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When it comes to crochet, and other parts of my life actually, I am a creature of habit. I find a way I like doing something then I do it that way every time! With crochet, I basically only use I Love This Yarn from Hobby Lobby. Sometimes ill use I Love This Cotton when I’m making baby things, and I’ve used Caron One Pound yarn from some rug designs I’ve been working on, but that’s about it!
I’ve been making an effort to try new yarns this year and I thought a great way to do that would be to make my favorite design, the Claire Bun Beanie, in lots of different yarn brands and see how each one works up. I tried 6 different yarns and ordered them from favorite to least favorite. All of the yarns were lovely to use though, and just because it’s my least favorite doesn’t mean you won’t love it! I made sure to use the exact same hook for each beanie so there weren’t any tension issues.
Yarn: Yarn Bee Soft and Sleek
Color: Teal Green
Type: 100% Low Pill Acrylic
Yarn Weight: Medium 4
Skein Size: 5oz/232 yards
Price: 3.99 (Hobby Lobby)
Notes: This was my favorite yarn, I may even like it more than I Love This Yarn! It’s so squishy and soft. The sizing turned out perfect and the finished beanie looks super nice and well made!
Yarn: Red Heart Soft
Color: Deep Sea
Type: 100% Acrylic
Yarn Weight: Medium 4
Skein Size: 5oz/256 yards
Price: 7.03 (Amazon)
Notes: I really liked this yarn! The Claire Bun Beanie worked up perfectly sizing wise and the yarn has a glossy look to it that makes the beanie look unique! It is also super soft and squishy.
Yarn: Lion Brand Heartland
Color: Grand Canyon
Type: 100% Acrylic
Yarn Weight: Medium 4
Skein Size: 5oz/251 yards
Price: 7.50+ (Amazon)
Notes: The sizing was perfect with this yarn and the finished beanie looks great! This yarn was also super soft. I did notice the heartland yarn split easily and I had to frog my work a couple times because of it, but it might have been because I was using a Susan Bates hook.
Yarn: Red Heart with Love
Color: Berry Red
Type:100% Acrylic
Yarn Weight: Medium 4
Skein Size: 6oz/315 yards
Price: 5.89 (Walmart)
Notes: This yarn was a little thicker than the others and the beanie turned out too big. It’s very soft though and I like the look of the finished beanie. If I were going to use this yarn regularly, I would drop down a hook size.
Yarn: Vanna’s Choice
Color: Barley
Type: 92% Acrylic 8% Rayon
Yarn Weight: Medium 4
Skein Size: 3oz/145 yards
Price: 3.99 (Michaels)
Notes: The sizing turned out perfectly for this beanie and the color is beautiful. This yarn isn’t as soft as some of the others though and the skein is only 3oz making it the smallest of the 6 I tried.
Yarn: Caron One Pound
Color: Soft Sage
Type: 100% Acrylic
Yarn Weight: Medium 4
Skein Size: 16oz
Price: 9.69 (Amazon)
Notes: This was my least favorite yarn for Claire Bun Beanies. It was super stiff and the sizing turned out too big. It’s not a very soft yarn either. This yarn is perfect for making rugs, but I won’t be making any more Claire Bun Beanies with it. (Just my personal preference)
I hope you guys loved this post and found it useful! If you would like to see a part two, with different yarn brands, leave some yarn suggestions in the comments below. I really enjoyed getting to play with different yarns and I will probably be using the Yarn Bee Soft and Sleek more often because I loved it so much!
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-Ashley
Maybe some lion brand yarn like landscapes, scarfie and mandala.
Thank you for the suggestion!!
I’dlove to see some stuff like Carons simply soft
I believe that yarn maybe too thin. But I could give it a try!
I’ve done caron simply softbyou definitely have to go up a hook size but they are beautiful and a bit lighter weight which is great for us Floridians!
Great post thank-you so much. I just recently purchased the pattern to. So this will completely help..
Oh yay that’s perfect! I’m glad you liked it 🙂
I would love to see you try out Caron Simply Soft, Red Heart Super Saver (which softens up beautifully after a trip through the washer and dryer, and maybe some of the acrylic/wool blends like Lionbrand Woolease (there are other brands of acrylic/wool blends as well that I would love for you to compare).
Great suggestions thank you!
Such a fun post!
Thank u so much! I’m glad u liked it!
What about “Paintbox Yarns Simply Aran” from lovecrochet? I don’t have access to “i love this yarn” since they don’t sell to Spain, so I was wondering if that one will do the job
Thanks!
Hi! Im not sure, I’ve never used that yarn. I do have a “yarn experiment” post you might find helpful though! I will be doing another one of these posts in the fall as well, I’ll try to remember the yarn you suggested! https://www.acraftyconcept.com/claire-bun-beanie-yarn-experiment/
Thanks! That would be nice! I see a lot of “crocheters” using I Love This Yarn and I need to find a substitute so I can buy it online, cause there’s not many yarn store where I live 🙁
Yarn Bee Soft and Sleek is like crocheting with angel feathers! To me, it’s so easy to work with and very durable. I’m glad you tested your pattern using it!
Allison
oh yay!! Im glad I did too! I will probably make another post like this in the fall!!
How do I get the pattern for the Clair bun beanie closed ? Please and thank you adult size
To me, caron works best with blankets. Once you wash ot up it softens up. I like it for blankets because of its durability.
I would definitely be interested in seeing more yarn experiment posts. Thank you for this!
I just tried the red heart comfort and it works up good I thought but there’s not alot if give to it and it’s a bit more rough feeling. Also, I had to make the brim 16″ to be about the same for adult brim. I bought two large skiens and I think I will save them for another project.
Love this pattern so easy to follow and each time I made the beanie it came out exactly the same as the first one I made. I was wondering how I can get the print out to wrap the hats in. I signed up for your emails, but I have not received the print out. Iam giving one of the hats as a give and would like to put the wrap around it.
Thank you so much for posting this pattern for free, you are truly a gifted as a crocheter.