ALL ABOUT YARN

TYPES OF YARN

WEIGHT refers to the thickness of the yarn and there are six main categories, ranging from super fine to super bulky.

FINGERING is also known as sock yarn, or baby yarn and is worked on small needles.

SPORT yarn  is slightly heavier and is worked on medium needles..

WORSTED is probably the most popular yarn, usually used for  sweaters, scarves and throws and is worked on medium to large needles..

BULKY OR CHUNKY is the next heaviest yarn.  This is a heavy yarn great for scarves and ponchos and usually worked on  large needles.

SUPER BULKY is the heaviest yarn, used for even bulkier scarves, hats, blankets and sweaters and worked on super large needles..

TIP: The thicker the yarn the faster it knits up.  For a quick project, make a scarf out of super bulky on big needles.

YARN FIBERS
Yarn is made up of all sorts of fibers.  You'll find  yarns of cotton , wool, acrylic, silk, mohair, angora, blends and now even organic and bamboo.

WOOL
Wool is  incredibly versatile and not itchy  as it used to be.  MARINO WOOL comes from a long-haired sheep and makes a fine, soft, luxurious yarn.  TIP: if you use wool remember that it will shrink in warm water, although there are now some Washable Wool Yarns  available.

COTTON
Cotton is also very versatile yarn, and good for all sorts of projects.

It is usually relatively inexpensive and is widely available in many  colors, weights and textures. TIP: Cotton does not hold its shape as well as wool and tends to stretch out.  Although It's  more washable than wool, it can shrink as well if washed in hot water.

ACRYLIC

Acrylic yarns have come a long way.  Although there's nothing natural about them,  it's inexpensive and  machine washable.  It's great for baby gifts because, as I found out when I became a grandmother, today's new mother's don't have time to worry about anything like how to care for it.  They can just throw it into the washer and dryer and forget about it.   Acrylic yarn comes in an amazing  array of colors, textures and weights.  Many of the new novelty yarns are acrylic, and with them you can make a fun scarf, handbag, poncho or hat.  In the last few years there's been an influx of novelty yarns such as eyelash yarns (fluffy, hairy) and ribbons. With those novelty yarn you, as a beginner, can make something that looks like it was made by an advanced knitter.