Yarn Review

I've been thinking of doing a weekly yarn review. I love yarn and have plenty of it. Most yarn reviews seem to come from knitters, so thought I'd offer my hooker thought on things...I'm gonna review high-end, low-end, independent and small farms yarns...Whatever strikes my fancy...and when I have no new projects to show...

I'm gonna start with the old workhorse Red Heart...Red Heart has been a staple of my yarning years, as it has many others. It is 100% acrylic and can be very rough, but gets softer with washing and use. It seems to have gotten rougher over the years. The variegated colors tend to be a bit softer. I am using Red Heart now. Why would you use Red Heart? Well it's sturdy and durable. It also has a good range of colors. I am using Peruvian Print and some coordinating shades because that's the closest colors of the nursery.
Now many people claim this is "baby melting" yarn. But has a baby ever been burned by it? I don't recall hearing of any stories. Don't natural yarns burn too? I understand that acrylic burns and melts, but if any blanket on a child was burning, the child will be injured. It's easy to care for and that's why I use it for some items. Although my husband is annoyed by the squeak it makes on my aluminum hooks, so I try to use my bamboo hooks with it.

Now another yarn that I love (I don't necessarily love Red Heart, but it has it's place) is Creatively Dyed Yarn, who is an independent dyer. I first bought some of this yarn at last year's Rhinebeck Festival. I had caught part of a conversation on Ravelry and decided to check her out. She was polite, nice, laughed alot and seemed to be overwhelmed by the response at Rhinebeck. I bought more of her yarn at Stitches a week later. I have only used her Beaches yarn. It is a Fingering 4 ply 100% merino. Very easy to work with. The color that I chose is a multi. I walked by it earlier in the day and it caught my eye. It was the only skein. When I came back later, it was still there, so it was destined to be mine...It has all of my favorite colors, autumn shades, in it. It was a color that she did for Rhinebeck and does not have a name.
I have made a pair of wrist warmers and a cozy for Hubs nook. He picked out the yarn. I still have a good sized ball left. Maybe a hat to go with the wrist warmers, hmmmm. I have some other CDY waiting in the wings. I also gifted some in a swap. I think I had about 6-8 skeins at one time. Can't wait to try Woodbrook next. She was my first independent dyer.