What’s Your Favorite Yarn Brand?
By Rachel Choi – 59 Comments| I was recently asked by a reader, what my favorite yarn was and it was a pretty hard question for me to answer. For me it all depends on the material I’m looking to use. For instance, I use acrylic a lot for everyday things, so my favorite acrylic yarn is Caron Simply Soft. I love the softness, the colors, plus it’s a decent price for what you get. My favorite novelty yarn is Sensation’s Boucle yarn (this yarn is soft too), although I hated it the first time I tried to crochet with it. |  |
I think I’m starting to realize that I’m a sucker for all the “soft” yarns no matter what the material is, because when I first started crocheting I used a lot of cheap Red Heart yarn, and that stuff is rough (the opposite of soft). I must admit that there’s tons of yarns that I haven’t tried yet, so I bet that my favorite yarns will constantly be changing.
Do you have a favorite brand of yarn?
My favorite brand would probably be Red Heart Super Saver :] It’s the brand I’ve used since I started crocheting and it’s good for so many different types of projects.
I have to agree with you about the Red Heart yarn! When I first started crocheting nearly 40 years ago that was about all you could get. Still is in this small town in which I live. But when I go to the larger town 70 miles away I stock up. I don’t crochet much with yarns anymore as the fibers that get loose and fly around kill my sinus. I do love to crochet with cotton thread, though! I use a lot of Aunt Lydia’s size 10 crochet cotton. I just love it!
Have a Blessed Day,
Diane
I am a huge fan of acrylic yarns. I like them because they are a great price and they are wonderful for most items. My favorite acrylic yarn at the moment is Caron Simply Soft. Great price….great value. However…I just discovered Red Heart Soft yarn. This is a little more expensive, but when I get it on sale it totally rocks!
I haven’t ventured out into other types necessarily yet. I can tell you that I do not like working with Fun Fur. It is too hard for me to see what I’m doing.
I can’t wait to see what other yarns people love!
I’ve fallen in love with Lion Brand. It’s a little more expensive than Red Heart but they have such a variety.
I love BlueSkyAlpacas, their baby alpaca yarn is wonderful! And their cotton yarn comes in sooo many pretty colors. Their colorway is just so vibrant in all their yarns.
I’m also a fan of certain types of Cascade yarn. I’m currently making a sweater out of a Cascade wool sock yarn that is so deliciously soft and such a pretty color.
I love Caron Simply Soft. It is my yarn of choice. I also love Caron Eco yarn and even their Natura brand. Pretty sure Caron is my favorite all around!
However, I often use Red Heart, because the only store in my area to buy yarn is WalMart and that is basically all they sell. It is easy to work with. I have discovered that their multi-colors are softer and more flexible than their plain colors. Don’t ask me why. It’s kinda weird. lol
I agree with Kim about Fun Fur. I have a really hard time with it – especially if I stop in the middle of the project and come back to it, I can’t figure out where in the pattern I am!
I prefer for all my crocheted blankets the Lion Brand Homespun because it is so soft and like the texture look that it gives to the blanket. I have used it for some hats and scarfs as well and they turn out really awesome. My teenage niece and her girlfriends love them and wear them before surfing and after surfing or just to go to the mall.
I miss the Lion Brand Homespun Baby I thought it was the softest baby yarn that was out there, I wish they hadn’t discontinued it.
I bought a huge lot of plain white cotton yarn for bathroom accessories and it is currently one of my favorites. But I also really like acrylic yarn for dog sweaters and fingerless gloves, and Caron “simply soft” for scarves and baby stuff for my nephew. I’m pretty much all over the place and haven’t found just ONE “favorite”. 😉
I just LOVE all the yarns Caron puts out. Simply Soft is my go-to for afghans and the Country and Spa lines are my new favorites for wearbles. They are a little more pricey, but sooooo SOFT!!! 🙂 Linda
I use alot of:
Red Heart Super Saver
Caron Simply Soft
Sugar and Cream Cotton
Bernat Baby Coordinates
The main reason I use those types of yarn the most is that’s just about all we can buy where I live. There are only two stores in our town that actually sell yarn: Walmart and Magic Mart. Walmart recently started stocking a couple of new yarns that I’m eager to try but I have alot of stash yarn that I need to use first 🙂
Lion Brand: the Fishermen’s Wool and the organic cotton; and also the Lily brand cotton. Plus there’s some handspun alpaca I just love, which doesn’t have a brand – somebody around here does their own shearing/carding/spinning. Those are the ones that *feel* best to me when working with them. For me, texture is everything! I tried silk and love the feel, but hate the slippiness.
