#yarn question

[sunchyld]

Hi!

So when I crochet I usually think about 3 things: Price, maintenance, and audience.

More under the cut cause this response was longer than I thought it would be

Acrylic yarn is normally cheaper and you normally get more for what you spend, down side is that it is basically plastic- depending on what blends you get. Wool/cotton/natural fibers can be expensive and sometimes limited in color varieties and you often get less. You get what you pay for in terms of quality. Natural fibers can be softer but there are also a ton of acrylic yarns that feel nearly like silk.

Second is maintenance. What kind of care does each material require. Natural fibers can take much more effort to maintain. Specific cleaning instructions, extra long dry times, risk of degradation of the fiber. Where as my experience with acrylic is that it’s just a little sturdier. While I don’t recommend machine washing any handmade crochet/knit piece, I’ve not had much trouble with acrylic, where as a wool blanket I crocheted for my sister was destroyed because it went through the dryer.

Last is audience which ties into maintenance in a lot of ways. I make a lot of baby clothes/blankets and most acrylic yarn is softer and more hypoallergenic since people can have allergies to some natural fibers. Not only that but like I said, acrylic can handle a wash that something like wool or mink cannot. So I’m not going to give a new parent a blanket they can’t wash easily. Though vice versa I also make a lot of dishcloths and pot holders and there is nothing better than cotton or wool for that because both fibers are heat resistant and cotton washes really well. Acrylic would melt at high temperatures and from my experience it doesn’t feel very good wet. So I guess my final answer is that it depends on the project and whose going to use it. Though I personally love working with alpaca wool and cotton finger weight. They feel great as you work with them.

Crochet question

There is SO much acrylic yarn available...why do people normally choose this yarn over the others? Personally I prefer working with cotton! I know wool can shrink quite badly when washed... I feel like cotton may be just a little more eco friendly too when it comes to projects decomposing with age? I could be wrong though! What yarns do you like to use and why??

[tj-crochets]

Crafting forecast has changed! Some local organizations are looking for, well, a lot of things for disaster relief, but the one I can help with is the request for baby blankets so I am switching into baby blanket mode for I don't know how long

[yesornopolls]

For $10,000, would you be willing to hike 15 miles while wearing nothing but a crochet bikini made of secondhand Red Heart Super Saver yarn?

[journeyman-tier-fibercraft]

What if you wanted to knit but your body said "arthritis induced depressive episode ONLY" t-t

In my state of Not Knitting I've mostly been playing bideo wames but also decided to indulge in my favourite past time of reading multi million word Korean webnovels. One of said webnovels features a metric fuck ton of Hot Pink Yarn. And a man I'm very normal about knitting things for a man he's very normal about. Including a cardigan.

Do I in any way need a hot pink cardigan knit specifically to mimic the one from the novel? Absolutely not. But I Want It. (Also I've been wanting to knit a cardigan for like a year now and keep changing my mind)

In the novel, the yarn used is from a monster sheep that's later dyed hot pink. I'm not willing to use real wool for this, so instead I'm going with acrylic and got some of Hobbii's Fluffy Day in Deep Pink. Which is just an eye watering colour (canonically the hot pink yarn is painful to behold) and comes personally recommended from a friend of mine. I also got a roll of a glitter thread also sold through Hobbii in pink. Both to make the overall cardigan more obnoxious but also to give it more of a "this is wool from a monster sheep" and not just acrylic yarn.

As for the actual cardigan, it's described as a "Handmade Hot Pink Long Cardigan" "roomy and had big pockets" "(while a wip) an elaborate knitting pattern". There's enough wiggle room I can do basically anything I want with this. But my brain has latched on to the word "elaborate" and won't let go. So as soon as I get my hands on The Yarn, I'm going to swatch for this cardigan pattern published by Vogue Knitting.

It's quite possible this yarn does Not work for that pattern but I want to try it anyway just to suffer. And if it does work, I'll have to grade up the pattern, and potentially make changes to the length of the cardigan (I bought quite a bit more yarn than I thought I'd need just in case). But this pattern just Feels Right, the guy who knits is constantly wearing designer clothes so knitting an actual designer pattern is perfectly in theme. I've also been informed that the Fluffy Day yarn is incredibly warm so having a bit of open work would help with heat regulation.

