There is nothing worse for a beginner than having your yarn not be suitable for your knitting needles after you buy your first pair; except maybe your yarn is old and breaking down or maybe your yarn slipping off of your needle.
Don’t you just wish you could find a solution to all of these problems? If you do, I’m here to give you advice on what type of yarn is best suited for a beginner knitter such as yourself.
A Quick Look at My Favorite Yarns for Beginning
| Image | Product | Features | Price |
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 | 9.7 | Check Price on Amazon | |
 | 9.5 | Check Price on Amazon | |
 | 9.1 | Check Price on Amazon | |
 | 8.8 | Check Price on Amazon | |
 | 8.6 | Check Price on Amazon | |
 | 8.2 | Check Price on Amazon | |
 | 8 | Check Price on Amazon | |
 | 7.7 | Check Price on Amazon |
Key Takeaways
- Skeins are the most common type of yarn used
- Using light colors and pastels helps you see the stitches better
- Medium worsted weight yarn made out of cotton, acrylic, or bulky wool yarn are great options for beginners
Top 8 Types of Yarn Best Suited for Beginners
For a beginner, what is important is that your yarn matches the size of your knitting needles. It’s recommended for your needles to be medium-sized, so by that logic, so should your yarn. Medium weight yarn is the best knitting yarn for any beginner.
Without further ado, let’s see what the best knitting yarn for beginners is.
8. RED HEART Super Saver Jumbo Yarn
This RED HEART yarn is made out of acrylic and is perfect for any beginner as it comes in size 4 which makes it medium-sized. What’s great about it is that it also comes in soft white or any other pastel color. It’s a worsted-weight yarn that is made out of 100% acrylic fibers.
While we were talking about yarn shapes before, we mentioned skeins. This is the most common shape of yarn you will find lying around in a craft store. You can pull the yarn out of the outside or the inside in the skein-shaped yarn. It’s perfect for knitting sweaters, afghans, gloves, scarves, etc.
Summary
What I Like About It
- Size 4
- Medium weight yarn
- Affordable
- 100% acrylic material
- Comes in skeins with a variety of light solid colors
What I Dislike About It
- Not the best yarn out there
- You’ll have to wind it back up as the 3 plies unravel easily while being used
Why Should You Buy It?
It’s cheap and medium-sized. It has decent quality and is a great regular yarn to jump-start your knitting journey. Use this yarn to make all sorts of fun things; socks, scarves, jumpers, and anything you want.
7. Lion Brand Touch of Alpaca
This Lion Brand yarn, as the name suggests, has the “touch of alpaca”. It is soft and smooth, and that makes it a great choice of yarn for any beginner. It’s not just made out of a single material. In fact, it is a blend made out of acrylic and alpaca fiber.
This Lion brand yarn is of high quality and is suitable for both beginning knitters and expert knitters. This is also a medium-weight yarn meaning it is 100g and size 4. Great for knitting or crocheting!
Summary
What I Like About It
- 90% acrylic and 10% alpaca yarn blend mix
- Medium weighted yarn, skein size 4
- Has pastel solid colors, as well as dark and bright ones
- High-quality yarn great for knitting or crocheting
What I Dislike About It
- Sheds and splits when you knit
- It’s a little lighter than expected
Why Should You Buy It?
It has a very soft, realistic look; it’s great for both knitting and crocheting. Its beautiful pastel colors override the bad things about it by a lot.
6. Cascade Yarns 220
Cascade yarn is a Peruvian wool yarn that is soft and found in many colors, considered a fan-favorite amongst beginning knitters and crocheters. Like the other yarns, it is a weight medium yarn size 4. It weighs 100g and has a plied texture.
Its shape is a hank, which I didn’t mention before. This is a yarn that is twisted, and when untangled creates a ring. This yarn should be washed only by hand, and it’s feltable and should also be dried flat.
Summary
What I Like About It
- 100% Peruvian highland wool
- Soft and has many different gorgeous colors
- Size 4, medium worsted-weight yarn
- Great for beginning knitters
What I Dislike About It
- Slightly more expensive
Why Should You Buy It?
This Cascade Yarn offers over 40 different shades of Peruvian wool yarn, I’m sure at least one of them will be able to catch your eye. You can pick from the solid bright colors it has, or try one of the mixed ply colors on the list if you’re feeling brave enough.
