Yarns I Actually Reach For When Making Sweaters
- 5 days ago
- 5 min read
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Making a sweater is a commitment in time, in skill, and in yarn budget. So when it comes to choosing what goes into a garment, I'm pretty particular. Over the years I've narrowed down my go-to yarns across every price point, and today I'm sharing the ones that actually make it into my projects, whether I'm knitting, crocheting, or working in Tunisian crochet.
I've organized these by price category, but I want to be clear: every section of this list is genuinely worth your time. Budget yarn can make a stunning sweater. So can hand-dyed luxury yarn. The right yarn is the one that works for your project, your timeline, and your budget right now.
Budget-Friendly Sweater Yarns
These two shops are actually the same company, and together they offer some of the best value for sweater quantities you’ll find anywhere. The yarns look and feel great in finished garments, and the price per skein makes it much easier to commit to a full sweater’s worth of yarn.
Here’s what I reach for across different weights:
Fingering Weight
Stroll is soft, comfortable against the skin, and a great entry point if you're tackling your first fingering-weight sweater. If you want a massive color selection for colorwork, fades, or custom color combinations, Palette is worth the slight step up in price.
Sport Weight
Wool of the Andes Sport is a reliable, straightforward wool sweater yarn. Dependable and a great value for larger projects.
DK Weight
Swish DK is a soft superwash option that works beautifully for everyday sweaters. If you want something with a little more visual interest, City Tweed DK adds texture and a slightly more elevated, rustic look. I love a good tweed sweater!
Worsted Weight
Wool of the Andes Worsted is a very popoular sweater yarn reached for across this price point. I don't make much with worsted weight living in the Southern US but if you do it’s affordable for sweater quantities, dependable, and produces warm, satisfying garments.
A note on swatching with budget-friendly superwash yarns:
Please, please block your swatch before you start. Many superwash yarns will grow or stretch after washing, and that’s not necessarily a dealbreaker, but it does mean your blocked gauge is the one that matters. Account for that in your swatch and you’ll still end up with a beautifully fitting sweater.
Mid-Range Sweater Yarns
Purl Soho is a brand I come back to again and again for sweater projects. The colorways are sophisticated and timeless, the kind that look just as beautiful in a finished sweater as they do in the skein. Excellent color availability, great value at sweater quantities, and a quality that shows in the finished fabric.
Sport Weight: Good Wool
This is my favorite sport-weight option in this price range. It’s a superwash wool with a wide range of colors, and it’s a great choice when you want more color options. Durable and easy-care, which matters when you’re putting real time into a garment.
DK Weight: Knitting Yarn DK
My favorite DK-weight sweater yarn in this price range. The color selection is extensive, and it’s available in both skeins and cones, which is where things get really interesting for sweater makers. One cone holds approximately 2,187 yards, which means you can often complete an entire sweater without joining a single new skein. Fewer ends to weave in, fewer joins in your fabric, and a much more pleasant making experience. It knits and crochets up as a thicker DK, which also means it can often substitute for worsted-weight patterns worked at a looser gauge. If you’re a Tunisian crocheter especially, the cone format is a game-changer for keeping your fabric clean and consistent.
Hand-Dyed Sweater Yarns
Sometimes a project calls for something special, and that’s when I turn to hand-dyed yarn. The challenge with hand-dyed has always been accessibility, chasing shop updates, missing preorder windows, and hoping you can get enough yardage of the same colorway. These two brands take that stress out of the equation.
Bad Sheep Yarn is a US based company that offers beautiful hand-dyed colorways across fingering, sport, DK, and worsted weights, with both in-stock and dye-to-order options. That means you can buy yarn when you're actually ready to start your project, rather than planning around a shop drop. Superwash wool bases are available, and the colorway range covers everything from subtle and sophisticated to genuinely unique and special. A great option for makers who want the hand-dyed experience without the scramble, and if you're ready to try them, you can use code VIOLET10 for 10% off your order.
The Frosted Stitch (Canada-based) covers the same weight range, fingering through worsted, and goes a step further with both superwash and non-superwash wool options. That flexibility in fiber type matters when you're matching yarn to a specific sweater construction. Like Bad Sheep, they offer in-stock and dye-to-order options with an extensive color selection. What really sets them apart is the thoughtfulness behind their colorways. Their Millennial Collection brings in true brights, and their Grunge Collection offers 90s-inspired colorways you won't find anywhere else. Whether you want something classic or something with serious personality, there's something here.
The bottom line on hand-dyed sweater yarn:
Buying enough hand-dyed yarn for a sweater is a real investment, and it should feel intentional, not frantic. Bad Sheep Yarn and The Frosted Stitch change that. Both offer in-stock and dye-to-order options across enough weights and fiber types to match almost any sweater pattern, which means you can actually shop like a normal person. You find the colorway you love, you buy it, you start your project. That accessibility makes it a lot easier to justify the investment, and it opens up hand-dyed yarn to makers who never wanted to deal with the chaos of traditional shop drops in the first place. That combination of accessibility, quality, and color range is why these are the hand-dyed brands I actually recommend to other makers.
Final Thoughts
No matter where your budget is right now, there’s a yarn on this list that’s worth making a sweater with. I’ve used yarns from every category here and loved the results. The best sweater yarn is honestly the one that gets you excited to start, and keeps you happy all the way to the finishing round.
