Factors Judging Yarn's Usefulness for a Knitting Project

• Loft (its ability to trap air)

• Resilience (elasticity under tension)

• Washability and Colorfastness

• Hand (its feel, particularly softness vs. scratchiness)

• Durability against Abrasion, its Resistance to Pilling

• Hairiness (fuzziness)

• Tendency to Twist or Untwist, its overall weight and drape

• Blocking and Felting qualities

• Comfort (breathability, moisture absorption, wicking properties) and of course

• Look, which includes its color, sheen, smoothness and ornamental features.

Other Factors include

• Allergenicity

• Speed of Drying

• Resistance to Chemicals, moths, and mildew

• Melting Point and Flammability

• Retention of Static Electricity

• The Propensity to become stained and to accept Dyes.

The resilience and propensity to (un)twist are general properties that affect the ease of hand-knitting. More resilient yarns are more forgiving of irregularities in tension.

Highly twisted yarns are sometimes difficult to knit, whereas untwisting yarns can lead to split stitches, in which not all of the yarn is knitted into a stitch.

A key factor in knitting is stitch definition, corresponding to how well complicated stitch patterns can be seen when made from a given yarn. Smooth, highly spun yarns are best for showing off stitch patterns,

very fuzzy yarns or eyelash yarns have poor stitch definition, and any complicated stitch pattern would be invisible.