Scratchy

Which yarn in particular do you love to wear?
I can’t wear wool that makes me scratch . No matter how warm it keeps me.

I think my favourite is a soft cotton yarn.
I also can’t stand the labels that make me scratch.

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I’ve only made a few wearables that would fit me. My favorite is cotton. Another is Caron Simply Soft, and Bernat Softee Chunky is getting the next one.

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i am a wool, alpaca, angora (bunny), cashmere kinda gal ;p. unless you are allergic to wool, try a finer wool, like merino, or BFL, both are very soft. i can spin my own yarn so i can blend alpaca, angora (bunny) or cashmere into a medium wool to achieve a softer fiber. i’ve even spun yak (very short fiber!). i live in IA so the warm factor is always on my mind ;). one of my bucket list items is to buy some vicuña fiber to spin, it’s a in the camelid family in the Andes mountains in Peru. it’s slightly smaller than the alpaca and extremely soft and very warm fiber, but it runs about $75 an oz for roving and $150 an oz for yarn because it was an endangered species, down to about 5,000 animals because it was hunted for its fiber until the government in Peru made it illegal to hunt them with a harsh jail sentence, and only the indigenous people who lived in the area the vicuña lived in could round them up, shear them and turn them loose could be in possession of the fiber. the vicuña has come back enough that they are no longer on the endangered species list, and oh yeah each animal only provides about 1.1 lbs of fiber. right now i’m spinning some cria (baby alpaca) that feels like butter going through my hands.

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That’s interesting. Is IA Iowa? ps You are also a writer as well as a knitter.

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I imagine they are brand available in US only…

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I love using superwash with nylon dk

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I enjoy lionbrand yarn their super soft and the colors

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That is so kool that you can spin your own yarn i have a spinner but havent had time to play with it

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yea, IA is Iowa ;).

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you will see a little bit of a learning curve with spinning, but it’s not hard and as long as you aren’t hard on yourself for whatever you see as imperfections as you are learning, it will be a wonderful journey. keep a couple of yards from each skein you spin and you will see where you started and what you become as a spinner.

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I love the feel of bamboo. I have to say my favorite is actually Lion Brand’s Coboo

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I 've never thought of spinning…it looks like a huge amount of work and hard to get it right…but please prove me wrong.

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I personally love bamboo, cotton and the acrylic yarn by King Cole :yarn:

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it’s not hard at all, there is a little learning curve, but seeing yarn you actually spun is so exciting that the learning curve goes quickly and there are several spinners you can follow on youtube to help you figure it out. it’s an investment, the wheels aren’t cheap, but if it’s something you feel you might like, i suggest picking up a spindle ($20 to $50) and wool roving from a store that sells wheels and give it a try. i started on a spindle but moved quickly to a wheel because it’s faster ;). i find spinning very calming and peaceful and I have a skein of yarn when I’m done ;).

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I completely agree. I also started with a spindle and moved to a wheel pretty quick. Once you get the basic feel for it, it is very soothing. I’ve actually fallen asleep while spinning. :joy:

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:joy::joy: as peaceful as it is to me, i’ve never fallen asleep spinning :wink:

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yea the downside to that is the line breaking that wakes me and I’ll have to take a break to either take a nap or wake myself up.

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I’ve always wanted to learn how to spin, what spinning wheels/drop spindles would you suggest for beginners?

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wheels are rather pricy, but a good wheel for beginners that will always be a good wheel is an Ashford Traveler. i prefer a scotch tensioning system, it’s less fidgety than the double drive band, but everyone has a different favorite. this wheel is a castle style wheel and nicer for a small space, it doesn’t fold up for traveling but mine fit in my back seat and I could strap it it in. you can look it up on the internet to see what it looks like. i suggest if you get one you spend the extra money and get one that has a finish on the wood and not unfinished, the finishing is protection that will keep it safe from the wood warping, ask me how I know ;p. if you buy it from a local store they should offer spinning instructions, you can also see if there is spinning guild locally which will also be very helpful.

a spindle doesn’t need to be expensive and you can find some inexpensive ones so you can try out spindle spinning on etsy, or a store where you could later buy a wheel, or a spinning guild (sometimes guild members make inexpensive ones for new members.)

i hope this is helpful.

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Thank you so much for all of the information, this is really helpful! I now have a drop spindle on Etsy I’m eyeing :wink::wink:

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