Acrylic and Margarine

Sooo ... I was making dinner on Friday and I got to thinking - how did acrylic yarn get such a bad rap? It's machine washable, easy to work with, available in a multitude of colors and textures and it's hypoallergenic. How did it become the black sheep of the fiber family?

The series of events that led me here was that I was making fish for lunch and reached into the refrigerator for my all-fat, all-joy, real honest-to-goodness butter for the sauce and came up empty-handed. I was upset. I was in the middle of cooking, so a trip to the store was out of the question. I did, however, have margarine. Butter's low cholesterol, less fantastic little brother would have to play the part. It did, and the sauce was wonderful. The margarine melted beautifully and had a nice rich flavor to it. I began thinking how, even in my own non-spectacular cooking, I had written off margarine as the tasteless alternative for old people with heart problems. Maybe margarine wasn't so bad for some things, after all.

Later on in the evening, I was thinking of knitting up a small pillow cover for my toddler. I went to the closet and consulted my stash -- wool? Nope. Can't wash it. Cotton? Nope, too stiff for a nice soft pillow. It was then I reached way back and pulled out a long forgotten ball of Red Heart. Acrylic? Really? I knitted up a pillow cover and washed it. It came out surprisingly soft, and unlike wool, the same size. Acrylic was good for something after all. I could go to the store and get several colors and make one for every day of the week if I wanted to. It wouldn't cost me a fortune and no handwashing involved. So there. I made something from acrylic yarn -- and liked it!

So, remember, don't discount the versatility of acrylic just because of its discount price. Love and enjoy your acrylic right along with all the other options out there. Sometimes the underdog is the best one for the job.