I rather like the Red Heart to learn new stitches, since it’s stiffer than most other yarns and more cohesive, and I use it for projects that will end up taking a lot of abuse, since it’s pretty sturdy. I just tried some of the Vanna’s Choice, and that worked up almost as easily as the Red Heart, and was softer.
At the moment Caron Simply Soft and Sugar and Cream Cotton seems to be my favorite’s. They are both so easy to work with. I have some other “fun” yarn that are “furry” but, I think they are a lot harder to work with and I’m not real fond of them but, I haven’t given up on working with them.
I agree with you that most RH is not soft. But I do like their Soft Yarn and do use it on occasion. Its not as shiny or slippery as Simply Soft, which I also use.
If I had to choose ONE brand, it would have to be Bernat…..I use their yarns a lot. But I also like Crystal Palace and Claudia’s Handpainted. 🙂
In my town we only have Micheals, Zellers and a Walmart, so I am ,limited to Red Heart, Bernat and Lionbrand yarns like Vanna’s Choice. You can’t buy Caron yarns here. So I tend to use Vanna’s choice since it is softer then RH. Our local Micheals has limited colors of Vanna’s choice however (no red!! and only one brown shade) so my projects are usually off color or some weird mix of RH and Vanna’s choice.
I agree with all the Fun fur haters. It is so hard to work with, I use it a little to make hair for dolls and it makes me angry and confused. I never know where I am in my rounds, I usually just guess. I don’t know how anyone could make something large like a scarf with that stuff.
I love Lion brand and Bernat yarns. I find myself buying yarn because I can see something in my head it would be pretty as.
Yet I am not at the skill level just yet, but I’ll get there. My Grandmother did the same thing with fabric! LOL
I like to use all yarns from Caron, Redheart Soft, Vanna’s Choice, and some Bernat yarns. I hate using rough yarn because it rubs and irritates my hands while I’m working on a project. Caron is just so smooth and pretty.
Red Heart SS and Lion brand are my favs, especially homespun. Caron simply soft splits and frays waaay too much for me.
Right now I am using cotton yarn to make a water bottle tote. This is a great topic, and I am making notes about yarns to try.
For the people who want to crochet with the furry yarns but have trouble with them. Try using one strand of furry yarn with a strand of Red Heart or some other smooth yarn in a project. It works nicely that way and it’s easier to see your stitches.
I like Vanna’s Choice yarn but I use a lot of acrylic like Red Heart just because I bought a ton when I first started learning to crochet. It was easier for me to work with. I’m not too fond of working with fuzzy yarns but thats just because I haven’t had much practice.
Maybe it’s ’cause I recently got into crocheting after a break of a few years, but I’m a red heart super saver fan, and not because it’s cheap. To me red heart super saver is soft. I don’t get that rough brillo pad like feeling from it. It also has a bit more sturdy texture to it for me. I’ve worked with Lion Brand yarn and Caron Soft yarn and a bunch of other yarns (all acrylic), but none of these more delicate textures really feel like they’ll not only stand up to what I’m working on, usually afghans, throws and the such, but also keep me warm.