If I complete this cardigan within the next ten years and have extra yarn left over I'll be sure to knit the matching hat (including a pom-pom), scarf long enough for several people to use, and fingerless gloves. All in hot pink so bright it's probably going to give me several headaches. Read S-Classes I Raised it's so good it'ssogood

[starry-bi-sky]

ive been hesitating to ask this bc youve been on a roll with the clone^2au (which i am frothing over) but could i poke you for some childhood friend au? bc GOD i wanna see how danny reacts to reuniting w jason or how the rest of the batfam react to learning jason never told danny of his resurrection or wondering if dannys gonna put jokers dead body on a display/offering to jasons grave. i havent been normal about this since i first read it and was wondering. thank you for your writing.

RAAAAHHHH DON'T BE HESITANT I AM JUST AS FERAL OVER MY CHILDHOOD FRIENDS AU AS I AM WITH CLONE^2 I AM DELIGHTED BY THIS. Like.,,,, i literally love them,,, so much. I can't listen to The Crane Wives without thinking of them.

(which is my fault - the ao3 fic of them has literally only crane wives lyrics for each chapter title and summary (posted AND the ones not written) so of course im gonna associate with them.)

(if you wanna listen to some of their songs while thinking of cfau here are my recommendations: "Once & for All", "Here I Am", "Hollow Moon" is a Danny AND Jason song to me, this would be my go-to song for an animatic of CFAU if i had the skills for it. "Tongues and Teeth", "Curses" and "take me to war" is a heavy cfau danny song to me, and of course, "the moon will sing")

Like they're BEST friends dude, they're two sides of the same coin and when they were kids they would do this thing where their 'fingers crossed'/'double-crossed' was them hooking their index fingers in the fingers crossed gesture.

and i'm actually currently rewriting my original post into a more fic-like format, and when I'm done I'll post it on here under the cfau tag - with the original post still in tact. But its,,, gonna be so long dude,,,, the original behemoth was just over 9000 words,,, and I've written 3k words already of the new one and we haven't even reached Jason and Danny reuniting at the gala yet,,, i need to get back to that,,,

and then to answer your questions!! god im almost hesitant to answer because i dont wanna spoil the little fic i had planned for it but also like,, its not like im gonna spoil everything, right? and answering the questions isnt the same as writing the scene down so!!

i love danny and jason's reuniting, like i've thought about it SO much and I've thought about it happening after Danny kills the Joker. I know the reveal could have been before that, and it could have been equally just as dramatic but like??? Thematically, doing it after danny kills the joker is SO good. To me at least.

Because like?? Jason's been in somewhat denial about danny's plan to kill the joker for months. ever since danny told him that he wanted to at the gala. And from Jason's pov its not even technically a plan. He sees his best friend for the first time after five years and his best friend still isn't over his death. He hasn't stepped foot in Gotham since his funeral and now suddenly he's here.

And he's still so full of grief over his death that he tells a masked vigilante that he's going to kill the guy that did it, who lives in said masked vigilante's city. And danny's got that look in his eyes that Jason knows so well that means he's being serious. And yet he still doesn't know if he should believe him or not.

And then he does. Danny kills him. And Jason can't fucking believe it. And when he goes and sees Danny, Danny's hands are still covered in blood. And that reunion? God like a fucking firework show. Danny's so fucking angry, and pissed, and hurt, and so goddamn overjoyed that he's alive and here that he sends them both to the ground, and if he doesn't calm down he's gonna take out the power in a five block radius.

there's just so, so much yelling on Danny's end. And then so much crying, first from Danny and then them both. because god, you're alive. you're here. i've missed you so much. i'm never letting you out of my sights again.

and Joker's death! God I don't want to actually say too much about that, but the way I have it set up thematically makes me actually not want danny to take any part of the joker with him as an offering. and he may actually forego that particular ghost etiquette and offer something else as an offering to Jason in substitute to not bringing him the Joker's heart/head/ritualistic body part.

