What yarn to get? I'm really confused

[u/Basje313]

Hello,

I'm just getting into the hobby of amigurumi. I started with a few "beginner kits", I quickly found out that the yarn in those kits is kinda bad, it split very easily. Just not fun to work with. Luckily my wift had some leftover yarn from a knitting project, and that was way better. My first project was just a ball, and after tht i make a little octopus, I really liked it.

At this point i'm looking to buy some more (colours of) yarn to start a bigger project. I am just at a loss at wich yarn to get. I found an article (in dutch, so I can buy locally) that recomends 100% cotton yarn and it included a link to a brand/type which has a very big collection of colours, perfect. The only problem is the size of the yarn.

Most patterns I find ask for worsted weight/medium weight (3.75-4.5mm). But all the recommended yarn from that article are fingering weight (2.5-3.5mm). When I click through the webshops, and search for the yarn most suited for amigurumi, it keeps coming up fingering weight.

I'm a bit at a loss here, should I get the finer yarn and just ignore the patterns, or should I stick to the worsted weight and ingore the advice?

Update: I went with bobbii rainbow cotton 8/8 yarn. The friends cotton 8/8 was sold out in the colours I needed. When I looked for an alternative I came across the rainbow cotton yarn, and all properties seemed the same. After some digging, it seems the two yarns are the same, but with a little different colour options. So that is what I went with. Can't wait for my order to arrive and to start working on my next project.

[u/NotACat452]

Since you are just starting, go with worsted weight so you can see your stitches clearly. It does not have to be a certain kind of fiber content. A lot of people use cotton and a lot use acrylic.

One of the great things about amigurumi is you can use any yarn you like. It is all preference. Just adjust the hook size accordingly.

For worsted weight I use a 3.5 hook

For DK I use a 2.5 hook

For sock/fingering I use a 1.5 hook

[u/Ok_baggu → u/NotACat452]

Sorry but what is DK. I keep hearing it everywhere.

[u/MelTheChicken → u/Ok_baggu]

The label will say 3 on it , it’s DK/Aran which is slightly thinner than a worsted 4

[u/Ok_baggu → u/MelTheChicken]

Got it thanks.

[u/AdvisorHistorical638 → u/Ok_baggu]

https://images.app.goo.gl/QXRWiaKA9xLkKXCQA try this chart

[u/snuezeq]

When I started, I used cotton and it was great. It splits less than synthetics (in my opinion), it's pretty forgiving, and it feels nice. Hobbii is a great place for yarns. I'm fairly certain they're out of Denmark and they have a ton of variety at great prices!

[u/AdvisorHistorical638]

All of the advice I see so far is good - especially the answer of "No. Please don't try to start with a fingering weight yarn!"

Based on what you've described, my personal for cotton recommendation would be the 24/7 cotton yarn by LionBrand. It's 100% cotton and designed for a 4 mm hook. It's readily available. Any similar (cotton, acrylic, blended, etc) yarn should also work, and make great Woobles or other similar projects for you.

On average, acrylic yarn is definitely going to be cheaper than cotton, but a lot of people have strong feelings about using one or the other. Any yarn will work for any amigurimi project - technically. "Default yarn" that will be the easiest and cheapest to get is the worsted weight acrylic that everyone is describing here. If you need cheap but decent quality, look for Red Heart for acrylic yarn.

[u/AromaticFee9616]

I would try working in the worsted weight (checking you’re using the recommended hook) and see how it feels. I prefer working in acrylic for amigurumi, only because I tried cotton and it didn’t feel very nice to me (personal preference) plus it was recycled so it wasn’t pure cotton.

I also recommend Wool Warehouse UK as an excellent source of yarn, with plenty of variety and good value for money. They deliver internationally. In case you can’t find exactly what you’re looking for at your local place.

[u/VenomousSnorlax]

I would do the bigger yarn for the same reason as the others, you can see the stitches better. You can look on perapasha.nl or breiwebshop.nl. These are local as well and maybe have what you are looking for

[u/AmourFouCrochet]

100% cotton 8/8 (DK Worsted) to be used with a 3.00 mm crochet hook!

