My favorite commercial worsted weight yarn is Cascade 220, 100% wool yarn. It is not super wash and needs careful handling but is well worth the extra care. I’ve done hats and scarves and French Press cozies out of it and my largest to date project is an afghan I made for Brad in mitered squares. It was a long term project, finished up in time for his birthday a couple of years ago in February. Brad is 6’3″ and I made this long enough for him to tuck the end under his feet when he is stretched out in his recliner in the living room. The photo below is of his old recliner that I use in my studio now. The light is better for getting good photos.
This photo shows the texture of the mitered squares very well and that I knitted them together so that they form a zig-zag pattern from side to side. I repeated the order of the colors in the garter bands that make up the border. I love garter stitch. It blocks well, wears well and keeps it shape.
I like Cascade 220 because it doesn’t tend to pill like so many yarns will. I’ve worked with Lion Brand Wool-Ease and it knits up well but pills horribly.
As yet I have not done a lot of worsted weight yarn spinning but I have a Lazy Kate that will hold four regular bobbins on one side or I can flip it and it holds three jumbo bobbins. I’ll be doing some experimenting with singles to ply for worsted over the summer months.
I spent so many years focusing on spinning fine singles for thinner yarn that I tend to get stuck in a rut. I’d like to get to the point that I can spin consistent singles for plying any weight of yarn depending on the project.
I have a lot of Indy dyed fiber in my stash and I usually buy a full pound of fiber in the same colorway so I could easily work on spinning 4-ply worsted yarns.
Rural Texas Knitter 