Selecting the Right Yarn for Your Project

Hi there, I'm Corrina Ferguson for The Knitting Circle. In this video, we're gonna learn tips and tricks for picking the right yarn for your project. So let's get started. Okay, my friends, it is time to talk about choosing the right yarn for your project and yarns come in so many different kinds. They come in natural fibers.

They come in synthetic fibers. They come in fuzzy. They come in smooth. They come in singles. They come in plied.

They come in super skinny, all the way to super, super super bulky, and different yarns have different qualities that make them good for certain projects. So, first thing I'm gonna do is I'm gonna talk about all of this and why a certain yarn is the yarn that was used for the project. When you're picking the yarn for a project, the first thing that you should look at is what is the yarn that was called for in the project. This is the Lover's Lane Socks, and it uses a sock yarn. It uses a yarn, we recommend a yarn for socks that has some nylon in it.

The yarn is very skinny. It's a one or a super-fine weight because you going to put your feet in socks and then presumably in shoes. You don't want a super big bulky kind of thing. And the reason that we like the nylon in it is because it makes it wear longer and it's knitted a very small gauge. So it's very dense, tight fabric but that's one of the things that we think about when we're choosing fabrics for socks.

On the other end of the spectrum, I have the Nepeta Hat. This is also in a smooth yarn. This is actually 100% wool and it's a chunky or a bulky weight and it's smooth. The slip stitches look nice. The twisted rib looks nice, but it's a thicker yarn.

It works up on size 10 1/2 needles, so it makes this hat go super fast. So this was kind of a fast, fun project, but this yarn will wear really well for the hat. Keep whoever needs it, who doesn't live in Florida like me, keep their head nice and cozy. Speaking of Florida, this is the Halaine Tee, the little ruffle tee that I have with all of this. This is actually made in a thinner yarn as well and it's a plied yarn as well, so that it can be thin enough to be worn in warmer weather.

You wouldn't want anything super thick when you're wearing what could be a summer or a spring garment. Spring in Florida, summer other places. The other thing that's nice about a plied yarn versus a yarn that's a single, just one strand, a plied yarn wears better. So plied yarns are usually better for garments. So that is the Halaine Tee.

There's also yarns that will have climate control properties in them. And then we also talk about, besides the type of yarn we use, the colors of yarn we use. This is the Cadmus Cowl, and it does a fade from, I always call it ice cream colors. I say vanilla and I say orange dreamsicle and then I say strawberry. That's just me.

Maybe I just want ice cream because it's hot in Florida. But I picked these colors specifically to do this fade. This is again a smooth plied yarn, so it shows the slip stitch texture really nice. And it also makes a nice tassel. It doesn't make something like that's super crazy fuzzy.

Super crazy fuzzy coming up. This is unbuttoned, the Carnival Cowl. Has a smooth silk yarn and then a fuzzy silk mohair yarn. And the silk mohair is nice because kind of has the ruched, ruched, ruched? Never say that word right.

Or the gathered appearance here and the fuzz, you can kind of see, fills in the blanks. This is very soft for our next-to-the-skin wear, but this isn't the kind of yarn that you would wanna wear in a garment or a sock or anything like that. So you always wanna be thinking about what you're gonna be doing with the item. Is it a bag? Is it a sock?

Is it a sweater? What yarn the pattern calls for? If there's any allergies involved. For example, I'm allergic to alpaca. Is there any allergies involved?

And how will it wear? Speaking of alpaca. Alpaca, for other, people is nice for garments but it also has a tendency to grow. So looking up information about yarns that you're interested in using is also a good thing. What have other people said about the yarn?

Have they had a problem with the yarn? Did the yarn pill? So the next thing to think about when it comes to choosing the yarn is the care instructions. So when you have a yarn label, and we're gonna grab this one here, it'll have care instructions on it. And it'll tell you whether it's machine washable whether it can be bleached or dried or ironed or dry cleaned.

I will tell you right now, I hand wash everything that I've ever knit and anything that I've given to anybody, I recommend that they hand wash, with the exception of baby items. I try to make baby items in a synthetic blend that is totally machine washable and machine dryable 'cause new mamas do not have time to hand wash nonsense. The other thing we wanna think about when we're talking about choosing yarns is colors. Speaking of dreamsicles, we've got our cream and our orange here. This is the Laresco Shawl and we have a cream for the lace border.

Just wanna hold that on my hand so you can see how pretty the lace border is. And then we have a Latvian braid where the cream and the orange play so nicely together and then the slip stitches. And again, this is a smooth plied yarn. This is actually a wool-silk blend. Very soft for next-to-the-skin wear.

