What yarn for afghans?

Jaxhil · 02-13-2008, 10:12 AM

I just wondered what yarn suggestions y'all might have for an afghan (or two) I plan on making for my DB and his Family. I want to make one for my niece who is 16, and my nephew who's going to be 7 this year, and possibly one for the parents (

). That is if I don't get worn out from the first two, lol! I'd even like to make a couple for my own kids.

I have a bunch of Wool-ease in the stash of various colors-would that be a good choice-warm enough and sturdy? They live in NY so it gets pretty cold up there!

Any and all suggestions welcome! Thanks!

mwhite · 02-13-2008, 03:39 PM

Wool ease would be nice. Afghans don't get washed as often as other items so you wouldn't have to worry so much about the acrylic pilling. Tip on that: Wash and dry acrylic items by themselves to prevent lint attachment.

I've done alot of afghans and have posted a link for you. Most are acrylic; Caron's simply soft, one or two are made from Lionbrand Jiffy, TLC Cotton Plus. They are tedious but worth it. Go to this link, afghans are at the bottom or 2nd page:

http://s17.photobucket.com/albums/b9...ems/?start=all

Ingrid · 02-13-2008, 03:53 PM

If you have the Woolease, use it. I like Encore, too, which has the same content, but I think is just a bit softer and fluffier.

mwhite · 02-13-2008, 04:14 PM

Caron's One Pound is good, too. It is 100% acrylic and has around 826 yards per skein, lots of colors, nice and soft. Joann's has it on sale for $5.

Plantgoddess+ · 02-13-2008, 04:16 PM

I just made 3 afghans this winter for gifts. The first was a single strand of Red Heart Supersaver and after washing it softened up nicely and the recipient loved it. The other 2 were done double strand Caron SS and washed up nicely and were liked by both recipients as well.

marlajap · 02-13-2008, 04:27 PM

I made a lapghan/baby blanket for my neighbor for the holidays, using Caron Simply Soft and Red Heart Symphony. The Symphony is a fuzzy acrylic yarn, sort of fake mohair, and really soft. It says it's a bulky yarn, but it doesn't work up bulky by itself, so I paired it with the Simply Soft in a similar color (I used navy blue SS and the heathered blue color in Symphony) on an "M" hook in 1/2 double-crochet, and had plenty left for a couple of scarves knitted on US 11 needles in basket-weave. Not only were they all warm and fuzzy and snuggly, the colors worked up looking beautiful - I wish I had thought to snap a photo!

The Symphony can be bought from Smiley's very cheaply right now ($1.50 a 310 yd skein, but a $40 minimum order and ridiculous $12.95 S&H), and Simply Soft is always an inexpensive choice from Wally-World or the major craft store chains.

Regards,

cristeen · 02-13-2008, 06:04 PM

It really depends on your budget and the people you're giving it to. I'm making my personal afghan out of wool (not superwash), but I know that I will take care of it properly. For someone who won't, or who I'm not sure of, I'd go with either a superwash wool or a wool blend. Wool blankets can be used year-round where acrylics are mostly relegated to winter-time, because acrylic doesn't breath. I'm making mine out of wool because I get easily overheated in the winter being bundled up, and wool is supposed to help that.

But, the flip side of that is that wool is expensive. Although I got enough wool to make 2 or 3 afghans off ebay for $100, that is still more than you would pay for acrylic.

For a nice fluffy afghan, double-stranding Lion Brand Homespun makes a lovely soft blanket, but it does have a tendency to pill, and you won't get any stitch definition out of it.

I'd say pick what pattern you want to go with, and then decide on yarn, since the pattern will dictate if you need a smooth yarn or multiple colors, etc. There's also any number of afghan KALs if you find a pattern you'd like to do.