in one of the topics i saw that 1 person said that the worse mistake theyd made was buying red heart yarn. this kinda confused me, since red heart yarn is just about the only yarn i use, seeing as i dont really care to (or really think i should) spend a lot of money on yarn.
so now i ask the question: do you use red heart yarn?
:oops: That was me…sorry. It isn’t because it is cheap that I don’t use it…I just don’t like it. I was being rather tongue in cheek when I said that. I do sometimes use some of the less expensive yarns and have an afghan that i love and cherish made from red heart that my grandmother made. I just prefer not to use red heart when i am knitting. if i am going to use one of the less expensive yarns it would be simply soft or something along those lines. It really is just a preference issue for me. :oops:
there’s no problem with that. i was just curious…
I like it because it can take a beating which is great because I can practice and frog on it forever…and teach friends things with it too.
I don’t really use it anymore. I used to use it a lot, but I don’t like it as much as some of the other nylon/synthetic blends I’ve seen and felt, like Patons, and Bernat. I like really soft stuff that’s within my budget. And now that I knit more often and I know the difference of the feel, I really would rather not knit with Red Heart yarn. I mean, some of it is nice, like I like Light and Lofty, but I really don’t like just “acrylic” labeled yarn in general.
For the most part I don’t like it. It’s not very soft and it doesn’t feel good on my hands when knitting. That being said my stepmom crocheted me an afghan out of some new Red Heart called Red Heart Soft…and it IS! I might do charity stuff out of it, but still probably wouldn’t use it for myself. There are plenty of other yarns that don’t cost a lot more and are heavenly!
There’s Red Heart, and then there’s Red Heart… and TLC. I made a nice fuzzy sweater from Symphony. Red Heart Soft is very soft, similar to Caron’s Simply Soft and Bernat Softee Chunkee. It’s in between thickness to those. And I’d like to make a sweater with TLC Amore - I think it’ll be nice especially in a multicolor.
sue
I started to use Red Heart for my Christmas scarves for my pets. However I couldn’t stand it. It dried out my hands. I spent more time putting lotion on my hands than knitting. I am using Bernat Berella instead. It’s not as bad. When I started to knit I used the Bernat. But I try to use natural fibers as much as I can.
Yes, it’s all I use. Not that I can’t afford more expensive natural fibers, I just don’t care to use them. Red Heart softens up when washed and creates a very durable fabric.
Honestly, I’ve never tried it. My first yarn purchase was from an LYS – I felt so overwhelmed and intimidated when I went in there that I didn’t do much exploring. I asked the nice lady to suggest something and ended up with a wool/acrylic blend – it was cheap and I liked the color. I came online to look for videos because the book I was trying to learn from wasn’t very good, and I found this place. I learned about KP and ordered some WOTA which I liked much better because it was softer and a lot springier, which made it much easier to work with. (I also really liked the price!)
Anyway, as I continued to read through past forum threads, I quickly learned that that Red Heart and acrylics in general, were not very popular. One “exception” that a few people mentioned was Caron Simply Soft, so I went to Joann’s and bought some. Unfortunately, I didn’t care for it much because it wasn’t very stretchy, which made it a lot harder to knit with, in comparison to WOTA. It also felt a little weird on my hands… I can’t explain it.
I’ve never liked wearing wools very much but I really prefer knitting with them – lately I’ve been favoring superwash yarns for practicality – and especially merinos, for obvious reasons. Cotton just doesn’t do it for me – at least I haven’t found one that does. People keep talking about Plymouth Encore as a nice blend so I’ve been meaning to try it, but haven’t gotten around to it yet.
We don’t get that here in the UK that I know of so I’ve never worked with it. I have heard its ok tho.
I don’t use it. Simply because the regular Red Heart is a really rough acrylic and I can’t stand the way it feels sliding through my fingers, or against my skin. Natural fibers just feel so much better. I also don’t like the way the rough acrylic looks, the finished item just dosen’t look as nice as something made with a better yarn. Before I was a knitter, I was a crocheter. The Red Heart Acrylic was all I used for crochet. it Dried out my hands a lot, and was extremely itchy. The only reason I stuck with it was because I had no idea of what wonderful yarns are out there.
