Yes! That’d be awesome. Maybe people could send in pictures of things they’ve made with different yarn and you can review those too? Like if a specific type of yarn was someone’s specialty they could showcase what it can do. Just an idea! Also I love your videos! Keep doing what you’re doing cause you’ve been so inspirational to me!!! 🧶
Chenille yarn - 1) burn the end so the stuff doesn't fall off when you sew in the ends 2) when doing a magic ring make the sc stitches loose, that way there is less friction on the thread as you pull the ring closed and 3) use a metal hook to help slide in and out of the loops. I love working with chenille yarn, it's really soft and has great squishable results, I hope you give it another chance!!
"Just tell me...why? No wait, that's not positive. How? It's a deceptive marshmallow of doom!" 😂😂😂 I felt this so much. A friend of mine likes to make giant amigurumi and doesn't know how I can make tiny thread amigurumi. We both love "our own thing" and hate the other person's but respectfully appreciate each other's work!
This was not what I imagined when you asked “Will it frog?” I thought that you were going to look at work-ability with regards to being able to see stitches, be able to rip out stitches (aka frog it), etc. I have known some tempting fluffy yarns to become velcro when knit, so “Will it frog?” is a legitimate question. This was fun, too! I enjoyed going through the various types of yarn and yarn-adjacent things. The results were probably similar to if you had meant it more literally like I thought.
I like using Bernat blanket yarn (not sure if its similar to what you used in your video) for amigurumi. Very soft and snuggly, my niece loves them. But I can understand it being a very frustrating fiber to work with (I have snapped many a yarn mid-project and filled the house with colorful expressions of my frustration). But it works well with the way I crotchet because I strangely can't 'see' the stitches in any fiber I work with. Like I conceptually understand that the 'v' denotes where a stitch is and I see a chain is made up of 'v's but something doesn't compute in my brain when I go to actually crotchet. It's weird and hard to explain. It took years for me to finally get the hang of crotchet because of it. But eventually I figured out I could I feel out individual stitches with my fingers as I go and the blanket yarn makes that easier to do.
This. I have gotten better at seeing the stitches but when I first started I did better with feeling it out. I did start with softer fluffy yarns but even with acrylic I got confused and found myself feeling it out. Now I can see it in acrylic and cotton types but on my fluffy yarns I feel my way around them.
Hey! As someone that loves using those specialty yarns as well as your standard 8ply Acrylic I just have some tips. With the faux fur yarn you wanna pair it up with your standard 8ply (so double strand them) so you can see your stitches! And with the Chenille you definetly have a bad brand there, have you tried velvet chenille? There's a few really good cheap brands in Australia, specifically at cheap dollar stores that you randomly find in stuff. I strongly reccomend that type of yarn, I've made a lot of your patterns with it and they turn out amazingly.
Oh my gosh, the fluffy yarn trick 👌👌👌 thank you! My son picked out fluffy yarn for me to make him a hat. I tried and failed twice and popped it in the too hard pile 🤣🤣 Love the idea of pairing it with normal yarn 🫶
I absolutely love using blanket yarns. In fact, most of my stuff is made from it. My secret is, that's what I started with lol. I would recommend going up a hook size if you're feeling tension and make sure to relax your grip a little 😊
For the blanket yarn: It works best for items that don't have a lot of structure to them. Soft, blobby potatoes that are super squishy are the right projects for them :) I like using it to make stuffies and lovies for babies.
To get the fluffy yarn to work, you need to make the frog in acrylic first in the back loop only for the whole pattern. Then go back and single crochet with the fluffy yarn in the front loops. Kind of like when you make your feathers and scales, like on your owl bear pattern. It’s mostly decorative, not a foundation yarn like acrylic. Might try the mohair and chenille this way too. It’s twice the amount of work, just depends on the look you’re going for, but it should hold its shape properly and still be soft and squishy.
I just rewatched the frog video. The eyes and feet will stay in the acrylic yarn color, unless you put placemarkers were they need to go and then just add them when you are putting on the fluffy yarn. Or leave them in acrylic for a color and texture change up option.
Really? Is that how it's supposed to be used? I usually work with it as a foundation yarn by counting stitches with my fingers and using markers to mark rounds.
As someone who works almost exclusively with mercerized cotton for amigurumi I'm glad it made the number one spot for you. I really enjoy how easy it is to work with and you can get it in so many colours. I have a far too large collection of it.
I use the "fluffy disappointment" for knitting socks. In knitting you don't need to see your stitches, it is enough to feel them on your finger tips. It works quite well, however, frogging and resuming work is a real pain and correcting a mistake after finding out you've lost a stitch is pretty much a no can do. But you get nice, comfy socks and need less stitches overall to finish a sock. So that's nice :)
As someone who has been too shy to try other yarns, I found this video really informative. I think a trip to the yarn store is in order 😆 The frog tower at the end made me smile so much. I was really rooting for you to be able to stack them all and you did!
