Acrylic

I have a question: is acrylic yarn really so bad? I was at our glamorous Walmart today, and that's all they have (and cotton). I've been warned against using acrylic yarn--why should we stay away?

I guess I'll have to find a knitting shop (there's one in Des Moines I have yet to visit--another newer shop has closed its doors) to buy a wool blend.

Next project: I'm bound and determined to make something with various colours, so I'm going to start with a pot holder for which I have a pattern (three colours). A simpler project might actually be these newborn booties in the same book. One colour. It's also 1 star (in difficulty) vs. the 2 or 3 the book goes up to. I have a friend to whom these are designated. :)