They just don’t hold up like Red Heart Super Saver does. Whenever I touch ’em I get this warning of “be careful; this yarn is delicate and if you’ve extremely bad luck your project will rip”, so I use those kinds (Bernat Satin, this crazy lovely “Impeccable” (found that one at Michael’s) yarn brand, and Vanna’s Choice/Lion brand just to name a few brands I’ve used) for things like decorative pillows (the ones that require pillow forms), decorative light clothing items and amigurumi projects. To a large degree it depends on what I’m working on. For example, I’ve used red heart super saver to make a poncho, following a red heart pattern. But..Red heart super saver is just so….heavy and sturdy, let’s just say I don’t like it for items that are supposed to be light and comfortable (I guess?). I wore the poncho once and I nearly tipped over from its own weight.
I grew up with Red Heart, its what my mom used and its what I use for a lot of my projects. but I do love lion brand
I love the Vanna’s Choice acrylics from Lion Brand.They are so soft and cushy. The Vanna’s Choice Baby colors are so cute like Goldfish and Sweet Pea. I also bought a TON of Red Heart Super Savers when I first started, so I have been trying to use it up. But, man that stuff is rough. It is good for things where you need the item to keep it’s shape or stand. The Simply Soft is nice,but it seems a bit thinner than other worsted weight acrylics I’ve tried. I’m going to try the Lion’s Brand Homespun for my next afghan. I was worried the texture might be hard to work with, but everyone seems to love it.
My favorite yarn is Vanna’s Choice by Lionbrand. The drape is wonderful and the colors mix and match effortlessly. I agree with others that Red Heart is great for new stitches and sturdy projects. I like using Red Heart super saver for amigurumi and craft projects. I also love Red Heart’s soft yarn too. Their colors are rich and vibrant
Hi there,
I’m sure I could have better favorites, but as I don’t have much choice in the stores here my most favorite brand for crochet at this moment would be ‘Catania’ of Schachenmayrr. It’s a 100% cotton yarn and comes in a wide variety of colors.
I’m not a big fan of Red Heart either for the same reason – too rough in my hands – but I will use it occasionally. My personal favorite line of yarn is made by Hobby Lobby. It’s their I Love This Yarn line. I really do love this yarn so it’s perfectly named if you ask me. The acrylic manages to be sturdy like Red Heart but soft and squishy like Caron plus its available in both worsted and sport weights. They also carry a 100% wool line which is feltable and a 100% cotton which is the softest cotton I’ve ever worked with. IMHO all of Hobby Lobby’s line of yarns are great, affordable yarns.
Oh I Love simply soft 🙂
Gretchen you beat me to it … I love the Hobby Lobby Yarn “I Love this Yarn”
I love Simply Soft by Caron, but I too have discovered both Vanna’s Choice yarn and Hobby Lobby’s “I Love This Yarn”. Both of them are soft to work with and easy to pull from the skein. Also neither of them split like Simply Soft does when you’re working with it. I also love Hobby Lobby’s “I Love This Cotton” yarn for all things kitchen.
I had a kind of biased view of Red Heart Super Saver being the very best because all through my childhood that was the only yarn my mom used, so naturally I gravitated toward it when I started crocheting. It’s a decent price and there’s a large variety of colors (although Michaels and AC Moore only seem to carry a fraction of it). It’s sturdy and easy to work with except for the occasional knot in the middle of the skein but I will agree it’s quite rough compared to other brands. I have branched out to other brands for certain projects, but anything I have to mass-produce like my amigurumi I stick to Red Heart. Anything wearable I’d pick up something softer, especially if it’s for a baby.
But *sigh* I remember back in the early to mid-90s when I was a kid and my mom was at the height of her crocheting days and Bradlee’s still existed. They had a huge section of yarn that was, like, 90% Red Heart. They had all the colors including numerous of the multi-colored skeins. I loved going there with my mom and just looking at the different shades of blue and green and the multi-colored ones and picking out colors for blankets. Those were the days.
I’ve liked some of JoAnn’s Sensations yarns, especially the ones with wool. I just wish they would not discontinue them so rapidly. I made a set of mittens with a fabulous wool tweed that’s now gone, along with their Pacaboo prints (50% wool, 25% alpaca, 25% bamboo rayon). They seem to keep their uglier prints of acrylics and discontinue their best yarns. Sigh. I’ve been needing wool yarns for Afghans for Afghans projects and found those yarns reasonably affordable and useful. I must remember to try immediately yarns I find on-sale in case I really do like them, in case they are being discontinued in color or the yarn as a whole.
