Cashmere. Camel down. Tussah silk. Blue faced Leicester. Glass beads. Just a few of the tools in the yarn artist's palette. And then there's the colour. Since 1986, Vancouver Island based Sweatermaker Yarns has been producing custom yarns, weaving and knitting designs. Judy Maclean, artisan and founder of Sweatermaker Yarns, pushes the potential of artisan yarn with dynamic color-play and exotic fibers.

Not that long ago, knitters were mostly limited to wool and acrylic. The yarn industry now provides a wide range of fibers, from the highly exotic to the highly synthetic. While the variety is wonderful, it can also be frustrating to separate meaningful information from hype. Here are most of the yarn fibers that you'll find, on their own or blended. Except for Wool, the list is sorted alphabetically.

Yarn is categorized into weights (how thick the strand is). The yarn weight gives you an idea of what size knitting needle to use; how big the stitches will be, how thick the knitted fabric will be, and what types of garment would be appropriate for the yarn. "Yarn weight" (thickness) is not the same as the total weight (grams or ounces) of the skein or ball.

Yarn weight terminology can be confusing; not all yarn manufacturers use the same language. Some of the language doesn't tell you much about the weight (for example, while "fine" tells you the yarn is thin, "sport" doesn't tell you much unless you are familiar with the category standards). Some of the words mean more than one thing. For example, "baby" weight doesn't mean you can only use it for baby clothes, and "worsted" can refer both to the weight of the yarn and how it's plied. 

A yarn and design company in the UK, Rowan has played a significant role since the 80s in setting the bar for the aesthetics of knitting design and luxury yarns. Nowadays, with the internet, knitters and crocheters have a world of options in knitting patterns and luxury yarns. But a couple of decades ago, well, let's be honest, the menu was a little thin. A lot of acrylic, some wools, a handful of brand names. But extra fine merino and silk blends? Nope. Organic cotton and milk protein? Nuh-uh. And, a couple of decades ago, well, it was post 80s, so maybe not the pinnacle of humankind's fashion sense, so the knitting pattern books weren't always stylish. But Rowan had visual style, with gorgeous landscapes, natural, dewy-skinned lasses and lads with wild hair, and sweaters that you actually wanted to wear. (And maybe some lads that you might actually want to take home with you, but I digress). Beautiful colours and heathers, classic lines, comfortable fit, teamed with beautifully photographed, beautifully printed high-end magazines.

The Patons Yarn label is the one with that familiar little beehive symbol. Patons is widely available at big-box stores like WalMart, Michaels, and Zellers, and also at many yarn stores, which is nice for shoppers who don't have easy access to the smaller stores. It's also nice for new knitters who might be overwhelmed by high-end yarn choices. Patons Yarns are a good low to mid priced yarn, and are a good choice for beginner knitters and projects for children because most of Patons' yarns are machine washable.

You can see the Patons Shetland Chunky Tweed in the Meep Meep. Robot Hoodie.. This hoodie is machine washed frequently (and I think it's been through the dryer by mistake, but that is NOT recommended) and gets a lot of abuse; it has held up well with minimal pilling. The Tweed effect makes the yarn look a lot woolier than it is, but it's 72% Acrylic, 3% Viscose and 25% Wool. Soft to the skin too. The chunky weight makes it a fast knit.

A great source of affordable yarn, tools and patterns, Elann ships out of Delta BC. Which is good news for us Canadian knitters. It means the shipping is low, and super speedy. My orders from Elann have never taken longer than 2 business days.

Elann brings in designer yarn, like Rowan, Sublime, Tahki, Louisa Harding, Berroco, to name a few. And they source their own lines of yarn, like Elann Sierra Aran, Peruvian Baby Silk, Bamboo Classic, Baby Cashmere, and Peruvian Highland Chunky. These yarns are great on their own merit, but they also make affordable alternatives for more expensive yarns. And if you get on the Elann e-mail list, you'll receive notifications about full bag sales. Elann's full bag sales mean you need to buy a whole bag, about 10 balls per bag, but the discount is usually significant.

And Elann carries more than yarn. They have a good selection of tools too. For example, they have Namaste bags, ball winders, and swifts.

You can often find me, knitting in a corner, still in my pajamas, jabbering on about the internet and what it has done for knitting. And here I go again...

For knitters who have been knitting for a long time, you'll know that the variety of yarn choices that we have now is incredible. Not just in the yarn stores, but online. Online sellers sometimes cut out the middle seller, allowing you buy more directly, which means better prices and more options. I used mailorder sacks of yarn from Briggs & Little, and there was a certain charm to that system. Filling out forms, sending them in the mail, waiting for a couple of weeks for that sack of skeins.

Knit Picks is one of the best examples of the evolution of mail order yarn. Knit Picks sources their own yarn, and ships directly to the customer. You can see browse the selection online at their site, www.knitpicks.com, and you can also order color cards before you commit to full balls.

Would it be stereotyping to say that knitters love to buy yarn? Put a couple of knitters together in a room, and within minutes they're reaching into baskets, sacks, and purses, pulling out skeins and balls and swatches, and jabbering about where they bought which yarn and how much it cost.

Knitters, especially tricksy hobbit-like knitters, love luxury, but are also hyper-aware of how much money they spend on yarn. Stash-guilt. So we love a bargain.

If you've spent any time on Ravelry, you might have noticed the yarn "Cascade 220" is usually at the top of the popularity list on the yarns page. (Why "220"? I'm guessing it's because each skein has 220 yards! )

Cascade 220 is a real workhorse. Nice fat 100g skeins of worsted weight yarn, with great yardage, 100% Peruvian highland wool, and over 150 colours to choose from in the solids and heathers, and almost the same selection again in the Cascade 220 Superwash. And there are specialty Cascade 220 yarns as well: Tweed, Paint and Quatro.

Versatile and affordable, Cascade 220 is a good option for the beginner knitter too. It's easy to work with, has good stitch definition, and is forgiving.e 220 is a real workhorse. Nice fat 100g skeins of worsted weight yarn, with great yardage, 100% Peruvian highland wool, and over 150 colours to choose from in the solids and heathers, and almost the same selection again in the Cascade 220 Superwash. And there are specialty Cascade 220 yarns as well: Tweed, Paint and Quatro.

Versatile and affordable, Cascade 220 is a good option for the beginner knitter too. It's easy to work with, has good stitch definition, and is forgiving.