Men Who Knit Promoting and inspiring the art of knitting amongst men.

Since I'm a beginner, I generally stick to cotton. I crocheted myself a black chenille scarf that's gotten rave reviews from all who've seen it, but cotton is my weapon of choice. Plus the fact that wool really rubs me the wrong way! To date, I've only made a couple of scarves via knit but, I use #10 mercerized cotton with the regular stuff to augment the colour and to give the garment an extra weight. The other stuff is too expensive to practice with. And that's what I'm basically doing. Practicing!

My favorites to knit and spin are not necessarily one and the same. I am a total snob...I adore luxury fibers, and if you add silk to a luxury blend I start drooling. I think I have tried or have stashed most all of the exotics, except vicuna (too rich for my blood), shatoosh (illegal to collect), or wolf.

Now there are fibers that I hate to spin or to knit with; cotton (kills my hands, as I am a tight knitter), bamboo (I'd rather substitute silk for it anyday), and there are probably others that I am forgetting.

Lest anyone think that I am too good for wool, let me say that on some days and with some breeds, spinning and knitting with wool alone is pure bliss.

I'm new to knitting but already a yarn whore. I did an afghan in 100% baby alpaca – it was wonderful. I wanted to use “Sinsation” chenille by Plymouth but settled on “Misti Alpaca” 100% baby alpaca by Misti International to minimize costs. The yarn was a treat to knit and the finished afghan was nearly as soft and luxurious as a store-bought chenille throw. I agree with DutchJan that the more one knits the more expense the materials you allow yourself.

Alpaca is wonderful to knit with, and I'm currently becoming a big fan of a cashmere/merino/microfiber blend I'm using (I know, dread the thought of acrylic in anything).

Peruvian Highland Wool is my favorite all-around utility fiber to knit with.

You didn't even list my favorite - SILK! Should that go under "Other"? or "Luxury?"

Flax and Silk are my favorites. I wet spin flax using spit 'cause I love the sheen of the linen and the wonderful bucolic smell of new-mown hay. (No wet-spinning, please, following a peanutbutter sandwich.)

Silk to me is the ultimate spinning pleasure. I buy it by the brickload and spin it for no particular reason. I have miles and miles of the stuff on spools that just sit around so that I can fondle it.

God, I love it when I talk dirty . . .

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~Der Gefährliche Schal-Stricker

Yahoo Id: stickywarp2001

Alpaca, defintely.

I love all yarn - except ribbon which is sometimes hard to deal with :)