But the colors are specifically. I can't say that today. Specifically chosen to have a good contrast. And that means that there's a good difference between the two colors. You don't want something that's super close together, because then you might not be able to see the patterning that's here and it wouldn't show up as well in the braid.

The other thing to consider when you're talking about picking your yarns is what colors look good on you? What colors do you enjoy? If I wear yellow, for example, people think I need to go to the hospital. Does not suit my pasty skin whatsoever. Other people look gorgeous and yellow and I'm super jealous.

What color suits you? What color suit someone else, if it's a present. But a lotta times it's just what colors are fun? Knitting should be fun. So you should always pick things that make you happy.

When you're picking yarn, one of the most important things, probably the most important thing that you need to think about is what the gauge is called for on the pattern. Different patterns will have different needle sizes and yarn sizes that are called for and they have those for different reasons. For example, as I spoke about the sock earlier, that is a very tightly knit fabric, so it doesn't wear out easily. Garments and hats and some accessories will be knit at what I would consider the standard gauge. And the label will give you an idea of the gauge, but it's more important to go by the gauge on the pattern and to make sure you can get the gauge that it calls for.

Quick note about gauge. The gauge that is called for in a pattern is always, always, always, always more important than the needle size. If it says, do you use a size five needles and it says you need to get five stitches to the inch. If you get five stitches to the inch on a size seven needle, use the sevens. Use whatever needle gets you the fabric that you need for the pattern.

Especially with a garment, it won't fit if you don't get the gauge. And if you're doing something like a shawl, like this shawl, and your gauge is like super off, you're gonna run outta yarn and then you're not gonna like me and I don't like that. So here it is. This is a worsted-weight wool yarn. It's all the same yarn.

It's exactly the same number of stitches. It's exactly the same number of rows and finished, done everything the same way . I slipped the stitches on the edge, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Everything about these squares is the same, except for the needle size. Push these guys outta the way for a minute.

This is worsted-weight yarn. And for me, personally, they'll tell you you might need a seven or an eight or a six on worsted-weight yarn. I tend to be kind of in the middle. I normally, with a general worsted-weight yarn, get my best gauge, my best fabric, a fabric that I feel would be good for a garment, comfortable, not too tight, on a size seven needle. And this is right at 4 1/2 stitches per inch, which is very common for a worsted-weight yarn, and six rows per inch.

Now, looking at this little puppy, it's tiny. So let's just lay that. See how tiny that is? And then we got the giant one. So we've got that a little tiny guy here.

This is on size three needles. These needles are much too small for this yarn. The fabric is practically bulletproof. It's yarn. It's wool, and it's a nice wool and it should be soft and the fabric actually feels hard because it's knit so tightly.

And, like I said, you want a tight knit for things like socks that are gonna get a lot of wear. Not this tight. So, like I said, the gauge is the most important thing. Obviously, if you're supposed to be getting this, and you'll get this instead, it's the difference between making a sweater for a grownup and making a sweater for a five-year-old. This is 10 1/2 needles.

Super loose gauge. We can see how much bigger it is than all of my other little guys here. This is not a great gauge for garments. This is too loose. One of the things that happens when your gauge is too loose is the yarn can pill more easily because it's loose and it's rubbing against each other a lot.

It'll stretch out more easily. This would be a good gauge if you were going to felt it and shrink it and make it all nice and dense again. But this is too loose for this fabric. A lotta times in shawls or scarves, they'll use a bigger needle because they want a looser, drapier fabric, 'cause you're wrapping it around your neck. But, like I said, the most important thing when it comes to your knitting is the gauge.

You always wanna get what they tell you to get on the pattern. Unless you're comfortable doing a lotta, a lotta, a lotta math, and I mean a lotta math, you wanna get the gauge and stitches per inch and rows per inch that they call for on the pattern. So when you're choosing a yarn for your pattern, making sure that you can get the gauge on whatever needles. Remember I said, the gauge is more important than the needles, on whatever needles that makes the gauge that you like, that has the fabric that you like. Like, this is a very nice to feel fabric.

This is a little more loosey goosey. It's softer feeling, but it's not good for what I needed, if I was gonna do a sweater. This is like the perfect, like I said, this one is hard. So you gotta pick your colors. You gotta pick the kind of fiber that you have.

You gotta pick your washing instructions. There's lots of things to think about but there's thousands and millions, probably millions, of possibilities, which means that there's always beautiful things that you can make. Thank you so much for joining me to learn how to pick the right yarn for your project. Check out our website for more great videos.