I'm a crochet fan from childhood, a mother of 4, aunt to more than 25, part-time teacher, and a fiber arts professional for a few years. I've heard a lot of people claim a lot of things about just about every given yarn or thread from all over the place not to mention the tools used to color, felt, spin, weave, sew, knit, or crochet them. I finally learned that just like you can't judge a book by it's cover nor a person from a first impression....you simply can't judge a yarn or tool just on what someone tells you about it. Until you get those things In Your Hands, you aren't going to know for yourself.
Having said that....it does HELP if you at least know a good background behind the product that you are looking into so you know why the designer chose that particular thread source or tool and therefore you are able to make a more informed decision about what you would like to do with it yourself, how it is likely to respond to your given gauge, how to care for the finished product, how likely a sensitivity will be to occur, any aging or felting issues, etc., etc.
So, the goal here each week post something to help answer some of those questions based on my own experience so that you will all be more able to consider yourselves a little more informed as to these topics.
The first one I'm putting out there is the I Love This Yarn brand. It is a worsted weight brand exclusive to the Hobby Lobby craft store (and if that is not correct info I'd LOVE to hear!!!!)
It is a thread which we've used extensively for our crochet animal hats, scarves, mittens, baby blankets, you name it (yeah, I have fallen in love with it heaven help me, hahahaha). They have a great variety of colors and blends which work handsomely for blending (perfect for what I love to do which is "go animal shopping) so long as you can find the colors available that you are used to or needing (the advantage with this is that Hobby Lobby generally has terrific customer service with this so if you have a label with the given dye lot number they can often order it in for you). As with all yarns, you do need to be cautious about color bleed. I haven't personally had too much of an issue with it, but colleagues have reported that certain colors do tend to let a little color loose.
Another consideration for this yarn is that it is an acrylic. The advantage with this is that it will work wonderfully for helping to resist wind and rain (crucial when you have kids like mine who love pretending they're stormchasers, lol). It also is something to consider given that there have been reports of sensitivities and allergic reactions to acrylic blends, though I've not run against that with this brand at all thus far. Another advantage for this blend is how beautifully it seems to wash and age without too much felting, though it does have a tendency to stretch a little over time (so if the thread is used for a very lacy or thin project be prepared for this one....though on the flip side if you have kids that grow like mine do it isn't entirely a bad thing either, hehehe). A beautiful thing about acrylic is that it doesn't stain as easily....meaning it can sometimes even survive newborns, toddler picnics, maybe even tea parties with jam.
My favorite thing with this brand is just how incredibly soft it is at the same time as being durable. Especially for a worsted weight yarn, it is powerful to find a good quality acrylic that stands up well against use and abuse (for instance, I used it to make my son's baby blanket which survived not only the first year but also the next 3 years of fighting with siblings, mud pies, and holiday chocolate candy stashes and all the machine washing that comes with from a mom who HATES hand washing). One thing you need to remember about soft threads, however: when used with just one strand, they tend to stretch out more than a "regular" or a more tightly spun yarn so you may need to compensate accordingly if you choose this thread for a blanket or scarf.
Ok, so enough of my being wordy with my favorite crocheted hat yarn. What are your own favorites and why?
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