Because you know what the last thing a man whose been spending the last two decades of his life building himself up to be larger than life would want? A death that's unremarkable. :) and that's all i'll put on the matter for now.

and the batfam!! they technically already know that jason hasn't told danny he was resurrected, and plenty of them have mixed feelings on them. largely bruce and dick i think, considering they saw firsthand how close jason and danny were when they were kids.

Dick was honestly surprised at first when he found out that Jason hadn't told Danny he was alive - and on one hand he understands the reasoning for it, and on the other hand he isn't sure if it was such a good idea. Especially after he sees Danny again after he arrives back in Gotham and sees just how badly Jason's death was still affecting him. But it's not like he's going to try and convince Jason to tell him - he can make his own choices, even if Dick has questions about them.

Bruce has much the same thoughts as Dick, so there's not really much to add here other than he might bring it up once or twice to Jason like, vaguely. And then immediately drops it when Jason shuts him down. He might actually somewhat...?? prefer that Jason hasn't told Danny because that raises a lot of questions and could jeopardize their identities. However, again, Jason can make his own choices and there's not much Bruce can do about it other than disapprove from afar.

Tim who knew of Danny from stalking the Wayne family shares similars sentiments of being surprised that Jason didn't tell Danny, but again, yeah, understands the thought process to some extent. Doesn't bring it up ever.

Everyone else who hadn't seen firsthand how close Danny and Jason are don't really have much opinion on it -- Jason didn't tell his best friend he was alive, great, he also didn't tell them either so it's not like its that much of a surprise. It would've been more of a surprise to them if Jason had told Danny before he told Bruce and co. Damian may make a comment or two about Jason not telling Danny, but its not about how he can't believe he didn't tell him or anything like it.

[cloud-crochet]

Dog owners - how would you feel if someone gave you a crocheted stuffed animal that looked like your dog? It wouldn't be intended as a toy for the dog, just a display item.

[gmanmedias]

Comfort stimboard with Dogday, Catnap, and Craftycorn for 🔆🌙🌈 anon!

🐶 🐶 🐶

🐱 🐱 🐱

🦄 🦄 🦄

[milkweedman]

Hi, I have a handspinning question I was hoping you might be able to answer if you have the time/energy. I’ve been 2-plying my singles and I keep running into this issue where it ends up seeming both underplied and overplied. Specifically, it twists up in some spots instead of hanging nicely, but in other spots (of the same length) I can still see gaps between the twists of the two singles.

Does this seem like an issue with my singles? They are quite inconsistent thicknesses and I suspect they might be overplied if anything. I’m not too stressed about fixing this current batch but I’d like to figure out what I’m doing wrong for the future :)

That's an interesting one ! It does indeed sound like an issue with your singles; i think either your fiber is not so good or youre having some drafting issues. Possibly both. Without a picture I'm having a hard time knowing exactly what's up, but maybe this will help.

WHAT INCONSISTENCY DOES TO YOUR SPINNING:

First, inconsistency can mean a couple of different things; it can refer to slubs (i.e. short sections of fiber that is much thicker), it can refer to thinning (i.e. short sections where the fiber ran far too thin) or it can refer to overall inconsistency, where you never had a stable width to begin with. These all affect your finished yarn in different ways.

A slub often has little to no twist, because the twist simply can't enter the fibers there as it would take more energy to twist this thicker section than is available. This will lead to lumpy yarn, and sometimes to the gaps you're referring to--especially if you end up with both plies having slubs at the same spot. It will look undertwisted because it is undertwisted. Usually slubs are short (maybe the length of your pinky at most) but especially with beginner or with some bad fiber, you can end up with huge long slubs.

Thinning can lead to yarn that's kinda hard or scratchy in some places. Twist will always go to the thinnest section of fiber and spread outward from there. So if you have a singles that is worsted weight with a thin section that's more like lace, to add enough twist to the worsted section you will also inadvertently add a ton of extra twist to the thin section. In some cases (especially if you aren't careful) the thin spots will kink up in the middle of plying, and now your yarn basically has knots in it.

