MWM|| Tips para elegir el material ideal para tu proyecto a crochet. 🧶🧵

Blessed day my dear and appreciated NeedleWorkMonday colleagues. In today's post I want to share with you some tips, that according to my experience, are important to take into account when buying the right material to make our crochet project.

ELEGIR EL PROYECTO, PATRÓN O DISEÑO

CHOOSE THE PROJECT, PATTERN OR DESIGN

The first and most important thing is to be clear about the project to be carried out. When I was in Peru I had the great opportunity to visit places where they sold all kinds of materials for knitting and embroidery. I confess that it was very impressive to see the great variety of wool, yarns and stamens, of different colors, shapes and textures.

The mistake I often made was to buy the material by its appearance; I bought everything that looked pretty. Then, when I set out to knit it was difficult to find a project for each material. Many times I had no idea of the name or composition of the material, sometimes I was able to execute a project, but most of the time, the ball of yarn was put away and I didn't know what to do with it.

The best thing we can do to avoid wasting time and money is to go out and buy the material once we are clear about what we want to knit. This will make it easier to choose the right material.
For example, if we want to knit baby clothes, we already know that the material must meet certain characteristics, such as softness, anti-allergic, light, preferably made of natural fibers such as cotton, and usually pastel colors are used. On the other hand, if we are going to knit winter clothes, the material has different characteristics than the material for knitting summer clothes and so on.

In short, the project determines the type of material.

COMPRAR LA CANTIDAD NECESARIA

BUY THE NECESSARY AMOUNT

At this point it is also key to be precise about the type of project to be carried out. For large projects it is important to buy an additional ball of yarn to the calculated amount. Some people usually make a small sample of 10 x 10 cm with the stitch they will use in their project to calculate the amount of material needed for the final size of the project.

Choosing the stitch is also key to knowing the amount of material, as some stitches tend to take up much more thread than others.

Buying enough material in the same purchase is fundamental, since threads come in batches and shades. The same color can vary a little in tone if they come from different lots.
For this point, I always recommend keeping the yarn ball label with a small piece of yarn, so that it will be much easier to find the same material at the next opportunity and thus avoid the project being left with uneven tones.

CONOCER LAS FIBRAS

TO KNOW THE FIBERS

A very important and at the same time interesting aspect, that we are learning with experience, is to know how to identify fibers. There are two types of fibers: synthetic fibers, which are made from petroleum products, and natural fibers, which can come from plants or animals.

Synthetic fibers have much more luster, provide elasticity and texture to the fabric and are usually much cheaper. Examples are nylon, polyester and acrylic yarns.

Natural fibers are usually much lighter and softer. Natural fibers from plants include cotton and bamboo. These materials are usually more opaque than synthetic fibers, with the exception of mercerized or satin cotton.

Natural fibers from animals include sheep wool, alpaca wool, goat wool, cashmere wool and others. These wools are ideal for winter projects and garments. I have had the opportunity to make garments with alpaca wool and I found it to be an excellent material because despite being very light it is very warm and protects from the cold.

ELCALIBRE O GROSOR

THE SIZE OR THICKNESS

The thickness of the thread for me is essential. There are projects that require very thin materials so that they look much more delicate and are very light, as in the case of some garments, such as baby dresses, table linens, and jewelry.

On the other hand, some projects are best knitted with thicker and fluffier yarns, as in the case of large projects such as blankets, bedspreads, cushions, bags, among others. Again, the gauge of the material will depend on the type of project.

Some time ago I decided to knit a shopping bag with a 4 mm raw cotton material, I chose this material because I wanted a very resistant bag; however, the bag by itself weighed almost 2 kg due to the thickness of the material, which was not practical, then I realized that I had failed in the choice of material. For this type of project the ideal material is 2mm nylon.

EL PRECIO ES UN FACTOR IMPORTANTE

THE PRICE IS AN IMPORTANT FACTOR

Evaluating the price of the material is also important when buying. If we are going to make a project for sale, it is best to choose a good quality material that guarantees durability over time, so that there is a good price-value relationship at the time of charging for the piece.

In general, natural fiber materials are more expensive, but they also offer considerable benefits. For kitchen projects, such as potholders, place mats or cup holders, I prefer to buy inexpensive materials because they are pieces that get a lot of use and wear out faster, but since the material is cheaper, they can be replaced from time to time.

¿CUÁLES MATERIALES DEBES EVITAR SI ERES PRINCIPIANTE?

WHICH MATERIALS SHOULD YOU AVOID IF YOU ARE A BEGINNER?

If you are new to crochet and are just learning the technique, there are some materials that are best avoided. If you want to know what these materials are, I'll be telling you about them in a future post.

On this topic there is a lot of thread to cut, but this post is getting too long, so I'll leave you, wishing you a nice weekend. Thanks for reading, greetings and blessings.