ick acrylic - Page 2

[Indigo73]

See, I am in the minority too. I use acrylic where I think it's needed. I am not a fan of most Red Heart, but like Caron's Perfect Match.

An baby afghan for a crunchy friend - wool or cotton. Afghan for my brother - acrylic. My son's hats are a 50/50 mix of wool or acrylic - depends on the hat. Most of my amigurumi is acrylic too - washability and affordablity.

I am honestly not fond of washable wool. The chemical processes needed to make it washable....

[BeanyMama]

Originally Posted by aishy

I've been online too long. Because. I was trying to figure out what the acronym "ICK" stood for. Sigh.

you make me laugh. hee

[texaspeach]

I don't mind working with certain acrylics, and I'm not ashamed to admit it! caron simply soft doesn't bother me. red heart super saver feels yucky in my hands so I won't use it.

I don't totally discount acrylic. it has its place. it's good for toys, good for afghans, and bags.

I just crocheted a neon orange tote bag out of gifted caron simply soft. When I first started working with it, I thought 'man, I really don't like acrylic' but by the end I'd changed my tune.

I prefer natural fibers for wearables, but acrylic isn't all yucky.

[Realrellim]

I like acrylic or acrylic blends for some things.

If I'm crocheting, I much prefer wool or wool/acrylic blends. I tried to make an amigurumi bird with acrylic (20-year-old acrylic) and I finally switched to some leftover Noro. Much easier!

[Knittin' in the Shade]

Originally Posted by mommy2maya

If by acrylic you mean red heart super saver, yes, definitely ick. But there is SO much in the synthetic world outside of red heart super saver, and SUCH better quality! So, while I wouldn't want to knit with RHSS, I have knit with some LOVELY synthetics that are easy care- machine wash/tumble dry. Oh, and I don't mean encore or wool-ease either, cause I am not really a fan of either of those.

And at the same time, lots of people LOVE LOVE LOVE peace fleece, and I think I'd rather knit with/wear RHSS, lol. So, it's all in the eye of the beholder or rather, the stash of the knitter.

yeah, that There's some great acrylics that are good to wrk with if they suit the project.

(and Mary, you need to update your siggy, girl - you've added 1.5 kids since Tyler )

[ledzepplon]

Late jumping in here, but another "ick acrylic" vote.

My late MIL made dd and ds tons of lovely cardigans and blankets as babies, but they are all crafted out of the nastiest acrylic money could buy. It's so sad to me to see her time and talent, well, diminished, by her choice in yarn. And she left all her knitting supplies to me, so now I have to come up with something to do with it all!

(Although I have to admit I like a lot of her old metal needles.)

[utopia760]

well my acrylic is 10 times worse the red heart it feels nasty and almost like its waterproof what the heck can i do with it.

[Hoopin' Mama]

My LYS sells in acrylic blend in the baby knits room that is actually much more pleasant than those at Michael's or JOAnns. I think it is called Plymouth, but I'm not sure and now I can't find the tag.

[rupestur]

I have been trying to reduce my acrylic stash for years now. I find it a sacrilege to throw away yarn or just give it away to someone who MIGHT throw it away. In actuality I only have a tupperware bin full of yarn (okay, so it's overflowing). I was recently gifted a bunch of acrylic yarns and I have ideas for how to reduce the bulk. So here's some ideas for those who would like to get rid of lots of their acrylic (man, I need to blog this stuff):

--I have some sport weight yellow that I plan to knit with big needles to make curtains for the kitchen.
--There's some yellow and white balls of "cotton look yarn" that I'm planning on crocheting into baskets for holding stuff.
--I'm making lots of grocery bags (with a big hook) and several "stash bags"-- using up skeins of chenille to make smallish bags for more yummy yarns. Also various utility bags for stuff. And junk.
--I use oddments of acrylic in holding together with furry yarns (which is also a huge part of my gifted-to-me stash) for some of my toy designs.
Actually, toys are a great way to use up odd balls of yarns. Use big needles and hold a few strands together and you have gigantic pillow sized monster toy! Most of the patterns on my blog are made to be stash busters.

Heather
Stash bustin' her way through '08

[SneakyPie]

Originally Posted by mommy2maya

If by acrylic you mean red heart super saver, yes, definitely ick. But there is SO much in the synthetic world outside of red heart super saver, and SUCH better quality! So, while I wouldn't want to knit with RHSS, I have knit with some LOVELY synthetics that are easy care- machine wash/tumble dry.

