Knitting & Crochet Wool Yarn

Wool yarn for knitting and crochet

In the UK “wool” is used for yarn of every kind, but on this page it means the real thing: yarn spun from sheep's fleece, and blends built around it. Wool is elastic, so stitches spring back and cables and ribbing hold their shape. It is warm even when damp, it blocks beautifully, and it forgives an uneven tension in a way that cotton and acrylic do not. If you are knitting a jumper, a hat or anything that needs to keep its shape after a winter of wear, wool is the fibre to reach for.

Which wool should you choose?

For softness next to the skin, merino wool yarn is the standard — fine fibres, no prickle, and widely available in DK and aran weights. For pure, undiluted fleece, 100% wool yarns skip the synthetic content altogether and are the right answer for felting and for hard-wearing outerwear. If you want speed, chunky wool yarn and giant yarn turn a blanket into a weekend project rather than a winter one. Tweed yarn adds flecks of colour to a wool base and flatters cables and colourwork; sock yarn adds nylon so heels survive.

Wool blends, and when they are the better buy

Blending is not a compromise so much as a tuning fork. Wool with acrylic is machine washable and much cheaper by the metre, which is why it dominates baby knits and blankets. Wool with alpaca, cashmere, silk or mohair buys drape, halo or shine that pure wool does not have on its own. Wool with cotton cools a garment down for spring. If sustainability is the deciding factor, recycled yarn includes reclaimed wool.

Caring for wool

Most wool wants a cool hand wash and a flat dry — heat and agitation are what felt it. Superwash wool has been treated so the scales cannot lock together, and it will take a gentle machine cycle; the label will say so. Always knit a tension square and wash it before you commit, because wool relaxes when it is blocked and a jumper that fits on the needles can grow an inch in the wash.

Where to go next

Browse by weight instead: 4 ply, DK, aran and worsted, chunky and super chunky. If your pattern uses an unfamiliar weight name, our yarn weights guide translates UK, US and AUS terms. Then find something to make with knitting patterns and crochet patterns.