5. Revolution Fibers Yarn
Revolution Fibers yarn is super bulky medium-weight wool yarn. Recommended size knitting needles for this yarn are size 15-18. Its 100% merino wool makes it super soft and amazing for making chunky and soft wool gifts for your family during the winter holidays.
It comes in hanks of 22 different color variations and offers a wide choice range; including easy-to-work-with, simple solid colors. It should be dry-cleaned or hand-washed with mild soap and handled with care.
It shouldn’t be twisted or crinkled while washing and the excess water should be carefully squeezed out. It’s a high-quality wool manufactured with ethically sourced methods. This worsted-spun yarn is also cruelty-free and free from processing, making it safe and perfect for easily irritable skin.
Summary
What I Like About It
- 100% merino wool with dyed colors
- 100g weight
- Super bulky weight size 15 US
- Fair trade certified
- Excellent prices and quality
What I Dislike About It
- It splits and sheds a bit
- You can’t wash it in the washing machine
- Chunky yarns are not really recommended for beginners
Why Should You Buy It?
Revolution Fibers yarn is safe and I recommend it for beginners and people with sensitive skin. It’s tight-spun and easy to work with and despite being made out of wool, it’s not itchy. Instead, it’s squishy and smooth.
4. YarnArt
Yarn art is a ball type of yarn with solid colors. It’s a blend made from 45% acrylic and 55% cotton. It is lightweight (about 50g) and should be used with needles sizes 4 to 5.
This one is slightly smaller and is used for making blouses, baby accessories, shawls, and cardigans, but its size doesn’t matter as much as you can see the solid colors pretty well.
Summary
What I Like About It
- 55% cotton 45% acrylic mix blend
- US size 4
- Can be washed in the washing machine
- Great for beginning knitters
What I Dislike About It
- Slightly smaller size, I would recommend using a thicker skein
Why Should You Buy It?
You can find it in a lot of different solid colors that are suitable for beginners. It’s of great quality and is perfect for making cardigans.
3. Caron Simply Soft Solid Yarn
Caron Simply Soft is yet another skein which is a medium-sized worsted-weight yarn that comes in 35 different colors. They are solid colors which as I’ve already mentioned are an amazing option for knitting yarn for beginners. This is a very affordable and inexpensive yarn.
What I Like About It
- 100% acrylic yarn
- Size 4 Medium
- 170g weight
- A knitting needle size 8 is recommended
- You can wash it in the washing machine
What I Don’t Like About It
- Splits and isn’t particularly soft
Why Should You Buy It?
This yarn is great for making big projects as it is very cheap and affordable. Besides its standard size, its price is a great reason to buy this yarn. Its huge variety of solid colors makes it a very “solid” option to pick. (get it?)
Summary
What I Like About It
- 100% acrylic yarn
- Size 4 Medium
- 170g weight
- A knitting needle size 8 is recommended
- You can wash it in the washing machine
What I Dislike About It
- Splits and isn’t particularly soft
Why Should You Buy It?
This yarn is great for making big projects as it is very cheap and affordable. Besides its standard size, its price is a great reason to buy this yarn. Its huge variety of solid colors makes it a very “solid” option to pick. (get it?)
2. Caron One Pound Yarn, Soft Gray Mix
The color of this great Caron One Pound Yarn is great for any beginner as light colors make it very easy to distinguish the stitches. It’s a regular yarn made out of 100% acrylic fiber that is in soft gray.
The size is medium with a 4 gauge worsted weight yarn. Despite its weight of 1 pound, it does not cost one pound but it is pretty inexpensive and affordable. One Pound yarn is very economical.
What this means is that one skein is enough for you to make about 4 scarves. Moreover, it is amazing for any garments and accessories; scarves, sweaters, or any other homemade gift for your friends and family.
Summary
What I Like About It
- 100% acrylic fiber
- Size 4 worsted weight yarn
- The gray color allows you to easily see the stitches
- You can not only wash it in the washing machine but also machine dry it
What I Dislike About It
- I’m not amazed by it
Why Should You Buy It?
It’s an affordable and pretty economic worsted weight yarn for beginners in the color gray. I like that you can wash and dry it in the machine.
