Sunday, November 28, 2010

Yarn

When I first started crocheting I had no clue about yarn, weight, fiber, etc. I just picked out what I thought the was the prettiest yarn and went on with it. Well, now that I am crocheting a ton more yarn has become an important thing for me to gain a bit of knowledge on. I get a lot of questions about yarn, so I figured a post about the yarns I use would be helpful. Below I will chat about the yarns I use and the pros and cons:

I Love This Yarn.

I really do love this yarn! This is a basic worsted weight yarn, but it has such a soft feel to it. Much less rough than the Red Heart brand. It has many colors and even some yarns with a sparkly thread running through it. I love sparkle! This yarn is great to work with and is probably my most used yarn. The downside? You can only buy it at Hobby Lobby. I LOVE Hobby Lobby, but sometimes in a pinch it's nice to run to Meijer (which is literally in my backyard) and pick some yarn up there. Not the case with this stuff.


Sugar 'n' Cream


This is my go-to yarn for anything I am going to make out of cotton. I can pretty much find this yarn anywhere. I like other cotton yarns, but I found this one to inevitably have the best price. I use this for many of my monkey hats. It gives them a bit more texture. Downside? They make a ton of colors, but sometimes I wish there was still more variety. They offer a lot of variegated skeins, but I tend to like solid colors best. I also tend to run into problems getting the colors I need. I use the brown in this yarn a lot and find that everyone else must like it too because it is often sold out when I am looking for it.

Vanna's Choice
This yarn is awesome! It is a bit thicker than I Love This Yarn, but works up very similar. I love the colors in this yarn. There is a lot of variety and they just seem to be vibrant. I am using this yarn more and more, but I still can't get better bang for my buck than I Love This Yarn.

Bernat Satin

I feel in love with this yarn when I first used it. I crocheted everything with this. It has a satin look to it that gives your project a really pretty sheen. This yarn looks beautiful! It offers some great colors too. Downside? Not overly available. I can find it an my local 5 & Dime and they carry WAY more colors than Michael's does. One other downside? I don't think this yarn wears well. Initially, projects look great, but after a lot of use they can get a bit fuzzy.

Lion Wool-Ease Thick & Quick

This is the yarn I use when I need a good chunky yarn. This stuff works up quickly and has a real early look to it. I use this for some of my baby cocoons because it looks great in pictures. The downside? Cost. This yarn isn't cheap. Regularly $6.99 a skein at Michael's, so I often wait for it to go on sale AND use a coupon.


Red Heart Soft

I have to admit, I am not a fan of many of the Red Heart yarns, but they really hit the mark with this one. This yarn is soft, shiny, and offers rich colors that make projects look awesome! This price isn't too bad either. I have been using this yarn more and more as I really like the colors that are offered


So, there are my thoughts on my favorite yarns! I am looking into how to buy yarn in bulk, but still haven't found a site that has made it worth my while. Any thoughts?

Let me know what your favorite yarns are and why? I am always curious to know what others use. I visit yarn stores, but can't bear to buy the amazing expensive yarns, but I am thinking I should splurge someday and make something sweet for Belle. We shall see! Hopefully this was helpful, otherwise, send me your questions you still might have and I will try to answer them.

Pin It!

10 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for the info! I was wondering if you ever use Caron Simply Soft? I find it everywhere and I keep buying it but it seems everything I make with it comes out too small. Maybe I am not reading my labels correctly when I match them to my paterns. I am new to crocheting so it is very possible I just don't know what I am doing. Any advice on matching labels to patterns would be great. Emily

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love the "I Love this Yarn" and "Vanna's Choice!" Always have a giant stock of those :)

    You can buy the yarn online from Hobby Lobby and have it shipped for $3 this week!

    ReplyDelete
  3. That's a lot of the same stuff I use, but have yet to try the Hobby Lobby stuff. I hear it's amazing though. I know people who swear by it. I may have to get a couple skeins to try.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am a huge fan of Lion Brand yarns (especially Homespun, Vanna's Choice and Lion Cotton). I'm fortunate to live near a JoAnn store where I can get great deals with sales and coupons, so I usually stock up when prices are marked down. I just recently realized that Hobby Lobby sells yarn, too, so I'll have to try out your recommendation.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I also use TONS of I Love this yarn. Our church has a prayer shawl ministry and we use this yarn...but man the price has really gone up!

    ReplyDelete
  6. yep, the price really has gone up a lot.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Love this and no longer feel bad for using acryllics and inexpensive cottons. I used to use Debbie Bliss' "Pure Cotton" until I found Hobby Lobby's "I Love this Cotton" yarn. Super soft and beautiful! I have used a lot of Caron Simply Soft for knitting and crocheting and it just does not hold up well at all. Plus, as the 1st poster mentioned, I would consider it a 3 instead of a med. worsted 4. I always have to go down needles sizes with it. I've been hooking a ton lately and am very inspired by your designs. I've tried one of the hats you offer as a free pattern, and it's a HUGE hit with everyone!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh, and is it just me or do acryllics look great crocheted but terrible knitted??

    ReplyDelete
  9. I use the cotton-ease or Caron simply soft with your shell stitch beanie. Use Vanna's choice for headbands and most other things and wool-ease thick and quick for cowls and beanies. I also like the worsted weight wool-ease. I used the red heart soft for a baby beanie and diaper cover set and I agree! I usually dont use red heart because its scratchy but I really liked the soft and felt it was a good substitute for my go-to pick of vanna's choice.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thank you Betsy. It has always been a challenge for me to work through the different categories of yarn. Your information has been most helpful.

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails