Crocheting 101: How to Choose the Best Yarn

4 min


If you want to try your hand at a creative hobby like crocheting, but don’t know where to start, you might want to start looking into good quality yarns first.  You may have the skill and you may have the right crocheting tools on hand, but if the quality of the yarn you’re using is not good, then the end result won’t be good too.

There are plenty of craft stores that sell yarns of all sorts. But if you’re too lazy to drive to the nearest store to pick out the yarn you want, you can join a yarn subscription club and receive a box full of yarn and crocheting goodies every month! Some even have surprise offers such as Yarn of the Month or bonus yarns.

Choosing the Best Yarn for Crocheting

You can crochet using just about any kind of yarn. You may even use non-fiber yarn as an alternative. As a beginner, you might want to start with yarn options that are easier than others to work with. Check out the yarn recommendations below:

Fiber Type

The first thing you have to consider when choosing a yarn is the type of fiber you’re going to work with. There are countless options for both animal and plant fibers. There are banana silk yarns or baby alpaca yarns you can use for your crocheting project. But the three most common yarn choices that’s highly recommended for beginners are cotton, acrylic and wool yarn. Each  of these yarn options have their own pros and cons, but will be suitable for beginners.

  • Wool Yarn –wool is a great choice if you want to hone or improve your crochet stitches. It is a strong fiber, and is forgiving of mistakes. Most wool yarns are easy to unravel and reuse in case you make a wrong stitch. Some people might not be able to use wool yarn because of allergies, but for the majority, wool yarn is an excellent for crochet.
  • Cotton Yarn –Cotton is a little challenging to use for crochet compared to wool, because it is an inelastic fiber. While cotton can be a little difficult to use than wool, there’s not much of a difference, really. If you’re learning how to crochet during the summer season, and the heat makes it a little uncomfortable to work with wool, cotton is the best alternative since it is lighter than wool.
  • Acrylic Yarn –all in all, acrylic is a popular fiber among crochet enthusiasts. Not only is it widely available and more affordable, but it comes in a variety of color choices. Acrylic yarn is a good choice or beginners. However, one must remember that most cheap acrylics can be difficult to crochet with because they tend to split apart. While this is not a common occurrence, it does happen, so if you start crocheting with acrylic and find yourself having a hard time, try switching to a different acrylic yarn brand or opt for cotton or wool yarn instead. Don’t give yourself a hard time trying to learn crochet.

Now you might ask: “how will I know what kind of fiber I’m working with?” Easy. The longer you practice crocheting, the more you get used to working with different yarn types. Eventually, you’ll be able to tell what kind of fiber it is simply by looking or touching the yarn. However, for beginners, you can easily find the type of fiber indicated on the yarn label. As a matter of fact, learning how to read a yarn label will give you all the information you need in choosing the right kind of yarn for your crochet project.

If you subscribe to a monthly yarn subscription box, you can receive different skeins of yarns complete with knitting and crocheting materials. You can even receive a special Yarn of The Month if you’re lucky.

MORE TIPS ON CHOOSING THE BEST YARN

Below are a couple more additional tips you might want to consider when looking for a good yarn for crochet.

  • TEXTURE – opt for a smooth instead of a textured yarn. If you’re crocheting for the first time, try to avoid eyelash yarns, and other textured yarns since they can be quite disappointing to work with.
  • COLOR –when choosing yarns, opt for those with light rather than dark colors. It can prove challenging to see your stitches when you use dark-colored yarns.
  • PRICE –not all yarns are the same, and so they also are priced differently. The price of a yarn can change depending on the fiber used and brand it’s from. For beginners, it would be wise to choose affordable yarns so that you can get the hang of crocheting before investing in more expensive yarns. This is why cotton, acrylic and wool are the best fiber choices—because they’re affordable!
  • YARDAGE –each ball of yarn comes in different yardage amounts. Again, this has something to do with the price. You may find two balls of wool yarn priced the same; check the yardage to make sure each balls have the same amount of yarn.
  • COLOR DYE LOT –if you’re planning on doing a huge crochet project where you’d need more than one ball of yarn, you want to make sure all the colors match (if you’re using the same color for the entire project). For this reason, you need to look into the “dye lot” on the label; make sure the yarn you get all have the same dye lot number.
  • WASHING DETAILS –working with different types of fibers mean they require different washing methods and instructions as well. This bit is important if you are planning to crochet something to wear like a sweater or a jumper. For example, a superwash wool is safe to use in the washer and dryer. You can also use a wool type that shrinks in the dryer and must be washed by hand and dried flat. Check the yarn label. It should provide the information you need on that matter.

The most important thing to remember is that you can crochet with almost any type of yarn so don’t worry too much about choosing the “perfect yarn” for your project especially if you’re just a beginner. If you think you could use some help, join a monthly yarn subscription box and get the best yarn of the month included in the box!

Have fun crocheting!

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