General inconsistency means both of these issues but usually to a lesser degree. Your thin spots will be overtwisted and thick spots will be undertwisted. Or maybe you are overcompensating and you end up with yarn that is falling apart in some spots because it's thin but not twisted enough and hard/lumpy in other spots because you added way too much twist to spin the thicker sections.

WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT:

Inconsistency is typically caused by one of two things: bad fiber or user error. Or both.

Fiber that was prepped inconsistently or that has tangles, nepps/noils, mats, or that has been partially felted will all be prone to producing slubs, thin spots, and general inconsistency.

On the other hand, if you hold the fiber too tightly (especially if your hands are sweaty) you can restrict the fiber from drafting out well. Sweaty hands can even felt it.

Another potential pitfall is allowing the twist to enter the drafting triangle.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, this page is pretty helpful !

https://www.hearthookhomespun.com/how-to-draft-fiber-for-a-more-consistent-yarn/

Once the twist enters the drafting triangle you will not really be able to draft that section anymore. So what naturally happens is you move on and keep drafting, right ? But you didn't fully draft that section before the twist entered it, so its thicker--now you have a slub.

The key to not doing that is largely to recognize the slub as soon as you've made it. Then pause, untwist the slub (roll it in your fingers the opposite way you twisted). Now you can draft it thinner and add more twist if necessary.

Similarly, the key to preventing thin spots is to recognize it as soon as it happens, snap it, and reattach your fiber, then try again. This one can be harder--those thin wispy ends don't really hold together well. So usually I will remove all evidence of my thin spot and reattach fresh fiber to the last point that the yarn looked right. It takes some practice, but that's how you remove thin spots from your yarn. Physically remove it and reattach the ends. This is a good time to learn spit or water splicing (get both ends wet with spit or water, place them overlapping on your hand, then rub vigorously. Spit is more readily available and felts better, but obviously is a little gross).

Preventing general inconsistency is a longer project--I've been spinning like 7 years now ? Something like that. And I can't reliably spin a yarn that is a consistent width the whole way through. My issue I think is probably just the memory disorder, but there's also things you can do to help improve your yarn anyway.

The first thing is having something to compare your yarn to. A crochet hook or knitting needle the same size as the singles you're going for works fine. You can also spin a little bit that is the right width, snap that off, and compare it to the yarn as you spin. There are WPI cards as well that do the same thing (I have one tied to my wheel, I'm just bad about using it). Checking your yarn every length (when drop spindling) can really help get past bad inconsistency problems, because you're correcting the mistake as soon as you make it.

And remember, even once you add twist you can still turn your yarn back into fiber. You just have to remove the twist. If you're looking at the newest length of yarn thinking "uh oh, every inch of this is incorrect", don't be afraid to snap that length, let the twist out, and pull it back into fiber. If attaching is too hard, then get more comfortable reattaching. It is a very helpful skill to have.

MAYBE YOUR FIBER IS ALSO A LITTLE MESSED UP ?

I mostly spin fiber I also prepped, and as such I have a decent understanding of what problems can be caused by a bad prep. I will assume you're spinning roving as that is what most beginners use, but this can apply to any prep really.

Look at your fiber and feel down it--are there lumps ? Those will turn into slubs. Can you see bits of lock structure in there (waves, curls, etc) ? That section was inadequately processed, and will either turn into slubs, thin spots, or both.

How hard is it to tear in two ? Wool isn't very strong without twist (tbf, lots of roving has a little twist to keep it together, but usually not much as it inhibits drafting), so if it's difficult to pull in two with your hands several hand widths apart, then your fiber has felted somewhat. This can happen due to improper storage (either by you, the seller, or the manufacturer). Humidity + pressure + time = felting. Basically, don't store it squashed up long term and you'll be fine. If you do have partially felted fiber, I would recommend putting it aside and buying better fiber to learn on. It can still be spun but without re-processing it will be difficult, and you probably don't need that when you're still learning the ropes.

Lastly--idk if you've tried chain plying yet, but that might help you put a finger on what exactly is happening. With chain ply you are plying each section against itself, and so your errors compound (rather than even out a little, like they do with 2 ply). That makes it easier to see.

