How I buy my yarns and what I like

Knitted in Robin DK, a cheap 100% acrylic yarn.

My, what  long title. I can't think of a way of condensing it, because I want to talk about my favourite wool brands, and my buying habits. I do have a pretty big stash of odd wools, but even so I still need to buy things to supplement or because I don't have the required colour, brand or texture.

I'm going to go into that last one a bit more. Texture. Wool, acrylic, mohair, cotton and other blends of wool or yarn all have a different texture. This is in double knit (DK) not in things like chunky or 4ply, but again those have a different texture. For example, wool has a bit of hair to it, cotton is completely smooth, mohair is fuzzy and things like polyester yarns exist in a furry version. That's just touching on the subject of texture, but if you want to know more look at different yarns when you go out, look at things like acrylic compared to real wool and mohair. That's the best way you'll understand it.

If I'm buying a new brand that I've never seen, handled and worked with before I buy it in person. Well, I buy most of my wool in person, I like my local (10 mile away) wool shop, the women in there are nice, it's distracting me to look at other things I wouldn't have seen, there's a clearance bucket. I like going into the real shop, it's nice and it supports localish business. More importantly it gives me a chance to check the colour of the wool, if it's really the shade I'm looking for, and I can check it against other colours for striping. I can feel the wool, which means I can see what the texture and thickness is like as not all double knit wools are the same thickness. I can see how rough it is, and what it looks like when knitted up because my wool shop has gauge squares with their brands! Sometimes I will buy online if I know the brand and type of wool is one I like and won't disappoint me. I try to buy from shops with a physical store, because I miss the old days when wool shops were everywhere. I do not like having to drive ten miles just to buy some wool!

So what brands (and their wools) do I like?

• King Cole - Baby DK, 100% acrylic and around £2.50 fr 100g. Bamboo Cotton DK 50% cotton and 50% bamboo, £5.50 for 100g.
• Patons -100% cotton in DK and 4ply under £5 for 100g.
• Peter Pan - Moondust DK, 55% nylon and 45% acrylic around £3.50 for 50g. Peter Pan DK , also exists in 2ply, 3ply and 4ply in fewer colours, 55% nylon and 45% acrylic. DK is around £3.50 for 50g.
• Robin - Robin Aran with Wool, 25% wool and 75% acrylic, around £10 for 500g. Robin DK, 100% acrylic and around £2 for 100g. Robin Chunky, 100% acrylic, around £2 for 100g.
• Stylecraft - Eskimo - 100% polyester £2 for 50g. Classique Cotton DK, 100%cotton and £4.50 for 100g.
• Sirdar - Snuggly Baby Speckle DK, 60% cotton and 40% acrylic, roughly £4 for 50g. Snuggly Baby Crofter DK, 55% nylon and 45% acrylic around £4 for 50g. Snuggly Baby Bamboo, 80% bamboo and 20% wool, £4 for 50g.
• Wendy - Yeti, 100% , £2 for 50g.
• Katia - This is a newish wool brand, I saw some in Paris when I last visited Andi, she bought a ball of Inca, I've not personally worked on it, she has and said it was a very good one. It's the colours that amazed me, it cost around 9€. 50% wool and 50% acrylic, chunky weight. I'm hoping I can stumble across more.

As with the Katia - Inca yarn there's been many times where I've found a new brand that I like, I buy it, but then I forget the brand, or it's from a weird shop in France and doesn't exist in the UK, so the above list is just a quick summary. Back in the 1980's I used to make a lot with mohair too, but I'm not liking that much these days. Basically I like DK yarns, mainly cotton, or acrylic depending on the colours, texture and most importantly, price. I don't like spending too much on wool because it seems wasteful to me, yes I like the more expensive wools, but I've not got the kind of money to buy them.

A jumper made from Sirdar's Crofter DK yarn. The picture doesn't do it justice, it's so beautiful.

Hi mum

"Hi mum! I love you. I’m knitting you a scarf for Christmas because I’ve stolen your hat. Sorry, but remember, I love you!"

Oh, hi Andi! Sorry I've not been online much today, I might have had car issues, but if I say that you’ll scream “woman driver” at me.

I love you too, what do you want? Money? Chocolate? Booze?

Oh sh*t. Please stop knitting me things! Buy me a real gift like a normal daughter. Are you sure you’re knitting it for me and it’s not something for yourself that you made and didn’t like? How many stitches did you drop this time? What’s wrong with it?

But I liked that hat! I chose the wool for it, and paid for it too! ANDIIIIII!

Yeah, you love me. I’m going to speak to George now, he’s nice to me.

Hello

Hello.

Welcome to my blog. That sounds weird, my blog. Before I've always borrowed my daughter's blog, and she said my posts got lots of views, and I should think about getting a blog for myself. I didn't really post much, I just liked sharing my knitting with the world, I've been meaning to write more about things I sew and crochet too. I love making clothing, I've been doing it for years, I first started when I was a five year old in the early 1960's. I like baking too, I say baking because for me cooking is the essential chore, baking is being creative and greedy, making treats. I don't mind cooking, but it gets tedious.

These days I mainly knit for my younger grandson, I call him Sandy. He's nearly a year old, so still small and quick to knit for. I make cardigans, jumpers, blankets, hats and the occasional toy too. I don't crochet much for him because it just seems a bit girly. I sew a lot for him too, when he started teething my daughter, Andi, and I made all of his bibs. I make him little dungarees too, and I make a few odds and sods for around the house, cloth wipes, aprons, and things for my son too. I used to sew much more, but these days it's more expensive, back in the 70's it was much cheaper.

I guess I should explain some things about me, and who I am, rather than just what I like to do. I'm in my 50's, when you get this old that's a close enough age. I have a 20 year old daughter whose blog is here she writes about being a single mum in France, and crafting, and breastfeeding. She uses her blog to voice her opinions and defend her choices. My son is 14, his blog is here he complains about babies, cacti, and many other things. He just writes about being a typical teenager in the UK.

My late husband was a Scottish astronomer, that was how we met. We got married not long after, then a few years after that decided to start off a one child family. It was great, nice and calm, especially the weekends. Well five years after that there was a surprise baby, and things were still lovely. Two kids was a blessing, and we thought we were happy with one, but really the two made things better. But sadly around 20 years after getting married my husband died from a three year battle with cancer, and after that things have never been the same. We miss his humor, he was very dry and sarcastic, but funny.

Before that I was raised alone by my mum, she was from London, we've gradually drifted further south, I've lived in a few places over the years, Guildford was good, Brighton was amazing, Portsmouth was okay, and here? Well, it's just boring. I'm tempted to go join Andi in Paris, but I've got a few years left before retiring.

Anyway, I think that explains enough about my blog and myself for now, welcome and enjoy reading.