There has to be at least 10% of the fiber that makes up the blend, it doesn’t have to be more than 50%.
I am working with this yarn and I love it love the colors and the feel of it I will be buying more I find it better than Red Heart. You really should give it a try and good luck.
:knitting:
In my local Michaels there were definite changes.
(1) smaller yarn dep’t overall
(2) lots more of Michaels own brand yarn
(3) less of non-Michaels yarn (specifically the Bernat & Red Heart I was looking for when I went in – someone else on the board noticed more Patons, but that was not the case in the Michaels nearest me)
(4) OTOH, it seemed like they had more pattern books than they used to
Maybe they used shelf space that used to contain yarn for more books here?
I’m a Brit, but this summer we were in Cincinnati and I explored Michaels and Hobby Lobby.
Crap.
All the yarn was acrylic sh*t, in naff colours, or the kind of pom-pom fluffy shite that new knitters make scarfes with.
How you Americans find anything nice to knit with I have no idea.
My LYS in England has much better selection of colours, real wool, alpaca, aran etc.
But it seems the only thing to do is google it. Which is depressing because part of the joy of finding yarn for a project is going and feeling it.
Really. You must be very fortunate because I’ve heard other Brits complain all they can find is cheap acrylics in their local wool shops.
Well, I do live in a big city, so yes, I have a choice of four:
- Rowan, Jaeger etc, generally really expensive, but nice stuff
- More baby pink and bumper 200g balls acrylic, but some good choice in merino etc
- The one you love to browse in. A true LYS. All sorts of stuff, wall to wall cupboards full of it. Hope to god it doesn’t ever close. Still run by a lady who adds up the price in pencil on your paper bag.
- Run by a hippy. Some nice stuff, but usually whatever is the latest ‘fluffy’ or ‘fuzzy’ sold along with the pattern.
- Dont count this one. A ‘craft’ shop, but clearly not run for anyone who does craft of any kind. The knitting section consists of 5 colours of acrylic crap and straight plastic needles in 3 sizes!
Hope they bring out internet ‘touchy-feely’, try before you buy sort of technology in my lifetime !
See Michaels and Hobby Lobby are mostly craft stores, so yarn isn’t their major thing. It also depends on the location of the store, different ones will have different inventory. Many of them are also going through their fall changeover, so may have clearanced out some of their yarn and haven’t received the replacements yet.
The true LYSs in the US have just as nice yarns as you have available, but not every smaller town will have one, and the large chain stores may be only places to buy yarn. It’s not fair to compare a craft store with a LYS.
What?! I prefer the yarns in my yarn store, but along with the cheap stuff some of the yarns in the craft stores are very nice.
Shopping online is the easiest way to get what you want.
I’ve noticed in my Michael’s that there are lot more sock yarns (Patons Kroy sock), and even some that are in solid colors like black and tan. The yarn itself is superwash wool, which is very cool as I don’t like acrylic for socks (it doesn’t breathe). But the yarn is a bit thicker than fingering weight (not quite sport weight), and even though it says it’s a 50g ball (and I would get 2 for a pair of socks), you really need 3 balls to make a pair of socks. That’s not Michael’s fault, it’s Patons’. But I am glad that I can get sock yarn there now.
I wrote off Michaels about a year ago. There is nothing there (that I would like) that I can’t pick up at Herrschners or Mary Maxim…And really…they both have a better price.
I really miss Romni Wool in TO. Since moving to Kitchener, it is a day trip if I want to get in there!
I went by my local Michael’s yesterday after I saw this thread … I was just curious to see if there had been any significant changes here.
Where there used to be three aisles dedicated to yarn, there are now only two. And one of them is solely bulky and super bulky weights that I would rarely have a need to buy. They do seem to have a greater selection of Patons, but that’s about it. They even seem to have fewer baby yarns.
Overall, very disappointing … especially considering that it’s pretty much the only place nearby that I am able to actually go shopping for yarn. I don’t mind shopping online, at least then I can get what I want … it would just be nice to be able to physically see/feel the yarn before purchasing more often! :pout:
I went to my local Michaels and their yarn there is only one aisle where it used to be the first three aisles in the store. They eliminated almost all other brand names except theirs. I needed a ball of cotton yarn to finish a string market bag and only had one strap to go when I ran out of . I stopped at Michaels to see if I could match the color but I couldn’t. The brand I had been using was Peaches and Creme yarn and all they had was Lily Sugar and Cream. So I picked up one that was pretty close to the colors I had been using and finished my bag.
I used to get Peaches and Cream at Walmart but since they no longer carry crafts supplies I have no idea where to get it anymore…
My Walmart still has some yarn, but they recently replaced peaches n cream with sugar and cream - why oh why? I like peaches and cream better, and every other local store sells the sugar and cream. But, you can order directly from the company: http://peaches-creme.com/ and they have lots of colors available that you don’t typically see in the stores… (especially now, that no stores seem to sell it 
)
I haven’t ordered from them but hear their customer service is great
Whoops, the site ate my post yesterday which included the link to the company posted above, and also a link to Cotton Clouds which also carries other cotton yarns.
They sure have many changes in our yarn dept…and all new yarns by patons and others…much fancier yarn. Not necessarily wool…some friends dont like wool or its itchy to them. And all our yarns stores have beautiful yarn even though it is expensive. But our Michaels had 3 aisles of all new yarn…completely different brands also. New York
YEs, they do a lot of changeover of yarns this time of year. Deals on the closeouts and new yarns available.
I have access to Hobby Lobby, Michaels and WalMart. Everything gets changed. Remember the old ad? - “Your soap, my soap, they’re all improved.” Change doesn’t always mean better.
Jean
In this case though, I’ve heard the yarn Dept is improving.
Whether I’m in the Michael’s near my home or up at school, I find their yarn sections to be lacking! They’ll be sold out of certain types of yarn for weeks at a time. And the notions department has just about nothing! I much prefer JoAnn’s Fabric for my knitting supplies, if I can get to my LYS of course!