Hate hate hate Lion Brand chenille. Bought two skeins, one green and one cream, to knit a striped scarf. The green sections were about two inches wider than the cream sections- and they had the same number of stitches! There should not be THAT much variation in the same kind of yarn. I haven't touched the stuff since, and I generally avoid Lion brand yarns just on principle because of this.
Agreed! It's a huge pain to work with too...I'm more of a crocheter than a knitter, but either way it's a hassle. And I honestly have ~5 skeins of it...people have pushed it off on me for whatever reason!
About 10 year ago I had the brilliant idea to make a whole bunch of scarves out of Lion Brand chenille. OMG that stuff is awful, and I'm saying that as someone who actually likes a lot of Lion Brand yarns. To be avoided at all costs.
Wool is actually not very flammable - it only burns if one holds a flame directly on it. It's one of the ways people test if a mystery fiber is wool - if it continues to burn (and doesn't smell of burnt hair), it's not wool (or not entirely wool.)
Wool, is also self extinguishing. You can't light as easily, them, but they won't burn for long (if they are used by professional fire performers (cotton and silk as well), its a good measure). And the flames are easy to pat out... as opposed to any synthetic where you cannot pat it out (because it will stick to you/the blanket as well)
It's been said before, but I'll say it again--if you don't mind investing a bit of time, thrift-store sweaters can often be unraveled and reclaimed. Sweaters are, like, three bucks at Goodwill and you can often find luxury fibers like silk blends and cashmere. Look for sweaters that haven't seen much wear--no pilling, good stitch definition. Ragged hems and cuffs can be forgiven--you won't lose much yarn by tossing those sections. Small stains aren't necessarily a deal-breaker, since chances are slim that the stained sections of yarn will line up after being reknit. Cabled sweaters yield a ton of yarn, but the cables will wear more quickly than the recessed portions, so unless they're almost completely unworn, cabled sweaters are usually a bad choice. Check out the men's section for classic yarns (and massive sizes!). Check out the seams--are the pieces knit to shape, or are they cut? Do NOT choose cut-and-sewn sweaters. You'll end up with a million yard-long pieces of yarn
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Be aware, too, that machine-knit sweaters often use a finer gauge of yarn because they knit quite tightly, so unless you're planning to knit lace or other fine-gauged projects, look for sweaters that seem on the bulky side.
Solid colors give better yarn yield than patterned ones, which will generally result in a lot of short pieces.
Absolutely. The best yarns for frogging are smooth, non-hairy, natural fibers like wool and cotton. I wouldn't personally bother with unraveling acrylic sweaters, because their lack of elasticity means the crimp from having been machine-knit can be set in them for life.
Every yarn has its place and its project. When my child is playing on the floor I want something I can wash.
Plus now that the mass market brands are making sock yarns... don't count out an entire brand of yarn because you (the general you) dislike a specific type. It would be like me never buying a pair of pants from Old Navy just because one pair didn't fit me.
One of the non-North American mods here - if you or anyone else cares to send me links for the Rest of the World I'm quite happy to put together a similar post!
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I'm not sure I understand this. Do you mean in that it is more likely to melt? Because wool and cotton are also flammable, too.
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You get a much worse burn when the burning stuff sticks to the skin -- think napalm -- and toxic fumes.
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Wool, is also self extinguishing. You can't light as easily, them, but they won't burn for long (if they are used by professional fire performers (cotton and silk as well), its a good measure). And the flames are easy to pat out... as opposed to any synthetic where you cannot pat it out (because it will stick to you/the blanket as well)
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Be aware, too, that machine-knit sweaters often use a finer gauge of yarn because they knit quite tightly, so unless you're planning to knit lace or other fine-gauged projects, look for sweaters that seem on the bulky side.
Solid colors give better yarn yield than patterned ones, which will generally result in a lot of short pieces.
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(The comment has been removed)
Plus now that the mass market brands are making sock yarns... don't count out an entire brand of yarn because you (the general you) dislike a specific type. It would be like me never buying a pair of pants from Old Navy just because one pair didn't fit me.
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I like the idea you have here to help us out.
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