Hope this was helpful ! If you want to reblog and add a picture of your yarn someone can probably tell you specifically what's going on, but I hope if nothing else you can now diagnose it yourself.

[theenbyroiderer]

your crochet mushrooms and plants look so small! do you use a very small yearn or embroidery thread or something else? i love your work, the gather miss piece is amazing!!!

Thank you! <3

For my mushrooms and for other small stuff I crochet I typically use mercerized cotton crochet thread. Of the sort that grannies used to make doilies back in the day. Most of my stash is inherited from various grannies...

[buwheal]

Anon that was probably saying sorry, I said sorry because I find what clown roll was saying judgy, it's not easy being broke and not being able to afford food, the last thing a poor person needs is a lecture on how unhealthy their lifestyle is. Like of course it's not healthy, you think someone would CHOOSE to live like that? To eat nothing but trash? Pretty sure if spamton could be eating something not out of the trash he WOULD, he doesn't need someone rubbing how awful his life is in his face when he doesn't really have a way to make it better, like "oh yeah just get some food not in the trash" for free??? Or if you're expecting him to pay, with what money??? I swear financially well off people seem to just forget you need money to do almost anything because of how much they have. If clowny roll really cared so much they should give him some damn money to buy something, granted maybe they can't because of askbox rules, but still.

THAAANKK YOU DUDE arrghhhhh,, frustrates me a little because theres some people in this box talking to him like he has a choice!!! HE DOESNT!!! I already did a WHOLE nasty thing with a whole bunch of the asks rubbing that shit in his face as if it were an apology,, reminding CONSTANTLY with stuff like "I had trouble finding sucess once!" sorry but that doesnt help guys... This isnt some one time thing where hes down in the dumps cause he got fired or smth HES HOMELESS... thankfully ive stopped getting those, but now its THESE ones about how unhealthy his lifestyle is............... like yeah......... hes not fucking stupid he knows....... they talk to him like hes a child waaghhh /lh Like, heres some examples, sorry to these anons, but if i had chosen your ask you'd get yelled at by Spamton AND the audience anyways,, so heres some that i think maybe... they forgot he cant really do a whole lot....

...do you see the irony in this one......

guuuyyyysss do you see the freaking issue here???? "EAT HEALTHER!"

huh.

what.....

WITH WHAT FOOD????? WITH WHAT OPTIONS???? sorry lmfaoo... but like. "doesn't mean you shouldnt try to do better!" WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOUSAYING RIGHT NOW... HES NOT CHOOSING TO????? HES ALWAYS "TRYING TO DO BETTER"... DID YOU GUYS MISS THE POST POINTING OUT THAT HE EVEN HAS TROUBLE FINDING SOMETHING GOOD TO EAT /REGULARLY/??? pleeaaseeee dude save me pleese wauughh

But. Dont go after anyone,, esp Clowny Roll!!!!! I think a lot of them dont ....really think about it. I also have a tinge of a feeling that Clowny Roll has a bit of bait intention with theirs!! nothing wrong with that!

[bloodyarn]

Wait, how smol is Babsi actually? I need to know. For science.

DON'T LISTEN TO ESTARION, SHE IS 5'1", not 4'0" or WHATEVER the vampire is saying!!! He is bitter and starts gossip without remorse!!!

[tj-crochets]

So it turns out there's a big craft guild organization thing only a few hours from where I live (I saw an ad for their craft fair), and I got like half my holiday shopping done on their website, and the box arrived today! The thing I was most excited to see in person is fragile, though, and it's really well wrapped in bubble wrap and I don't want it to break when I mail it to the friend it's for, so I am not unwrapping it, but oh man the temptation is there lol I also got myself a little metal bug made of a bottle cap and some wire. It lives on my little corkboard where I put postcards and thank you cards now

[bloo-the-dragon]

LARGE TOY FOR LARGE KITTY

BIG BAL

[kniteral]

[disgruntled-lifeform]

Yoinked some of this gorgeous roving and now I have to wait for it to show up

Not even sure how I want to spin it yet, or what to do with it once spun but that's not important