How to Choose Yarn for Crochet
- 1). Look at the yarn wrappers on your skeins of yarn and read the labels. Labels from different brand of yarn will look different; you need to learn what you are looking for. According to Debbie Stoller, author of "Stitch 'n Bitch Crochet, the Happy Hooker," you should look at the fiber content, weight and length, color and dye lot, suggested hook size and care instructions.
- 2). Feel the yarn. Is it soft or rough? Thick or thin? Look at the appearance of the yarn. Is it thick and chunky or thin and smooth? Does it have bumps or "slubs"? Does you yarn have fibers coming out of it? How does the yarn feel against your skin? Scratchy? Soft? The fiber content of your yarn will determine what kind of project it is most suited for. A soft cashmere yarn can be used to create a sweater or a baby's blanket. A rougher, heavier yarn may be more suitable for a rug.
- 3). Continue to study your yarn and wrapper. Look for the information which tells you how much your skein or yarn weights or how many yards--meters--are in it.You want to be able to buy enough yarn so you don't have to make a return trip to the store and run the risk that they don't have the right color or dye lot for you to complete your project. Look for something like "net weight 5 oz. (141g). For the length, look for this kind of language: "244 yards (223 meters)". When you see how many yards or ounces you will need to complete your project, simply select as many skeins of yarn as you need to come as close to the recommended yards as possible. You will likely have additional yardage left over, but that is fine. You can use the leftover yarn for other projects.
- 4). Study the color and dye lot. It may seem to be minor, but if you run out of yarn halfway through your project, you could find yourself unable to find the same color or dye lot. Your project won't look the same, and in fact, will probably have a subtle color difference when you start using the new yarn you bought to complete your work. "Dye lot" simply means the batch of dye that was used to color your yarn. Look at the yarn wrapper. For example, the wrapper on a Red Heart wrapper shows this series of numbers: "2 08 3409". If you run out of yarn as you are working on the project, you have the number you need to match the new yarn exactly to the yarn you bought to start the project. You can also look at the color: "0995 Ocean". You can find an exact match that way, as well.
- 5). Look at your yarn wrapper for the suggested hook size. The Red Heart wrapper example shows the suggested hook size to be an I-9. The example also gives a suggested gauge for this yarn and hook size: a swatch 4 inches by 4 inches should yield 15 rows of single crochet and 12 single crochet stitches in one row. These are only estimates. You can choose a smaller or larger hook if necessary, especially if you tend to crochet more stitches in your 4 by 4 swatch, use a hook one size larger and see if you get the correct gauge. If you crochet fewer stitches in your 4 by 4 swatch, select a hook one size smaller and do the same test swatch. If that yields the correct number of stitches and rows, continue to use that hook.
- 6). Follow washing and care instructions printed on your yarn wrapper--you would not want to go through all of the time and effort to make something very beautiful only to wash it in water that's too hot. You will ruin your creation. The front of the Red Heart wrapper shows the international care symbols indicating that I would wash any item made with this yarn in a water temperature of 104 degrees. You can toss this item into the dryer--but you would be more inclined to air dry it. You cannot iron any items made from this yarn. If you find more symbols that you don't understand, visit the website shown in the "Additional Resources" section.
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