This is a nice book with lots of different ideas - there are a lot of different afghan styles here. Most of the yarns used for the photos look like rather cheap acrylics, but the patterns don't give the specific yarn used - they tell you the weight, e.g. worsted, and the amount to buy. 18 oz. of acrylic will go a lot further than 18 oz of wool, so i would definitely buy more than the quantity specified. Yardage is not given. It's an American book, so terms will have to be converted to UK. Some of the patterns are crocheted, rather than knitted.