“everyone” states that wool is best for creating “heirloom” items. But isnt wool susceptible to the elements as well as moths?
I was thinking if you wanted to make something that lasted generations you’d make it out of acrylic.
Thoughts?
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it is susceptible to moths, we put them in bags with lavender to keep wool moths away. people like wool for shawls, lace, anything that needs blocking, because it blocks so well and holds the shape until it gets wet again. acrylic doesn’t block well, it wants to keep its original shape, try it with lace and you will see what I mean.
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So although I mostly agree, I hate that everyone thinks you can’t block acrylic… I do all the time and strongly suggest it… Here’s a great example
Right off the needles:
After Steam Blocking:
I’m allergic to wool, so I rely heavily on Woolike (acrylic/nylon blend) for my fingering weight yarn
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it’s very pretty!
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Wow!!
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I used Portland Lace from The Yarn Collective on this shawl. It’s 100% merino and needs blocking for the pattern to come through. It totally changes the way it looks. When blocking acrylic it smooths the stitches more than transforms how it looks. You have to steam block it just to the point of “killing” it for it to stay the same size you blocked it once it’s unpinned. Every time a wool item is washed it needs to be blocked again, however, as it’s not permanent.
I blocked the 100% acrylic scarf to even out the stitches and the width across the different patterns plus to stop the curling, but it’s not transformed the same as an item made of wool.
All regular wool and a lot of acrylic yarn makes me horribly itchy so I have to be very careful about which yarn I buy.
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Wow! Loving the look of these!
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your lace shawl is beautiful! I love cables, and now after seeing your cable scarf, I want to go look at cable designs, lol.
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Well, everyone ended up talking about blocking but no answer on best type of yarn for heirloom blankets- whic I thought would be acrylic…
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Honestly if it’s going to have a lot of washing I would use acrylic, but for an heirloom that was only meant for special occasions I would probably spring for a natural animal fiber even tho they have a lot more upkeep. Alpaca, bison and cashmere are amazingly soft and warm, but are expensive and need special care. I like the softer (skin soft) wools, but I’m not allergic to wool.
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I agree with @LDSVenus on which type of yarn to use when. Even superwash wool should be washed by hand or a on a delicate cycle and air dried to look its best.
I have a wool wash setting on my front load washer and 100% wool doesn’t pill or felt at all. I absolutely love that setting, it’s saved me a lot of hand washing. 
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