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.

IKEA and Lions

This week I took a break from my normal routine of completing orders and made a new pattern. I usually feel guilty about working on something else when I have so many people waiting on orders, but I couldn't wait to try out this new pattern AND I was dying to get my hands hookin.' I had been eyeing this lion hat pattern for a long time and I finally bought it. I am SO happy with how it turned out. Anne, the lovely photographer that takes pics for me, passed along the picture today and it turned out great!! She said that the hat had her and the mother of this adorable baby laughing the entire time! Check it out:

On another exciting note, I finally made it to IKEA and purchased my long awaited shelf for my abundance of yarn. This sucker is HUGE, but it makes me so very happy! This offers me an insane amount of storage for my crochet materials. Yarn is really an annoying object to store. It gets tangled, knotted, and takes up a lot of space when you have 100+ skeins lying around. On top of the yarn issue, my hooks were everywhere. I will be the first person to say that I lack in the area of organization. I felt that this was the key to organizing my crocheting obsession, and in turn it would make my husband MUCH happier since he wasn't finding yarn all over the house.

DON'T YOU LOVE IT?? The munchkin in front is pretty darn cute too!

Things have continued to be hectic for me, but I have managed to stay on top of my life. I took a little vacay from the crochet business to focus on other areas of my life and I am ready to dive back in! Sorry for those still waiting for orders. I am getting to them as my life allows.

Okay, next post is going to be all about yarn! Brands, weight, where to buy, and my favorite! If you have any questions about yarn that you want me to answer send me your questions!

Can't Wait!

I am so sorry that this post will have few pics. My camera battery is currently dead and we left the charger in Indiana a couple of weeks ago. I SOOO want to share a new set of booties I made last week. Soon enough! Once I get that camera back I will be posting many pics!

One item I will be sure to post is the new organizing book shelf. I am planning on purchasing my new life saver this Saturday, which means I will make Paul put it together on Sunday when I get home from my shopping extravaganza! I can't wait!! I went out today and bought many of the canvas baskets I will need. I have already started organizing my yarn and it feels SO good. However, I can't believe how many times I have bought the same skein of yarn over and over because I didn't think I had it...now I have the same color in 4 skeins! Hopefully this new shelf will alleviate the problem of buying yarn when I don't need it.

Other than that, not much is major exciting over here. I am 25% of the way through my internship. Wow, that sounds so behind on where I want to be. I am really loving it, but hate how much time it consumes within my week. I miss my girl, and my house becomes a DISASTER. Someday when my internship and my schooling is all done I won't know what it is like to have my Tuesday nights free and not have to go into "work" three days a week. Keep praying me through!

Lastly, I wanted to share a picture of one of my hats. My mom gave this hat as a gift for a couple in their church who adopted this little peanut, Alyda. Could she be any cuter?!?! Her mom, Lea, shared this picture with me and I was thrilled to show it off.


Oh, and BTW, I am hoping to write a post about yarn soon. I have had a lot of yarn questions, so I am thinking about posting about my favorite yarn, most hated yarn, where I get my yarn, etc....stay tuned!

On Your Hook This Week

Not much to report this week.....life has been busy, Belle has been sick, and my hands have been workin'!

I need to take more pictures of things I have been making, but once I finish them they are off and in the mail. Needless to say, I have been making loads of owl hats, a cocoon, some newsboy hats, flowers, and tons of monkey hats!! It is crazy how many orders have been coming in and I am surprised at how quickly I have been turning them around. It feels good!

The problem with so many orders is that I tend to have loads and loads of yarn EVERYWHERE! Paul is a saint to put up with it. Belle somehow finds it all of the time and gets herself all wrapped up in it. I am in need of an intervention! So, here is my solution:

So many cubbies just waiting for baskets of yarn! This will be upstairs in our house. I am hoping to purchase this beauty in 2 weeks....I promise to post pics when done!

Oh, and let's have a linky party! It has been awhile and I want to see what everyone else has been up to!