I had never heard of Sprightly yarns before, not surprising since they are exclusive to Craftsy which is a company based in the USA.
So when I agreed to design a pattern for a Craftsy kit, I was delighted when this lovely yarn was shipped to me.
First of all you can get it shipped to the UK (and a lot more countries) and I checked out their shipping rates. Up to 42 balls of this yarn is at standard shipping rate of £11.33
Now the yarn is on sale at the moment at £2.19 (pretty much a bargain if you ask me) the normal price being £3.64. So if you decided to club together with friends (or hoard it all to yourself as I would) at the sale price with postage it works out at £2.49 a ball, which is still very reasonable.
Ok, so down to the yarn.
First it is aran (worsted) yarn and they suggest using UK-6mm, USA-J crochet hook or UK-5mm, USA-8 knitting needles
It is 100% acrylic and comes in 32 shades
It is 100g or 201 yards per ball, skein
Looking at the yarn in the ball, it has a soft even feel
Forest Green, Pewter Scarlet, Suede White , Black
PRO’s
Cheaply priced
Doesn’t tangle
Soft yet sturdy feeling
even thickness throughout
works up lovely- even after frogging lol
lots and lots of colours
machine wash and tumble dry- mean it is good for parents (must try some cardigans for Sarah)
CON’s
has to be shipped, so if you run out….arggg
not everyone likes acrylic yarns
I have decided to use the pewter in my newest design and i may have to get some shipped for future projects as it really is a lovely yarn to use
I picked out this yarn to remake pattern 87 and I thought I would do a review on it
Knitcraft Cotton Blend Plain by hobbycraft
(light pink)
First it is double knitting (light worsted) yarn and they suggest using UK-5mm, USA-H crochet hook or UK-4mm, USA-6 knitting needles
It is 50% acrylic 50% cotton and comes in 16 shades- 2 are mixes
At £3.30 for a 100g ball it is fairly cheap.
Looking at the yarn in the ball it look lovely and even and soft
PRO’s
Fairly cheaply priced
Doesnt seem to tangle
Soft yet sturdy feeling
CON’s
Feels thicker than I would expect from a double knitting yarn, I would not normally use a 5mm hook for a DK yarn
Hand wash, no tumble dry and cool iron, do not make it a parents friend
I am a very tight even crocheter, but I could not get this even. Even when I get to the end of a row and think it went well there will still be some pulled stitches (please see photo below)
Splits when crocheting which can be very annoying
In conclusion I have to say I am not a huge fan of this yarn. If it wasn’t for the splitting and weird stitches (see above) it would be quite good for amigurami or toys, possibly good for scrubbing cloths /potholders as it feels quite thick and sturdy. I won’t be picking this up to use again.
I thought i might start doing some yarn reviews so that you can see which yarns we use.
My first review is on a newly discovered yarn
Caron Simply Soft
(Chartreuse, Country Blue & Orchid)
It is a worsted (aran) weighted yarn and they suggest using a UK-5mm, USA-H crochet hook or UK-5mm, USA-8 knitting needles
It is 100% acrylic and comes in 52 lovely shades
Under $5 / £5 so not the cheapest or the most expensive yarn out there
I first discovered this yarn when i spotted a beautiful hat mum had made, I knew then i had to get me some and try it out!!
I decided on the Chartreuse- a beautiful lime green colour
and with this i made
PRO’s
It comes in a lot of colours
This yarn is so soft, making it a good choice for baby wear
Being machine washable and dryable makes it very versatile and parent friendly
Glides easily over your hook
Has a fuzzy natural look to the yarn
So far i have not come across any knotting in the yarn (where the yarn has stopped and they have rejoined it with a knot- one of the most annoying things to come across- I don’t like knots in my work, so I usually have to then cut and sew in ends) so that is definitely a plus point
It is readily available in the UK and USA which is a plus point for me when designing
CON’s
Tends to get tangled at the start, so you have to sort it out with multiple hands (this wastes precious crochet time)
The threads can split apart which can be annoying, if you have keep a tight tension on the yarn it makes it more likely to happen as you insert your hook, so keeping it slightly looser can help
It is thinner than other worsted (aran) weighted yarns I have used, but keeping an eye on your tension helps solves this
I had to google to find out what was the dye lot number on the label as it isn’t immediately obvious (it is the ww number)
In conclusion I have to say I like this yarn a lot. I love the soft sheen and the colours it comes in and I am working on another project with it at the moment and will definitely be using it again
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