Knitting and Crochet Blog Week: Day 1 - A Tale of Two Yarns

Any yarncrafter will tell you they have favorite yarns, and then there are the yarns they love to hate. My favorite yarns do not split during crocheting, and are fun to work with. This doesn't necessarily mean a smooth yarn. Some of my favorites include

• Brown Sheep Co. Lamb's Pride Bulky & Worsted - not especially soft as it's 100% wool (is there such a thing as soft wool?) but I adore the color changes in the variegated colorways. It glides through my fingers as I work with it. It also felted very nicely, which is what I needed for my project.

Oro hat, before felting, in Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted

• Trendsetter Yarns Pandora - I absolutely loved, loved, loved the texture changes (ruffled ribbon to fur to soft squishy pom-poms) of this yarn. It was so much fun to crochet with, too. I hope to use it again some day. 

GDF Scarf in Trendsetter Yarns Pandora

• Bernat Bamboo - I just want to snuggle this yarn in my hands and brush it against my cheek all day long. It is so touchably soft. Even though the yarn strand is textured from it's twist, it doesn't snag on the hook. There is a wave scarf in my future created from Bernat Bamboo.

Bernat Bamboo skeins in Corn and Dill colorways

Then there are yarns I've used and come to despise. These tend to be textured yarns (boucle anyone?), or yarns that easily split, but again, not always. I crocheted a Kindle case for Hubby for Christmas, and used Jo-Ann Sensations Lodge yarn, which apparently has already been discontinued, because I couldn't find it on Joann.com. The yarn made me bonkers. My hook kept snagging in the black thread cocoon around the yarn. It is a bulky-weight yarn, which I thought would work up quickly and provide extra padding for the Kindle, but I was not at all happy with the "look" of the results.

Hubby's Kindle case in Jo-Ann Sensations Lodge