I used the regular Red Heart once and found it to be too scratchy for my taste, but I recently took a gamble on some Red Heart Soft and wow, is it ever nice to touch. I’m still not the biggest fan of the normal stuff, but I’ve definitely changed my outlook on Red Heart as a whole because of their new lovely soft yarn. Even if it is ewwwww acrylic - I’ve never been a fibre snob. 
I used to use Red Heart all the time back in the day. When I took up crocheting again last year after many years hiatus, I noticed there was a much greater variety of yarns. I crocheted my Ripple Sweater with some Berroco Softwist, Trendsetter Dune, and LionBrand Microspun. After that, it was no going back. I picked up some Red Heart and, without exaggeration, it felt like it was going to scrape my skin off my finger as it ran across it. It is just too harsh for me now. Funny how it didn’t feel too harsh before, only after working with something different for a while did I begin to notice.
I do like and use Caron Simply Soft. Even for it, though, I can tell it’s all acrylic. It has a plastic-y feel when you rub it in between your fingers, and a kind of . . . squeakyness when knitting or crocheting with it.
Like somebody else up there said, there’s Red Heart… and then there’s Red Heart.
They’ve got a few yarns I rather like. (What can I say? I started out a crocheter! You can take the crocheter out of the Red Heart, but you can’t take the… wait, that doesn’t make sense. :?? ) Anyway, Bijou is really pretty, Symphony is nice and soft, and the Soft yarn is decent/similar to Simply Soft.
As for the Super Saver, I don’t care for it; just doesn’t feel very nice IMO. If I had to go for a low price worsted acrylic, I’d rather get TLC (even if it’s also made by Coats and Clark) or Caron Simply Soft.
I like their “Luster Sheen” for lacy scarves. It is acrylic, but smooth and a fine weight. Other than that, no I am not a fan. The heavier weights feel too scratchy for my taste.
My Mom uses only Red Heart Pound of Love 
for her afghans - it holds up well and feels nice and soft after many washings. But then she lives in a small town in the country and has only a WalMart where she can buy yarn.
I’ve used it, but I prefer Caron’s Perfect Match for my cheap yarn. I don’t know what the difference is, but it feels softer to me. I have made a few afghans with both and I just like Caron’s better. It is true that they both soften up after washing. I’m not ashamed. If someone wants a warm or super soft blanket, I’ll go buy some fleece and tie it together. If they want something really pretty that I spent a lot of time on, I’ll give them something knitted with cheap yarn!
Kelly
oh my, i’m embarassed :oops: now…i didnt know it was soooo unpopular! some ppl are saying its too scrath, which hasnt been a problem for me since its what i started out with. walmart is just aobut the only place i have to buy yarn, but i think even they have some other brands, though i wouldnt know which to buy. same goes for michaels, but they dont have that gr8 of a knitting supplies selection anyway. i used to have this wonderful stroe called A.C Moore, they had tons of brands there–but super saver was the cheapest so thats what i bought :teehee: . plus i didnt know which size needle to use with the others.
come to think :?? of it i do remember my mom saying my scarves were to itchy to wear…
hey, but if you guys have any red heart left, and u really hate it that much…u can always send it send it to :happydance: me!
I’ll knit with anything that will bend around my needles. I’ve even considered trying to use some of the spanish moss that seems to cover my backyard every time the wind blows hard. :teehee:
Don’t be. Lots of people use it and love it. And if what’s available in your area is limited, how were you to even know that there was anything else out there?
I think that a lot of the knitters here really enjoy the knitting process – with includes experiencing the sensual properties of the fiber they’re working with – and that comes across in their yarn preferences. Now that you’re a KH member, you’ll learn a lot more about different yarns, and find out where you can shop for them online. Try some out and see what you think. There’s no guarantee that you’ll prefer them over Red Heart – it’s hard to beat the availability (since you can buy it locally), durability, and machine-washability. Then again, you maybe turn into a fiber snob and never go back. :teehee: