[–] ithoughtiknewyou 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
I use acrylic for many reasons. The biggest being the price. Twice as much yarn for half the price, yes please! Another being it's durability. I can frog projects I changed my mind about, I can machine wash it when it gets dirty. Also the ability to grab a zillion colors and know they will be the same gauge when I knit with them, and wear the same when the project is finished is nice.
However, I have to admit, if silk/wool/alpaca/cashmere cost the same per yard as Red Heart, I'd buy the nice stuff first, no question.
[–] CoolMinded [S] 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
True that! Even though I'm not a fan of Red Heart (they're rough, but they do soften a little when you wash). I'm little more of a fan of Hobby Lobby yarn. Not as rough as Red Heart. Lately I've been interested in KnitPicks. They have both silk/wool/alpaca/cashmere for a descent price. I haven't bought any yarn from them, I did get a nice set of interchangeable needles from them. But, plan on buying some yarn from them in the near future.
[–] ithoughtiknewyou 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
RH has actually gotten much softer than it used to be. I got some from my grandmother's neighbor, who is de-stashing, and compared it to some new skeins I got last fall. The old stuff is all rough, but the new stuff is really nice in comparison, and even better when washed. Caron is better, and not much more expensive. I've never used Hobby Lobby or KnitPicks yarns, but I will eventually.
[–] Canuckensquid 0 points 4 points 4 points (+4|-0) ago
Aaargh rage! Yes! We have a very good basic brand in Finland, Novita. They have a variety of sheeps wool, arylic, blends and every colour or texture you would ever want. It's reasonably prices and that stuff lasts forever. But I suspect that the snobs would call it cheap, horrible acrylic. Except, there are things you can do with acryic that you can't do with natural fibre, like fix dyes from fading or making 400m long strands to be plyed together.
Yarn snobs, get over yourselves!
[–] CoolMinded [S] 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
That brand is on sale on Ebay and Ravelry. There are some cheap yarn from Europe. Most of them are mainly wool, but I guess that's a Euro thing.
[–] [deleted] 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago
[–] CoolMinded [S] 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago (edited ago)
Actually, Lion Brand just release cheap wool. There are nice yarns out there, but the nice yarn are expensive as hell. The yarn snob like to rub it in our face the excess amount of the expensive yarn they have.