This has been my experience as well. Some acrylics are surprisingly nice to work with! OP, I'm sorry the acrylic you've gotten stuck with is so unpleasant to knit.

[SneakyPie]

Originally Posted by utopia760

well my acrylic is 10 times worse the red heart it feels nasty and almost like its waterproof what the heck can i do with it.

I wonder if making some nice sturdy mesh bags (like for groceries or the beach) would work for you? That kind of bag has to withstand a lot of wear.

Or, maybe just donate it? Every kind of yarn has a buyer, so somebody would certainly pick it up if you took it to Goodwill or similar.

[mommy2maya]

http://www.cascadeyarns.com/cascade-cherub.asp

This is a really nice acrylic- I've used it for baby stuff that will be washed over & over. It knit up very nice, holds up even better- no pilling, etc. It is also SUPER soft! Also, I found out that since it has such a high nylon count, it can be dyed with acid dyes, just like wool. I was using leftovers to tie wool skeins for dyeing, and to my surprise, it took dye surprisingly well- nice bright, even colors, lol.

[utopia760]

i like the bag idea maybe ill knit a bunch like produce type and grocery type for my etsy shop

[timneh_mom]

Red Heart Super Saver makes really good kitchen scrubbies. I've made a bunch of them. No need to buy Scotch Brite pads anymore!

[SoCaliMommy]

Another who doesn't have a problem knitting with acrylic yarn.

[Girlymomwithsons]

Originally Posted by mommy2maya

If by acrylic you mean red heart super saver, yes, definitely ick. But there is SO much in the synthetic world outside of red heart super saver, and SUCH better quality! So, while I wouldn't want to knit with RHSS, I have knit with some LOVELY synthetics that are easy care- machine wash/tumble dry. Oh, and I don't mean encore or wool-ease either, cause I am not really a fan of either of those.

I agree. I am making a beautiful soft yellow baby sweater right now out of a 100% acrylic that is super soft and smooth. Yet fuzzy. (It's called Bravo Baby) I have tried that Red Heart stuff before, and it felt like knives. If that is all you have tried, maybe you should look around at the new acrylics out there. I am assuming that we are using acrylic as a generic term for any non- natural fiber, am I right?

[earthknitter]

I don't mind some acrylic, depends on what I'm making. I like the natural yarns best, but the price will hold me up sometimes. Mostly just in afghans though. I admit I have only used Red Heart yarn in the afghans I use on my chairs and couches!

When I started to knit and crochet, there was only a Walmart where I live that sold yarn. That really limited my choices, plus I just did'nt have the money for many other yarns.

[monkeys4mama]

Originally Posted by lyttlewon

Sorry I wasn't actually trying to be offensive. I have a bunch of afgans made from acrylic and I was talking to a friend of mine yesterday about how easy it was to crochet with because SHE likes to crochet with it. I am not sure why what I said upset you.

Don't feel bad lyttlewon, obviously you didn't mean it as an insult. But for the record, I'll explain. You are probably not aware of the attitude that exists among some knitters who treat crochet like the ugly stepsister to knitting. I don't know why people act this way but I have definitely heard it all over. Sayings like "those who can, knit; those who can't, crochet" and so on. Or people putting down crochet as tacky and ugly. I'm the first to admit I've seen some ugly crochet patterns. But I've seen some ugly knit patterns as well. In any case, by equating crochet with the yarn everyone is putting down, it sounds like you're suggesting that this ugly low-class yarn is for the ugly low-class crochet craft. Not that you meant it that way. But since you asked, that's the explanation.

Fwiw, I think acrylic has its place. But I do adore beautiful soft wools. I have taken up hand-spinning so now even factory-spun yarn doesn't seem to hold a candle to hand-spun. But I don't refuse to work with anything. There's a place for acrylics and wools and novelty yarns and specialty yarns.

For a baby, I think I'd consider Brown Sheep cotton fleece (85% cotton and 15% wool and oh so gorgeously soft) or maybe a soft superwash merino. Or find a good quality acrylic. There are all grades of acrylic just like all grades of wool. It's a weird thing b/c most people who refuse to use or wear wool haven't felt nice wool. They only have felt cheap scratchy wool and think that's all there is. Sometimes I wonder if people used to working with fine wool might be in the opposite boat; that maybe they have only felt the icky synthetics and assume that all of them are that bad.

[iowaorganic]

Originally Posted by monkeys4mama

"those who can, knit; those who can't, crochet"

It's only funny because my crocheting mom said the very same thing to me and my knitting gma. And then she starting going on and on about too many needles....

But alas- that has nothing to do with acrylic.