Sep
Blend Yarn
Posted in Yarn | No Comments »When you're knitting, is there anyway to make acrylic yarn soften?
I'm still a novice knitter, but I'm making a scarf for someone. She picked out the yarn for herself, thinking only of the colour (a really rather pretty shade of blue that fades into purple). The trouble is, it's one hundred percent acrylic and I don't like the way it feels. I've got about three, very-close-to-flawless feet so far, so it seems like it's too late to start over.
Is there a way to wash it so that it's softer?
(Also, is knitting with natural fibers easier than knitting with synthetics/blends?)
I have probably knitted only about 5% compared to the 95% I've crocheted, but I think I can answer this anyway. What others have said so far is basically correct. I prefer natural fibers, like wool and cotton. (Yes, you CAN knit and crochet with cotton, though it's not stretchy and you have to be careful.)
I have two suggestions:
1) wash the finished article with fabric softener
2) (for next time) pre-wear the yarn by running it back and forth through some sort of tight rope loop or over the end of a wooden post... the same way you would work a tanned hide to break the fibers slightly and make it more manageable.
As I said, I haven't actually worked with acrylic so I don't know if the second suggestion would work. You might want to try on a scrap length left over.
I suppose you could try it with the finished article, but I'd be concerned as I wouldn't want to stretch it too much. Leather doesn't stretch, so there's no problem with that.
Good luck!
25 JAN 08, 1253 hrs, GMT.