Saturday, December 6, 2008

I'm On My Soapbox Here About Yarn









What is it with some yarns today? Now I feel there is a need for all kinds and prices of yarns, wool, alpaca, acrylic, blends, well you can see whatever type of yarn that "floats your boat." I use different yarns for different needs. I like wool or wool blends for socks, alpaca (mmmm) for my lace shawls, blends for blankies and assorted knitting and acrylic for some types of knitting that is going to be used roughly or worn out quickly and is not of "keepsake value" or that I know is probably going to get jammed in the closet and worn once a year.

I know that finances can sometimes cause us to choose one yarn over another. I have purchased expensive yarn and I have purchased "cheap" yarn. Back when I first started knitting, and crocheting, there was very little yarn that was not acrylic or a blend. If there was better yarn at the few yarns shops around it was just not affordable for me. I bought a lot of yarn from Merribee (who I worked for, for a while), from Sanger Harris (anyone else remember that?), and from K-Mart. Yeah, it was a long time ago. The yarn I bought was mostly acrylic, probably all acrylic. I bought it in worsted weight and sport weight and I knitted up a storm. I knitted baby blankies and booties, some afghans, and I crocheted afghans and one year I even made all the women in my family shawls for Christmas. That was a lot of shawls even though it was a pretty simple pattern. Where is she going with this rambling you are now asking yourself. To here. Today most every yarn I use be it wool, alpaca or blends of these natural fibers (I don't use much cotton), are all of good quality fiber. The problem I have run into is that when I use an acrylic yarn the quality has gone into the toilet. Hah, I just had to say that. My sister and I have made a game out of comparing the old acrylic yarn to the new. Remember now when you knit for a long time you have shall we say adequate yarn in your stash for comparison. Jane Ellen also saves snips for future color/weight reference. Now you might ask well then why do you use it if it is so bad. Jane Ellen and I knit massive amounts of hats for a group called Knit-A-Cap. This group started a long time ago and has continued to provide hats for Native American children on reservations throughout the United States. It was started by a teacher and a doctor who were knitterly friends. One of the problems for these children was missing school due to ear infections. Research showed that simple knitted sock caps for these kids helped fight the ear infections which in turn meant the kids did not miss school. In not missing school and getting basic education in the early years (Pre-K through 1st grade) the kids had a better chance of succeeding in their later education. We use a very basic cap pattern. If you have seen my site on Ravelry, most all my hats for Jo are this pattern or a version of it. Because a lot of these kids live in very depressed areas they do not have a lot of "stuff". They get one cap and they might not get a new one the next year. I have never had any of my hats go to the same place and I have been sending hats since 2003. Our hats are sent to The Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, DC and our liason there then contacts the schools in need and the hats are sent out to that school. If we are lucky we sometimes get pictures of the kids with the hats. If we don't it's ok, we know that somewhere a little boy or girl's ears are warmer because of those hats. That's the satisfaction. If you think I have digressed from my original thought I haven't. Knit-A-Cap requests that all the hats be made of acrylic and are easy to wash. They want every hat to be standard. You can use any colors you want but the pattern must be the same and the yarn must be worsted weight. Acrylic makes for easy use. My problem is that some of the acrylic yarns being produced today are cheap, thin and worthless. The quality just in the last year and a half makes them not an option for use for these hats. Red Heart yarn is off the list of acceptable yarn for me to use. Even their new soft yarn, which I have used for various things, is not thick enough for some of these kids. Some of my hats have gone to Barrow, Alaska. It gets pretty cold up there. I heard recently in all the PC global crap that we are being subjected to that a lot of companies are now using recycled plastic soda bottles. Ok, I felt it and I don't want it and I do not want some child that needs a hat to have to wear a scratchy, thin and inferior hat just because companies are now trying to make money in some form or fashion. Now I understand being ecologically minded and caring for the environment but, I draw the line at this aberration they are calling yarn. Using wool or some other type of natural fiber is not acceptable because some children have allergies. I have gone on a hunt to find yarn that is acceptable to use for these hats and for hats I might want to whip up for a rambuncious grandchild. I have found that the best yarn of this type in thickness is Bernat. They have many that are true worsted weight and are soft. Vanna yarn from Lion Brand is also a good choice and is soft and a thicker yarn. There may be others out there but these are what I am using now. I live in a city that does not have one yarn shop or craft store. I am used to driving 25 to 30 minutes to get to the closest store. I do not live in a small town just one that thinks there are no knitterly people living in it. My Hobby Lobby even moved out to another city. But I digress.

The point is why are some companies passing off such poor yarn products? There are three picture here today. They are not of good quality because they are pictures of pictures. The first one is the very first picture I got from a teacher of two children wear a couple of the hats I knitted. The second is a rather old picture of my sister and I with some of the hats we knitted before they were boxed up and sent to the kids. The third is of a pair of mittens I am working on for Jo. I started them this morning after deciding the ones I made her, shown yesterday, were too short and she need some more cuff length. She asked for Flamingo Pink. Of course this was in the stash. Interestingly it is Red Heart Kids, worsted weight. I bought it who knows how may years ago. The difference between this "old" yarn and what is on the shelves today it unbelievable. I understand ecology and recycling. I also understand wanting to make money. I am not against the capitalist system, God Bless America. What I am against is producing and inferior product and passing it off as the same or better that the previous product.

Ok, I have been on my soapbox today. All the views posted here are mine and not necessarily those of the management. If you have any interest in knitting hats for the children mentioned here just leave me a comment and I will give you the info. I love yarn, I love knitters and I love the fact that there is so much available for us today to choose from. Keep on Knitting!

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