In the past, I've just known that I have a preference for natural fibers (particularly wool) but I hadn't really gone too in depth into differentiating fiber content. I've been learning more about fiber content and behavior lately and have even gone further into breaking "wool" down into more specific breeds. So one of my goals over the next few years is to get various breeds and knit lots of swatches and small projects to see how different breeds behave. But that's not what I'm going to go into here. Instead, let's look at a broader overview and what kind of yarn you might pick for shawl knitting.
A lot of shawls are written for fingering weight yarn, and I'm sure you've heard people say that if you have a bunch of sock yarn in your stash, you can make shawls instead of yet another pair of socks. And although that is true in most cases, take a closer look at your "sock yarn." Sometimes people use "sock yarn" and "fingering weight" interchangeably but sometimes "sock yarn" is a bit more specific. Think about the properties of yarn that you might want for your socks: something that is going to hold up to wear especially around the heel and toes. So what gets put in a lot of yarns intended for socks? Nylon. And nylon is a great strengthener for making socks. But it's not always that great when you want to make shawls. Do you really need your shawl to stand up to a lot of heavy wear? (If the answer is yes, then perhaps nylon in the yarn would be a good idea for you.) Also, most yarns that are intended for socks will have a tighter twist (again, so it will wear better), and too tight of a twist can mean that the lace patterning doesn't show up as well. So I'm not saying don't use sock yarn with nylon for shawls, but it wouldn't be my first choice (except for when it's a blend of merino, cashmere, and nylon. I forgive the nylon because of the cashmere and have made some nice shawls with MCN).
What about something like bamboo? I know that thinking about knitting in warmer weather means wanting to move away from wool yarn, so people often turn to something like bamboo. This is where swatching can be extremely helpful. And not just swatching for gauge--swatching to see how the yarn is going to behave after it has been knitted. This is where I'd recommend doing a fairly large swatch using part of the lace pattern of the shawl. Then you'll want to wash and block the swatch. But for bamboo, I'd do one more thing--hang it (after it's dry) and let it hang for a few days. Does it grow? I have a scarf that I made using 100% bamboo. I remember finishing the scarf and wishing I had gotten another skein because it seemed a bit short. It hangs on my coat rack and has taught me quite a lesson about bamboo: that scarf is now easily twice as long as it was when I finished knitting it! Bamboo has a tendency to grow! This might be just fine in something like a shawl, but you should test it first to make sure that it doesn't grow so much that you're no longer happy with the finished item. (As for my scarf, I love it more now than when I finished knitting it, so that was a stroke of luck for me since I did not swatch when I did the scarf.)
Another fiber that grows a lot is alpaca. Mmmm. Alpaca. So soft. I love alpaca. But I'm very careful with what I choose to knit with alpaca and I tend to use a much smaller needle than called for to help tame the alpaca and keep it from growing too much. This is a bit problematic when knitting a lace shawl as usually you use a larger needle size than the yarn calls for when knitting lace. Because alpaca is a pretty dense fiber, it can get relatively heavy, which can cause it to stretch out of shape but also might not be the lightweight spring/summer shawl that you're looking for. So this is another fiber that really benefits from a good swatch that you wash and check the behavior of the swatch. Or get alpaca blended with something else (such as wool) to help keep it from expanding too much. Alpaca is wonderful (and I'd personally love to make a shawl out of it); just make sure you're informed about what you'll end up with so you'll be happy with your finished shawl.
Silk. I have a beautiful skein of 100% silk in my stash. I want to make a shawl out of it. But I've been hesitating. Silk is really slippery and it doesn't "bounce" the way wool does. That means it's going to have a very relaxed drape (which actually isn't that bad for a shawl) but also that silk is a bit unforgiving. Sometimes when working with wool, if you have stitches that aren't perfect, when blocking, you can smooth things out (not perfect means irregular--not actual mistakes. Perhaps you pulled a little more tightly on a stitch or two and want it to more evenly match the others around it--using wool can help you do that a bit during blocking.). But with silk, since it has no memory and no bounce, it's going to pretty much look like it looks as you're knitting it. (This becomes most apparent if you have large blocks of stockinette or garter stitch--so if you want to use pure silk, pick your stitch pattern accordingly.)
Honestly, I like using wool, of various types of breeds, for shawls because--after a good blocking--I've been most happy with the shawls I've made in wool. Now as for which breed of wool, Merino is the ever popular choice, but I'm hoping to expand my knowledge and experience and try things like Border Leicester (one of the three breeds featured in a past issue of PLY Magazine), which has a much longer staple length than merino and therefore will knit up differently (I mention this breed in particular because it is so different from merino and also because I picked up some earlier this year and am looking forward to working with it).
What is your favorite fiber for knitting shawls? What would you like to try?
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