Aran yarns

Very punny though!

DGD could not wear wool but could wear a soft acrylic
Not that she would be seen in any hand knit now, however fashionable I think it might be
(She's 11)

I was told by the owner of our local yarn shop that the people with allergies are more likely to react to wool and other natural yarns than they are to synthetics. I don't know if that is true, but if it is, it makes acrylic a better/safer buy in many cases
As she sold a good range of natural fibres in her shop, I am fairly confident that she wasn't just spinning me a yarn! (Sorry - that pun started as unintentional, honest!)

Some pure wool can be itchy and people who have eczema may not be able to wear it either.

I have lots of odd balls of acrylic in my stash and don't intend to send them to landfill, I'll probably try to turn them into blankets or squares to go off to charity. The blankets probably won't get washed that often, so I'm told.

I didn’t realise acrylic yarn wasn’t eco friendly. Never thought about it to be honest. But now you mention it of course ....oh dear. Wool is more expensive.

The fibres wash off and go down to the sea.

However, vegans would not have us exploiting sheep for wool either, although I do not think that shearing sheep for their comfort is exploiting them.

I don't know whether people realise that acrylic yarn is basically plastic, and will not biodegrade in the way that wool or other natural fibres do.

I was surprised to learn that my sister, who is very hot on recycling and so on, was unaware of this, which is why I mention it. It is less convenient than wool, as obviously it can be machine washed, but it is not very planet-friendly.

I've been able to acquire some great Aran wool in charity shops. I suspect it comes from house clearances and has been around for some time as it usually has a wool content. Did a couple of lovely jumpers for DGS when he was toddling. Don't think he would wear them now!!

Thanks everyone. Could you recommend one brand you always go to ?

I like Derramores too and they often have free patterns as downloads.

I usually buy my yarn from wool warehouse.com. They have a huge range of wool, acrylic, cotton etc. and they are very competitively priced.
If a pattern says worsted I tend to buy dk. I crochet and I'm pretty good at adapting patterns to suit my yarn.

Love Derrimores although I buy for crochet more often than knitting. They have a sale on at the moment - 30%off everything.

Thanks Calli . I’ll give Hobbycraft a try.

Are you in the UK or the USA Gemini?

I think DK is equivalent to light worsted, 8 ply in Australia

Worsted I think is equivalent to Aran, 10 ply.

There are so many different makes and it depends what you want, pure wool, cashmere, acrylic or a mix.

If you're knitting hats for charity, the Women's Institute yarns from Hobbycraft are good value and online stores often do their own brands.