I also like some of their acrylic prints that are very soft but easy to use.
If you don’t have yarn stores close by, do try internet sources for good buys — Herrschner’s, Mary Maxim, ebay, etc.
Paton’s “Bohemian”!!! For softness, it outshines all the rest. But it certainly isn’t your everyday yarn. It’s hard to find, too. I wonder if it will eventually be discontinued…?
Most of the time I buy Lion Brand because it is the most readily available at Michael’s and AC Moore. There is a nice selection of colors and textures. Lately, I’ve been buying Vanna’s Choice and Vanna Baby. I also like Bernat and Caron. I love to buy yarn and have quite a stash!
I started with some Red Heart that I already had, but tired of it quickly. I will put out a heads up- my Walmart started carrying Simply Soft this fall. Before they only had the SS Eco. They are also carrying a few of Lion Brand’s Hometown line and some Homespun as well. I don’t know if this is a trial program or what, so you could try asking at your Walmarts and let them know you want some more!
Now, to be more on topic… I have a serious weakness for wool, and have loved Cascade’s yarns in particular, as well as the Patons I found at Michaels. In acrylic I like the Simply Soft and the I Love This Yarn best. In cotton, I like Lily’s Sugar n Cream, but haven’t tried much else.
Some of my favorite yarn is the yarn I have gotten out of unraveling sweaters, mostly cotton. I have finally gotten some wool going, too. 🙂
My very favorite yarn is Bernat, with a close second being Lion Brand. I’ve found from experience using both the Red Heart supersaver compared to Bernat…that the Bernat is much softer.
Hands down, Vanna’s choice from Lion Brand yarn! It is a perfectly soft and cushy acrylic yarn for all the amigurumi that I make. I do occasionally use Red heart super savers when I’m real tight on money, but I prefer not to cause it’s just a little too rough for me. Plus Vanna’s choice has incredible colors in both the regular and baby line! My local craft store Joanne’s always has a huge variety of colors 🙂
I have yet to tackle wool- probably because it’s more expensive and there are less washable options (I crochet a lot of baby toys so they need to be washable!) but I would probably try a Lion Brand option there too.
My favorite yarn is I Love This Yarn from Hobby Lobby. It’s gone up to $2.99 now, but I still find it so worth it!
It really depends on the project, hook size and my mood. I really prefer I Love This Yarn from Hobby Lobby too. Gretchen said it best. I find it doesn’t split as easily as the Caron but you don’t sacrifice the softness. I really like all they have to offer in that brand. Lion Brand has so many varieties and colors although you do pay more. The Vanna Baby line colors are some of my favorites. Brand aside, my husband got me some bamboo yarn from Hobby Lobby for a gift this past Christmas to make a scarf with. Treat yourself. It is the softest yarn you will crochet with! The texture is out of this world and it is the warmest scarf! I even had enough to make a matching hat. It’s more than I would pay for for yarn for most projects but I’m glad I got to play with it.
In acrylic yarns, my favorite presently is probably Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice though I do like several other brands. I buy yarn quite often online and look for free shipping coupons and discounts. I do not like yarns that have a lot of thick spots, thin spots, knots, and when I findd odd colors in my yarn, like red bits in my blue and such. Right now, I’m in the market for some bright light pink to replace the Mary Maxim light pink which has been discontinued. I used to use it for cancer ribbon ghans.
I started out on the acrylic yarns, but now just love the DK wool, like dolce Merino. Honestly, if you ever try these yarns, it’s so hard to go back! I like my stitches to look really crisp and defined, and this yarn is great for that. For my hats, I use Vanna, and for my wrist warmers I use I Love This yarn, a great all around soft but strong yarn. Another really fun yarn is Sassy Skein. Their colors are really bright and happy, and they are great for crocheted flowers and itty bitty fun stuff. The yarn is shiny and DK weight. Like a lot of the ladies who have participated in this blog, I live in a very remote part of the country and order online quite a bit. Joann’s is great to order from online, and they have tons of different yarns they do not offer in their stores. Check it out!
