wool blend. It’s very soft, it’s machine washable, and it comes in a wide variety of pretty colors. It’s great for any type of baby project (you’re not limited to pastels!) or anything that you want to be able to throw in the wash.
I also like TLC cotton plus. It’s heavy on the acrylic, but it washes beautifully. I just made a log cabin blanket out of it, and it looked better after a run through the washing machine.
I too happened upon the caron simply soft in those colorways. I bought the green, knit it up, loved it, and went back and got the blue colorway and the greyish colorway. Another acrylic yarn I love is Bernat Chunky. I think it’s pretty new… but i got in a pale pink/green colorway and am knitting a baby blanket with it. it’s so soft you’d think you were working with alpaca! (ok, maybe not, but it’s pretty darn soft) The skein was only 6 bucks for300g/480 yds. nice? yes.
I’m really not much of a yarn snob. I like all kinds. It if gets my attention and feels nice, I’ll knit it. I started knitting when I was very broke and in college and most of my knitting supplies were purchased at Meijer (a Wal-Mart type store) when yarn went on sale. Once my Mom and Oma realised it was something I was going to stick with, they started gifting me with yarn, needles and such. As I become more experienced, I do want nicer yarns and needles, but I’ll still use up all those balls in my stash, or give them away to friends who are just learning.
Every skein is sacred.
I can’t think of one that I like… not that I am writing them off totally but I can’t think of one.
Love your shrug though. Would be so cute for spring over a simple dress. (Okay, maybe up here in our crispy springs… not down there in the heat.)
I knit my first Clapotis in Caron Supersoft. I was a beginning knitter and was afraid to spend lots of $ on something I wasn’t sure I was capable of finishing! That Clapper has taken a beating and is still with me.
yay!!! welcome to the dark side!!!
caron yarns are great and i also like TLC yarns. especially blends. they’re great for baby items and for large afghans and blankets. i’m not made of money you know!
I have to admit to being a purist. That’s probably mostly because I don’t go into craft stores so I’m not even exposed to the acrylic yarn anymore. But when I first started knitting I was all about the Lion Brand homespun.
I’ve heard good stuffs about Caron yarn, too bad we don’t have them here in UK. I bought a pack of acrylic yarn from Phildar when I went to Paris because I couldn’t resist the price and the colour. I’ve made some accessories with it for gifts, and people never mind that it’s acrylic!
Noro-ish, Trekking-ish – both good things! I haven’t been to a craft store in quite a while (my closest one is about 45 min away) I’m always looking to see what new and fun things they have – looks like the acrylic yarns are looking up! I made my niece a sweater out of some crazy colors of Caron a while back and it’s wearing like iron. Acrylic definitely has it’s place.
Just saw the brown dress. LOVELY!!! Can’t wait to see it on you. Your shrug will be cute. I bought some of that yarn as well. I love the subtle stripping. XXOO
I have to agree with those who sing the praises of Caron Simply Soft. That is a really nice-feeling acrylic, very silky. Great for baby knitting! I’d also agree that some acrylic makes knitting with cotton not a miserable experience. I was so happy to see that Lion Brand brought back Cotton-Ease.
I also have had great luck with LB’s Wool-Ease Chunky. I made a Licorice Whip sweater with it, which I have put in the washer and dryer several times and it still looks great. Another nice yarn with lots of acrylic in it is Katia Diana … TLC makes a very similar yarn called Cara Mia. It’s mostly acrylic with a little angora (different!) and it feels WONDERFUL.