Material quality: How important is that to you?

Dear users, dear authors,
how important is the quality of the materials used to you?

Very important - after all, I want to enjoy my creations for a long time.
On the other hand, the material should be pleasant to work with.

I also used to work with so-called “spring wool” until I was given a Bobbel as a gift a few years ago.
Since then, I’ve been buying almost exclusively there.

As a beginner, I think you don’t pay that much attention to it yet. Personally, I mainly used inexpensive acrylic yarn when I first started. It was enough for me to practice with. Now, though, especially when it comes to clothing, I value high-quality yarns—which don’t necessarily have to be outrageously expensive. What’s important to me is that the yarn contain as little polyester as possible—or none at all. For accessories or decorations, a higher polyester content is sometimes acceptable. The key is that the material is easy to work with and that the yarn doesn’t split while knitting or crocheting.
High-quality needles are also very important to me. I wouldn’t want to be without my screw-on circular needle set, just as I wouldn’t want to be without my crochet hooks. 

Whether it’s wool or fabric, in my opinion, the quality is crucial to how the finished piece looks—you can tell when inferior materials have been used.

Quality is very important to me, especially that no animals are mistreated for it, as is often the case with regular wool from the supermarket. Since I learned that, I shop very consciously.

For me, the natural fiber content is always very high. Except for sock yarn, which usually comes with 25% synthetic fiber.

I haven't bought cheap yarn in a long time, because the result looks accordingly.

Especially in the beginning, I often bought cheap products because I didn’t know any better. But ever since I’ve become “really hooked” and found my go-to local yarn shop—where our knitting group also meets—I’ve been buying only high-quality products. On the one hand, I’m happy that I can support a small, local business; on the other hand, this ensures I only have high-quality goods that come from animals raised humanely and from sustainable farms. And the wool is truly a dream! Since I’ve been using it, the things I make have looked really good, even though I’m not exactly a “natural.”

Actually, quality is very important to me.
I always try to use yarns made from natural fibers whenever possible. Sometimes—but only sometimes—I come across a yarn that, although it’s made of polyacrylic, is so beautiful that I just have to buy it.
  The unbeatable advantage of acrylic is that it’s completely itch-free.
Of course, there are also itch-free natural fibers, but they come at a price...
And another important consideration is, of course, whether the wool comes from “happy” animals—meaning they aren’t subjected to cruel practices like mulesing just to harvest the wool. 

I’m like most people here—at first, you just knit with
inexpensive acrylic yarn, but later you learn that it’s just so much nicer to knit with good-quality yarn. 
Knitting is pure “wool bliss,” complete with a cozy vibe :.))
Of course, it can happen (though it’s very rare) that among the skeins and scraps I sometimes receive as gifts, there’s something that isn’t quite “wool bliss,” but I can live with that—even that kind of yarn can keep your head and feet warm.

Honestly, I don’t care about the quality—whether it’s sheep’s wool, cotton, acrylic, viscose, or anything else. I just really value being able to touch it before I buy it, so I can get a feel for how it feels. So buying online is out of the question for me, unless it’s something I’m already familiar with.

What speaks in favor of acrylic yarn, at least:
- very washable, doesn't shrink
- doesn't itch
- price
- no animal had to suffer

However, I would always feel the yarn first here to see whether I actually want to buy it. Some acrylic yarn in so-called mohair quality sheds heavily.

What speaks against acrylic yarn:

- some colors simply look garish and "cheap"
- acrylic yarn isn't breathable, so you sweat easily

You simply have to weigh it up for each project. If you want to knit or crochet a sweater, or any top at all, in acrylic, the stitch pattern should be fairly loose and the cut should be fairly wide. This is especially true for the underarm area.