My favorite, like a few others here, has to be “I Love This Yarn” at Hobby Lobby. So soft and I really like the colors. I recently tried their “I Love This Cotton Yarn” and agree with an earlier commenter that it is by FAR the softest cotton I’ve ever used. I’ve been using that for Tunisian crocheted dishcloths and they turn out so nice and wash well.
I like it all, Red Heart has more body to it than caron simply soft, but caron is good for some things, although i agree, it slides around, and frays a bit more than red heart, i like vanna’s choice, sugar and cream, Lion Brand Wool ease, and well all of them! I like to mix and match for variety, texture and color, and have a great collection of the fancy yarns as well, fun fur, boucile,
and eyelash to mention a few. I guess i too, don’t have a favorite, i like um all….
I probably use RH the most only because it’s cheap and has a wide color variety. I really like Hobby Lobby’s “I Love This Yarn” because it’s so soft, but the colors are limited. I also like Vanna’s Choice but not as good a value as RH. My least favorite is the Caron Simply Soft…I don’t like the shiny look of that yarn.
I knit but my fave yarn is Bernat Cotton Tots:D
Rachel,
I Favor Redheart. I Have Used Caron simply Soft, And Enjoy The Softness Of It. But I’ve Always Been A Loyal Fan Of Red Heart
Dottie In Va
Carmel: I like that, a weakness for wool… yep, me too. I love the tiny little crisp crunch or squeak it makes when you work with it, and the stretch.
Somebody mentioned wanting to try Homespun – well, the colors are gorgeous, but it’s a pain in the rear to work with. They snag, and if you don’t work your stitches loosely enough, they’re really impossible. I found it better to use a rounded hook than a pointed hook. I usually use the more pointy hooks but that was a disaster with Homespun. That being said… I did get used to it after a while and it does work up into a lovely soft fabric.
I’m addicted to Berroco Comfort for just about anything, though I do like some of Cascade and Crystal Palace yarns too. I order just about all of my yarn online anymore. Sadly, even the Soft Caron isn’t soft enough for me anymore. Luckily, Berroco isn’t TOO much more expensive (on sale).
I don’t have the kinds you suggest in my country (Netherlands), but I often use Katia Mississippi (100% thick cotton, to be used with mostly 5,0 mm hooks), Online (various sorts, mostly the combination cotton/acryl) and the thin thread of Steinbach Wolle (used with 1,25-3,0 mm hooks, I used the 1,75 mm hook for your Barbie-Triangle-top in bright pink). So you see we depend on the German yarns here mostly.
I first used to take the most inexpensive/cheapest type (Wibra-acryl), but I discovered that this kind of yarn would make my hands ache and didn’t last as long (wasn’t washable and got real ugly, didn’t stay in shape), so I decided to go to a real wool-shop in Kampen and found out that when I crochet I stuck the hook in the thread with the yarn from Wibra, but when I asked in this shop (Pengouin in Kampen) there were al lot of yarns I could use that I don’t stick my hook or needle through.
I think it depends a lot for me on what I’m making. For things like afghans and household items, I see no reason to spend extra money when I can use Red Hea. But I love beautiful wool yarns as well – they are so soft. I love to browse yarn stores and see and feel all the different textures. One of my favorites lately has been Feza – they have some really beautiful colors.
Glad to find a fellow Pennsylvainian who enjoys crocheting. I love Caron yarn. If a yarn doesnt feel good in my hands it tends to become a permenent work in progress. lol I am presently trying to teach myself to do tunisian stitches. Do you have any patterns that would be simple and easy to make that would help me practice my stitching?
Hey Karen, You can type the word “Tunisian” in the search box at the top of the page and some patterns should pop up for you.