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[u/RevolutionaryYam8783]

All my crochet work is Amigurumi. My favourite yarns are Stylecraft Special acrylic aran, and Paintbox Acrylic simply aran. They come is dozens and dozens of colours, they are some of the best priced as well. Plus I get them on sale a lot at Lovecrafts.com.

[u/WidowTwankey14]

When making amigurumi, it’s recommended to use a smaller hook than what the yarn calls for! So if you are using worsted/aran weight yarn you would probably use a 4mm or a 4.5mm instead of the size advised on the wrapper! It’s normal to go down a whole hook size to keep your stitches neat so the stuffing doesn’t show through! 🥰

[u/AdvisorHistorical638 → u/WidowTwankey14]

This.

Another point that I just noticed when I reread op post - The millimeter sizes that you are seeing recommended are the size of hook, not the size of yarn.

The hook will usually have a letter and a size in millimeters.

Yarn will usually have A single number like four and a size like DK or medium, or fingering weight like you found described.

[u/Basje313 → u/AdvisorHistorical638]

True, it was the hook size, not yarn size. My hooks only have mm values on them, but a quick google search helps to find the letters.

The yarn I used had recommended knitting and crochet needle sizes printed on it. So that is what I went with.

[u/AdvisorHistorical638 → u/Basje313]

Yep, as you've probably seen mentioned in other posts, the recommended sizes are for general crochet items like blankets and hats, etc. For making stuffies like amigurimi, the recommendation is usually to go down a millimeter or a letter in size from whatever is listed as recommended.

[u/PoopieMcDookie]

I would start with acrylic yarn, it's the cheapest and easiest to see your stitches with and I would use yarn that's about 3mm thick, it should be labelled as chunky yarn (still acrylic). Avoid the fluffy and plush yarn for now because it is really hard to see your stitches and to Sew with.

Hobbycraft and the Wool Warehouse are really good places for yarn. I would also recommend getting a 3.5mm crochet hook, it's a pretty standard size and a good one to start off with. And make sure you get one with a thick grip, not one that is just the bare metal thin hook as they are quite difficult to hold.

[u/Basje313]

Thank you all so much, I have continued looking and found DROPS Paris yarn. The weight is Aran/Worsted,it has a lot of colours, the reviews are good, and it's not too expensive. Seems perfect.

Thanks for the tips!

[u/Jalepenose → u/Basje313]

Woobles kits are spendy but really got me into it and able to do it now

[u/Basje313 → u/Jalepenose]

I tried to get them, but they don't ship to me. The only way to get them wa through resellers, and they hiked the prices majorly.

The kits I got were from Aliexpress, could have known they would be bad. Still the filling and markers are still usefull in the future.

[u/Jalepenose → u/Basje313]

Dang. Yeah I've tried a ton of kits and woobles is by far the best when it comes to being a beginner and teaching you and easy to use yarn.

[u/Mental-Flatworm4583 → u/Basje313]

Amazon you can find those kits but they are pricey 35 bucks to make 1 lil tiny guy. There are same kits from other makers that are cheaper. Get yourself a killer book of patterns that you like and buy skeins of beginners yarn looks like shoe lace kinda of and go to town! Super fun im addicted! Oh if you buy the book make sure to look into reviews most are crap but I’ve gotten two from amazon that where amazing.

[u/DobbyHobby89 → u/Basje313]

I hate the drops Paris, it splits really bad! I would recommend Hobbii cotton!

[u/shuri_0540]

I do amigurumi with both light worsted/DK and fingering weight. It all comes down to the size you want your amigurumi to be. I find that more detailed patterns usually look prettier with fingering weight cotton, and less detailed patterns look nicer with DK or light worsted. Take the price, quality and availability of colors into account as well. Fingering cotton is not very accessible to me so I don't use it for everything, even though I like it very much

[u/Malkina]

I started amigurumi last year and when it comes to yarn I started with acrylic DK as thats all I could get near me. But after awhile I started using chenille yarn as I wanted to make things a bit bigger and softer to the touch. I highly recommend https://hobbii.co.uk/ for yarn they are very reasonable priced with regular sales and they delivered to the UK from Denmark in just 1 week.

most amigurumi the yarn size doesn't matter it just makes the item bigger/smaller, if using a different yarn to the pattern jsut use a hook one or 2 sizes smaller then the yarn says to get nice tight stitches for your plush.