Watching you use embroidery floss made me smile! My current favorite crochet at the moment is DMC Pearl Cotton 8 and a 1mm hook and I rarely see people using things like to.
Not sure if someone commented yet but the french knitter makes I-cord. You can attach more by matching the knit stitches with the new cord or just sew them together if you aren't picky. It's great for stuff like baskets or rugs. You can also run wire through the middle to make shapes or letters.
With the light blue really fluffy yarn, I usually add a strand of normal yarn that is the same colour. So I would be crocheting with two strands... but the result is both fabulous and wonderful. Love your video!! ❤
I love big puffy yarn because the projects get big so fast. It makes me feel so accomplished. And I adore the finished projects being so soft and cuddly.
For chenille yarn, to help with the issue of not being able to see the stitches very well I put stitch markers at the beginning of each repeat in a round. For all of the stitch markers I use the same colour except for the stitch marker at the beginning of the round which I use a contrasting coloured one. It means there’s a lot easier to keep count and make sure you don’t miss any stitches, because if the count isn’t right between one stitch marker and another you know you’ve either missed or added a stitch. Also works well because chenille yarn you can generally frog a couple stitches just fine, but more than that and you’re gonna start losing/shedding yarn. Oh, and for chenille yarn I find that you can’t really use the magic ring method very well so it’s easier to do the chain 2 and slip stitch method. 🐸🐸🐸
About the blanket yarn-totally agree. It feels so nice in the finish product but it has not elasticity to it so it’s super hard to stitch with. But! Bernet recently released a fleece blanket yarn that has solved the problem for me! The color selection is limited, but it works up so much better than the regular blanket yarn. I’m making a giant Snorlax with it now!
The secret to blanket yarn is to increase hook size (you already figured that out) and loosen up your tension a lot. It doesn't slide against itself, so when I use it, all the movement is the hook pulling in new yarn. Someone else said relax your grip and that made me realize I do hold the hook differently, sort of all in my fingertips instead of against my palm. I do agree with you about the lumpiness, so I wouldn't use it for amigarumi unless it was a REALLY big creature!
I love blanket yarn for a few reasons. There are no strands to split or accidentally poke your hook through, it's large which means projects work up fairly quickly and can make good size plushies out of small amigurumi patterns, and finally it actually helped a lot in my journey to learning to crochet! Since it can be hard to see your stitches you have to adapt to feeling your stitches a lot of the time versus seeing them and that means I had to get even more familiar with the stitch and the structure it creates without getting bogged down on it looking imperfect!
Blanket yarn: Agreed with other fans to try both XXL and small metal hooks, to avoid magic ring, and that glitter-blanket is harsher than regular. A hook change should help with the increases/decreases. Also consider a yarn-under OR tall, linked stitches (basically, vertical Tunisian done with a regular hook) to change the stitch texture. But also, it's important to use a pull-once approach. I tend to pull a large loop, then yank it back to size it to the hook shaft. That approach fails utterly with fluffy and fuzzy yarns. I can't tell if you were doing that. But if so, put a metal finger-ring, plastic tube, smooth bandage, bit of plastic wrap, or something on your yarn-pulling finger (change the tool rather than fighting your nature) and accept that it won't show if loops are loose on the hook and not quite identical; see if that makes a difference. When it glides loosely through your fingers without any pulling backwards, you may find the Deceptive Marshmallow of Doom transforms into a Faithful Marshmallow of Delight. When I first got the stuff, I made things and ripped them out repeatedly just because I wanted to feel the yarn in my fingers again; it really can be the joy it promises to be. If trying textured yarn with a smoother 2nd strand: Also test a thin strand, used just on the final yo/pull-through (if you're okay with handling 2 strands separately), to stabilize and help locate the top loops. For embroidery floss: Try two strands or chain-ply if you continue to lack a tiny hook. It comes in some much-longer lengths (spools and balls). Looking forward to your ranking-by-ease rather than result!
I loved this video. I've been making your patterns into smaller and larger items using different yarns. I've made your tiny frog and cockatoo into earrings using crochet thread that dollies are made from and I've made your gorilla very big to really small. I just love making things from your patterns. Thank you for being so creative.
LoL that frog tower was the best part of the video. I was half listening but immediately stopped what I was doing to watch that tower go up LOL love it
Really enjoyed this episode, ironically most of my stash is odds because of the fact that I mostly have others in my community donate me wool or we buy a random bag of wool from savers which you never know what size hook you really need. On the failed wool, I would always double yarn it. (Fauxmo with an acrylic in either as close to the same colour/contrast/grey scale yarn) same said for the fluffy or yarn I can’t see and feel the stitches in project. The pipe cleaners I used as introduction to framing because I could give a toy movement but I could also let an end stick out and have antenna for fun and they are fluffy to protect your hands a little.
