This one sold already but…

I think I really like Sugarwheel yarn.  I can totally do color changes manually but I’ve decided ones that fade by themselves are just as good!

YarnBee Sugarwheel

I like this yarn, but it’s not as stiff as Red Heart Ombre.  I like the stiffness of the Red Heart because my hats hold their shape so well with it.  Also the Red Heart has a softer transition of colors, whereas this has a much more defined change between colors.

However, I can go fully from dark to light with no repeats with Sugarwheel so this might be my new fav!  Forest Fairy Twisted Witch Hat

Shame on you all

Oh also check this out.  From left to right, Red Heart Super Saver (Claret), Red heart Super Saver (Mulberry), Lion Brand Wool Ease.  The two red shades are a 4 yarn (in theory) and the  black one is supposed to be a 6, super bulky.  It feels like a 5 at best these days.

I got you now, Red Heart

So get this, I had two colors of Red Heart Super Saver, Claret, which was the one that felt thinner and lighter, and Mulberry, which felt like normal.  Both had the same label, same weight, same yardage (supposedly)

I completed a hat in both colors.  With the Mulberry I had maybe 5 yards left.  The Claret I easily have 20 left.

I also weighed the two hats.

The thin Claret is on the left, the normal ‘stiff’ RHSS is on the right.  You can see the size difference, and it would have been even worse but I increased the max stitch count at the head area from 65 to 70 on the Claret, and added 3 extra rows to the brim.  And STILL had a pile of yarn left over.

Also, the hat on the right weighed 12.9 ounces and the hat on the left weighed…. 10.1.  Nearly 3 ounce difference.  I wrote to Yarnspirations asking them to explain the situation.  I really don’t want to have to swatch on the same brand, same type of yarn, based on the COLOR or whatever else is going on.

What happened, Yarnspirations?

I had customized the witch hat pattern so it fit perfectly on most (female) heads. I’ve tried Red Heard Super Saver, Caron One Pound, Lion Wool Ease, Caron Simply Soft (too thin), I Love This Yarn.  As well as other brands I was given one way or another that had no labels or I don’t recall.

Well, a client had noted that of the two hats they purchased, one felt smaller.  It was a Caron One Pound + RHSS combo, the mermaid hat, vs one that was a mix of older RHSS Ombre and an I Love This Yarn. I had commented that the same weight yarn (4), hook, stitch count, etc, had all been used.  I was using yarn I’ve used for almost 100 hats no problem.

Well, I purchased some RHSS the other day and it’s clearly different.  It’s softer for one thing, but seems to fuzz up just by handling it.  RHSS use to squeak on my hook because it was rather rough and now it doesn’t.  I had to increase the width by 5 stitches but got so frustrated I pulled out a hat I made from the same yarn purchased over a year ago and look at the difference!

But CatchMe you say, maybe it’s just the curl.  For that I reply:

Huge difference.  I am not pleased.  I had the same problem with Lion Brand Wool-Ease.  I was using 60 stitches at the largest round, now it’s so thin I had to increase to 65!  What is going on?