1. Patons Canadiana Yarn, Pale Gray Mix
Another yarn that can be considered premium acrylic yarn is Patons Canadiana Yarn. It’s a wonderful yarn for anything from jumpers and scarves to socks, home decor, and even soft baby wear.
It’s a weight-worsted yarn size 4, as are most of the yarns I’ve listed before. As the last yarn on this list, I wouldn’t recommend it for fully new beginners, but I would recommend it for beginners that have already gotten the hang of the basic few stitches and want to try out their skills and make a project.
It is soft, smooth, and wonderful to knit with, and makes crocheting a lot more fun, for this exact reason. It comes in 20 different color varieties, however, I am personally not the biggest fan of the colors.
Summary
What I Like About It
- 100% premium acrylic
- Medium-weight worsted yarn
- Size 4
- 20 different color options
- Great for beginning knitters
What I Dislike About It
- You cannot dry-clean it
- I don’t like the colors very much
- The colors are hand dyed so it is not consistent among batches of yarn
Why Should You Buy It?
Affordable and soft, this yarn is of premium quality. It is wonderful for both crocheting and knitting.
Things you should look for before buying
For easier knitting and being able to see the knit and stitches better, lighter colors are also recommended. If you have needles that are on the bigger side, you can also use wool.
Wool’s stretchy and soft texture is great for beginners, as it won’t slip away as easily and its elasticity and size help with finishing your knitting projects faster.
When it comes to the shape of the yarn, there are main shapes suitable for beginners; skeins, balls, and cakes. These are the main types of yarn I’d recommend for beginners.
Material
The material that the yarn is made out of should be either cotton, wool, or any cotton-acrylic blend or even cotton-polyester. There isn’t much to it, it’s just good to know what kind of fibers are used for your clothing, what’s suitable for your needs, and what you want to work with, for example, there are synthetic fibers and regular fibers.
Shape
The yarn, as I briefly mentioned at the beginning of the article can be sorted into 3 main categories. There can be cakes, balls, and skeins. Cakes are rounded shapes of yarn that resemble a cake.
They have a flat bottom and can comfortably sit on their own. Balls, as the name suggests are ball-like shaped yarns. Skeins are the most common type of knitting yarn you see. With skeins, you can pull the yarn from the inside or the outside of it. Their oblong shape is most distinguishable.
There are also cones, which are types of yarn best used for machine work, and untangle that way. Lastly, yarns with wool fiber are usually twisted into hanks, which when untangled look like a big ring of yarn.
Weight and Size
The best size and weight is something medium. Worsted weight or wool fiber yarn is best for beginners. This means that the yarn should be from 100g to about 300g in weight. It’s best if it’s medium or size 4 US, but it can also be bigger. Bulky or super bulky yarns are also great as we tend to finish projects faster with bigger materials.
Colors
When it comes to the coloring of the yarn, solid colors work best for beginners. That and picking out pastels or any light color, any tone of white is a great option as it makes them a lot easier to knit with as you can notice, make and distinguish the stitches a lot better than with dark-colored yarn.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best size knitting needles for beginners?
Any pair of medium size needles will do. Most commonly sized needles are size 4-5mm which translates to US size 6 or 8.
Is acrylic yarn good for beginners?
Acrylic yarn is a great choice for knitting, but not the best choice when it comes to crocheting as it might split more easily. In short, yes acrylic yarn is great.
Which yarn isn’t itchy?
Knitting wool or wool in general is definitely very itchy on the skin. Acrylic or microfiber yarns aren’t nearly as itchy and won’t irritate the skin as much. They are perfect for someone who is allergic to animal products. And, what’s more, they won’t be ruined and are easy to take care of, as you can use the machine for washing and drying these types of yarn.
Final Words
Knitting is a great hobby if you want to lower your stress levels, practice your patience, and even strengthen your brain neuroplasticity.
Naturally, for your knitting to be efficient and fun for you, you need to have the essentials and pick out the best materials to knit without any added frustration by your yarn breaking down. There are many cheap yarns on the list I made, so feel free to pick any of them as your preferred choice of yarn suitable for beginners.
I have been in the embroidery field for over 10 years. My career first started when I was an apprentice to a local seamstress where I started to learn the basics of garment construction and alterations. That’s where I started to love sewing and began to hone my skills even more.
