Wool from China

Hello everyone,

I was once again browsing the internet looking for thin acrylic yarn for my doll clothes. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any German yarn that met my expectations (thin enough for size 2 needles, easy to care for, machine-washable, soft and supple, available in many beautiful colors).  

So I decided to look abroad and placed my first yarn order with Temu on a trial basis. It didn’t take long before the package arrived:


Of course, I’d looked at the yarn online beforehand. Many retailers offered the same yarn, so I was able to choose the best deal. What none of the retailers listed was the yardage or the recommended needle size—information I could have used to make an informed decision. Instead, there was a meaningless specification regarding the height and width of the ball.

The label on the packaging also lacked any such information.



On the plastic bag of the outer packaging, I then found this note regarding the yarn’s composition: 35% viscose, 35% rayon, 30% acrylic. Beyond that, I found the other details quite amusing—at any rate, they struck me as fictional.



Since there’s no information on the yardage, you’ll have to wait and see while working with it whether there’ll be enough in the end for the planned (larger) project. There’s no way to measure it, after all. The thread is that thin:


I started by trying out a few different crochet hooks. The 1.25 hook worked best. Here are 12 stitches.


Well, that’s really delicate. Maybe I’ll work with two strands. We’ll see—I’m still thinking it over. Of the 6 colors I ordered in total, one color was delivered twice. Instead of pink, I got two skeins of light pink. Royal blue is missing from the photo above, but it turned out to be more of a dark blue anyway.

I’m going to file a complaint about the duplicate color—I’m sure I’ll get a gift card for my next purchase.

Who among you has ever bought yarn from China, and what have been your experiences with it?

Best regards, Ina




I’ve also ordered “yak wool” from there before. It was supposed to be olive green. When the yarn arrived, I was pleasantly surprised at first—it was soft and lustrous, a great shade, and a joy to knit with. I made a soul warmer with it. After the first hand wash, however, the yarn bled heavily, and the wash water turned purple. After drying, the sheen was gone, and when you held the piece up to the light, a purple fuzz peeked out from the olive green. It had also lost its softness. In the end, I unpicked the seams and decided to turn it into a cat blanket. Our cats love it!
Photo 1 shows the “fuzz”; Photo 2 shows the soul warmer before washing.

Ina, Hobbii has an acrylic yarn called “Minimum”—maybe that would be something for you? It’s 175 meters per 50 grams, and it’s listed for knitting needle size 3 and crochet hook size 4, but I think it works better with thinner needles

Ina, maybe you should wash your sample and see how the yarn behaves after it dries 

Hi Ina!
Do you know Versailles by Buttinette? It’s a thin acrylic yarn, 200 m / 50 g.
I’ve crocheted mini pumpkins and mushrooms with it.

Best regards,
Silke

@Nadeleule,
is the image with the text “AL MsGreenwool” yours or from the pattern?
If it’s not your image, please let me know so I can remove it. Thanks. 

Thanks, Mel, for the tip. I took a look at the “Minimum” yarn. It looks great, and there are so many wonderful colors. I’m thinking about it, but I still have plenty left in my stash.

It would be exactly the right yarn weight for me, since I crochet a lot with smaller hooks. We’ll see. But good to know.

Josefa, I bought the pattern here and made it; this is my photo. 

Dear Ina,

Zeeman carries “Babysoft,” which is a fine acrylic yarn available in lots of colors; in my experience, it works best with a 2.5 needle. And it’s soooo soft.

Best regards 

Hi Schnuckelina,

if you’re looking for suitable synthetic yarn, you shouldn’t search using the keyword “wool.” That term generally refers to natural fibers (specifically, from sheep). I wouldn’t take companies or retailers who label synthetic fibers as “wool” seriously at all. They might be trying to pass off poor quality as something high-end. Searching for “polyacrylic yarn” will give you more and more useful results.

I’ve never bought yarn from China and don’t plan to. A friend of mine ordered some once and was pretty disappointed. That said, I’m a fan of natural fibers. I do understand, though, that synthetic fibers are sometimes preferred for amigurumi and similar projects because they’re cheaper and aren’t washed very often anyway—even though microplastics end up in the wash water and ultimately in the oceans. If I were to crochet something like that (unfortunately, I’m not very good at it), I’d look for fine cotton YARN for it. It’s also easy to wash and better for the environment because it’s biodegradable.

Thank you very much for your numerous suggestions. I’ll take a close look at the individual yarn recommendations and will certainly try out one or two of them. I’m very happy about your tips and yarn recommendations, which will now also help other readers.

@kruemel-monster
I already know that wool is made from natural fibers and that all other yarns are synthetic. Back in the day—when I first started crafting—I used a lot more acrylic yarns. But as the years have gone by and I’ve gained more experience and knowledge, I’ve become much more conscious about my choice of materials, so I’ve gotten rid of all my synthetic yarns. However, I haven’t yet found the right yarn—or rather, the right wool—for my little doll accessories. A thin, smooth cotton yarn would be just right for me; I just need to find it.

Best regards, Ina

Hi, I actually order yarn from AliExpress quite often and have never really been disappointed. However, you have to compare the listings carefully beforehand, since there are huge price differences for the same yarn. Of course, I also check the reviews, and I’m usually pleasantly surprised when the item arrives.

Best regards, Daniela 

What I’ve been ordering for all sorts of things for years is “milk bamboo” yarn—just type that in, or “milk cotton,” “baby milk,” etc. It’s actually always the same yarn: ultra-soft and very thin/fine. You can then decide whether one strand or several are enough; I also use it for Gobelin embroidery, etc.
LG

Thank you, a-k93, for your great tip! I’m sure many people will find your yarn recommendation interesting.

Thank you also for taking the plunge and posting your first message here on the forum—just like Daniela (the post above yours). It’s wonderful that we can all share ideas here on the forum.

Best regards, Ina

Hi Schnuckelina,
if you’re looking for thin cotton yarn, you might want to try searching for “crochet yarn.” At Buttinette, I found 13 different options online with needle sizes up to a maximum of 2.
“Crochet cotton” might also help.

Thanks, needle-mistress, for the tip. I’d already checked there. The options listed for size 2 needles are too thick for me. They list yarns that have 125 m per 50 g—that’s too thick for me. And the thinner crochet yarns with a longer yardage are actually filet yarns. That’s not quite right either. But I’ve at least gotten a few material suggestions to start with, so I’ll work my way through them slowly.

Best wishes and have a great weekend—Ina

I ordered the “Versailles” yarn from Buttinette (200 m / 50 g) that Silke mentioned and received it today. Although the yarn is 200 meters per 50 grams, it’s quite thick—at least too thick for my purposes. I’ll keep looking. I still have a few tips from you guys.

LG Ina

Hi, I’ve ordered yarn from China several times before. The quality was good, it was very pleasant to work with, and the price was right. For example, “Baby Alpaca”—5% acrylic, 95% alpaca, 150 m per 100 g, needle size 4–4.5. I knitted a lovely baby blanket, as well as a few shawls.

I just ordered “Tulip” from YarnArt—it’s a microfiber yarn and really, really fine, almost like pearl thread for embroidery. I’m a little taken aback—I wanted to make a crochet top from “AlineMasche” on YouTube with it, but I think I can forget about that. Still, it has a gorgeous sheen and beautiful colors! I guess it’ll end up being an elegant stole or shawl for the evening. “Versailles” is one of my favorite yarns, but as you say, the finished piece does turn out quite puffy. Best of luck with everything!

Yeah, you can always be surprised. It looks one way or another on the screen. Even if the yardage and recommended needle size are right, in the end you have to hold it in your hands.

I’ll be getting my order from Hobbii in the next few days. Mel had recommended the “Minimum” yarn there. Andrea (Bastelfang) liked it, too. At least it comes in a wide variety of colors. Let’s see what it looks like in real life. I’ll report back here.

Love, Ina

I hope you can make do with the bare minimum, dear Ina!

Have you tested the minimum yet? 

Hi Ina,
I don’t know if you’ve found what you’re looking for yet. I saw something today while searching for yarn and immediately thought of your thread here on the forum.
It’s Alize’s Diva Fine—an acrylic yarn with a length of 300 m per 50 g.
Best regards, Petra

Dear Petra, 
it’s so sweet of you to remember my thread. No, in the meantime I still haven’t found a smooth, fine crochet yarn.

I bought the Minimum recommended by Nadeleule, and also Rainbow Deluxe (both from Hobbii). I made gauges with hook sizes 2.5 and 3 so I could compare them with each other. 


Basically, it’s not bad. But both yarns are a bit dull, so I really have to make an effort to get an even stitch pattern. Since I need fine stitches, I have to stick with a small crochet hook. Because I have to crochet rather tightly, since I don’t want airy stitches, the piece turns out a bit stiff. That’s not ideal for my doll clothes, because the dresses and skirts are supposed to drape nicely. 

So Minimum and Rainbow Deluxe will certainly be used at some point later, but for my supple doll clothes I’m still looking.

I actually have already crocheted your “Alize Diva fine” for my doll clothes. It’s made of microfibers, so it’s slightly shiny and supple. It was perfect—until some time ago it was no longer available to buy (especially since it was only available in one shop anyway). So I had crossed it off my list of possible fine crochet yarns.

Now it’s back, and thanks to your tip I immediately secured a few of my favorite colors. So thank you very much for your tip, dear Petra.

Best wishes, Ina 

A thought just occurred to me, but it would require a lot of effort—or an adventurous yarn-cake winder. What if you split a 4-ply yarn cake? Into 2-ply, that is? Of course, you’d have to be very patient—but maybe someone would wind a 2-ply yarn cake for you? But wouldn’t that make for a supple finished piece?

Hi Nadeladdict, out of desperation, I’ve even done this by hand. It’s really tedious. I always hung something heavy from the bottom of the yarn cake so the strands above wouldn’t twist together. It wasn’t fun, so I only tried it once.

I also checked with sellers of yarn cakes to see if there were any 2-strand yarn cakes. No, there weren’t. But you can buy single-strand yarn cakes and wind them yourself. You can do all that if you want.

But since I’m always looking for yarn for my patterns that buyers of the patterns can also easily buy online, this option is only suitable for me privately. For a yarn recommendation in a pattern, I always need ready-made yarns—and those are hard to come by in the thickness and softness I want.

Best regards, Ina

So if you're only looking for solid-color 2-ply yarn cakes, I know someone who winds them. Anika's Wollstübchen also offers solid-color 2-ply yarn cakes.
Best regards

Thank you, PiCarDesign, for the great tip!

Best regards, Ina

I also have a tip:
woolpedia.de offers 2x to 6x in cotton (organic) and modal (extremely soft and slightly stretchy) in any length you want.
Best regards, Ilona

Dear Ilona, that’s a great tip! Especially with modal—you don’t find it very often, and certainly not this thin. Thank you so much for enriching our material collection with your tip for thin yarn.

Best regards, Ina

I’ve also bought yarn from Temu. I’m quite satisfied. Specific information on the composition is missing almost everywhere, as is the yardage. I even had some cashmere yarn shipped to me. It feels great and produces a very even stitch pattern. Whether it’s really cashmere or very fine wool—or chemically treated wool to give it that cashmere feel—I don’t know. But for the price, it’s definitely a good choice.

Yeah, you can’t go wrong with that. Even the bobbles that are in there are unbeatable in terms of price...
But it’s a bummer that the yardage isn’t listed anywhere. Just to be safe, I always ordered 1,000 g or even 1,200 g—2 or 3 packages—which should definitely be enough. Mine is supposed to be silk with wool—we’ll see! 

I’ve bought Bobbel several times already; it’s easy to work with and feels great.