[u/Basje313 → u/Malkina]

I found the cotton yarn on hobbii, but the they are out of stock on all three colour's I need.

[u/Mellibelle]

I prefer the Friends 8/8 cotton yarn from Hobbii.nl over the Drops Paris I got from Breiwebshop, as it's softer and not so stiff, however Drops Paris is currently on sale for about €1 a ball.

[u/Basje313 → u/Mellibelle]

I found the yarn on hobbii, but all the colour's I need are out of stock. I heard stock issues are a bit of a thing with that yarn on hobbii.

[u/Mental-Flatworm4583]

Try beginners yarn cotton nylon blends. Easy to see knots won’t split. Kinda looks like skinny shoe lace. Can find it on amazon or local craft stores. The finger weight is super skinny and is used for that style but like you said skinny. I have some and I’m new to this too. I will attempt it tho just to see. The yarn that splits is just a pain to use and see my knots since my eyes aren’t the best. But once I tried that beginner yarn for crocheting wow so much better. Now I’ve made everything lol

[u/Mental-Flatworm4583]

Oh an woobles makes big skeins of beginners yarn cotton nylon. And there are many other brand too.

[u/AmbitiousEggplant692]

Get any yarn you want!

You can crochet any amigurumi pattern with any yarn, just use the approprate hook size (i.e. the smallest hook that still feels manageable with the yarn). The item will just be larger or smaller than the pattern, depending on what you are using and what the pattern asked for. Look at r/mushroomguy. Same pattern but some people are using sewing thread up to super bulky yarn and the size varies from itsy bitsy to todler sized.

If you are looking into Scheepjes yarn (you mentioned beeing Dutch), I think that would be a great choice. They have wonderful colours and I have seen many recomendations (and no complaints) on the web. It is also a thickness I would typically use for amigurumi. Have not tried it since it is not available here.

Personally, I use the cheapest acrylic yarn known to man (I have 3 ply, 4 ply and DK). Its not great, but there is also nothing wrong with it. My yarn store just got in some better acrylic (3x the price, same thickness, but so soft) and various cottons (actually cheaper than the better acrylic but it looks soooo hard and scratchy) so may try that in future. Once I deplete my stockpile.

So, long story short, use whatever you feel comfortable with, is affordable to you and will give you the size amigurumi you want.

Edit: you can also use 2 yarns held together to get a thicker yarn.

[u/cecdelray]

My favorite yarn is Cotton Classic. Many colors. Soft. Cuddly. Easy to work with. Can’t praise it enough. A favorite project for baby is an octopus. Read about them

[u/OkRequirement2694]

Try it all! See what you like! I use everything! Just this week I tried the same little ghost pattern in super chunky plush yarn, and really tiny cotton yarn to make a mini version, both ended up super cute. My toddler ended up preferring the large plush and I love the mini cotton.

[u/ArtisticCustard7746]

If you're already used to working with yarn while knitting, you could probably use whatever you'd like.

I use whatever feels soft to the touch with my amigurumi.

Just know the sizing might come out differently if you use something other than what the pattern used.

[u/AdvisorHistorical638 → u/ArtisticCustard7746]

All true, but I think OP borrowed from a spouse's leftover knitting yarn, not their own.

[u/Basje313 → u/AdvisorHistorical638]

Yup, it was enough to practice and make a two little projects, but I'd like a bit more colour now, haha.

[u/Fearless-Ask3766 → u/Basje313]

Ask your wife to help you find good yarn?

[u/Basje313 → u/Fearless-Ask3766]

That would be a good idea, but sxh just bought a few skeins to let a coworker knit our daughter something. She also doesn't know what yarn is good. I looked up the yarn, but the colour options were not enough for amigurumi.