Nice cotton can be SUCH a dream to work with! I tend to stuff my critters VERY tight and use smaller hooks to make things tight so there's no gaps, so I've found it works pretty well for me :D the mercerized cotton also just has a delightful finished texture to me
This was a great video! I have been thinking about making some plushies for charity and seeing the differences between all the various yarns was very helpful. I have a partial skein of that blanket yarn and it doesn't even want to stay wound in a ball, I'm impressed you were able to work with it at all. I call it Cthulhu yarn - the stuff of madness.
I used jumbo chenille yarn to make that balloon dog I was seeing everywhere and the magic ring took a painfully long time. Totally worth it for my giant balloon dog tho I love her lol
personally i love working with the chenielle esp since it's only a $1.25 at my local dollar stores and its so soft it makes certain amigurmis less tedious
Mercerized cotton is my absolute favorite. Always sad that I can't find as much color as I want to (as lace size), but so perfect to work with for me ❤ I always love bamboo yarn, it's really soft and smooth, but too smooth to keep shape sometimes
I love the heavyweight yarn, I use bernat blanket which I can get on sale for $5-8 for a skein the size of the one in the video. I like it because it works projects very quickly in that it's thick and makes a larger project. I tried introducing my friend to it as a beginner but she couldn't work with it. So to each their own with what yarn we like
I prefer acrylic, however, I amazingly am currently using a fluffy yarn for a unicorn project and I can't see the stitches but I can feel them. I make sure and write down and use stitch markers. That way if I need to frog I can up to the last stitch marker. But always, always keep a running count in your head and down on paper so you wouldn't get lost. That's my tip for fluffy yarn. It is cheaper with acrylic, so that is what I use mostly.
Would love you to do a part 2 with velvet yarn! There’s some in spotlight but I’ve also gotten some from OzYarn (it’s called Yatsal Imperial Velvet Chunky Yarn). Finished projects feel nice, and it’s much easier to crochet with than blanket or chenille!
That was amazing! I have tried most of these myself and came to similar conclusions as you. I have also tried Fluffy yarn a few times with very little success until I found a lady on CZcams (sorry I can't remember who it was 😥) who suggested to crochet the shape in BLO with plain yarn and then just SC into the leftover loops with the fluffy yarn: the result is amazing, and it is really easy. 🙂
As someone who does both crochet and knitting, some of fuzzy yarns you were unable to get frogs from would be ones I would mentally categorize as “can use to knit but not crochet.” I find the weirder textures easier to use while knitting since the loops are stuck on the sticks, unlike crochet where it can be a literal search and rescue to find every loop. That doesn’t stop me from petting the fluffy yarns in the store though 😂 Also, “doom marshmallow” will now be entering my vocabulary 😁
Agreed wholeheartedly: If you can't find the crochet stitches, put the yarn in the knit-this stash. Tunisian (Tunisian Knit Stitch or maybe extended Tunisian - add a chain-1) might also be an improvement. Not great for amigurumi, though.
I found a yarn brand (definitely not in Australia but it's Alize Velluto) that's like a blanket yarn, but more like chenille. I mean it has the structure of a strand with fluff on it, but it's chonky like your blanket yarn. Best part is that it doesn't shed at all! Only at the ends, which is fine imo. I'd love for you to try using blanket yarn more often, I think it makes the best plushies
I use the blanket yarn for 90% of my plushes. Definitely metal hooks. And I end up not doing any special stitches. It more lends itself to extremely large safety eyes or embroidered on felt bits. However, only the plush texture saves me from lumping it in with chenille and fur as devil spawn.
This was so interesting! Love that you took on this experiment. For yarn that is hard to work with on its own, it often works to add a thinner strand of regular yarn so you can see your stitches.
I use blanket yarn and I love it. I usually buy it when it’s on sale or I use coupons from Joann’s or Michaels. I’ve never paid $20 for blanket yarn 😮 Also I recommend tighting your tension when using it and it won’t become lumpy. 😊
Everything seems a tad more expensive here in Australia I've noticed. I watch a lot of crocheters from America and always shocked at how much cheaper it seems over there! We also don't seem to get coupons like you guys do, we just have sale weekends etc 🫶
I love watching your reactions to different yarns. Blanket, chenille, and 'fluffy' were the best! But we all have the struggle, it's whether we stick it out if we want it. Try plastic, wood or ceramic hooks. I've even seen some bone hooks out there. I've had to change plastic to wood when having migraines because of the sound of the hook through the yarn. You just have to be careful your tension isn't too strong or you'll break the hook, if not metal. If the fuzzy yarn is too hard to see to get your stitches, try pairing a matching 8-ply with it and work it on the double. When I first used a fuzzy yarn like that, I had to go very slowly and feel each stitch, almost not even looking at my work, just feeling with my fingers. Hope these help and stay with your passion, we love seeing it!
I love using blanket yarn because it works up much faster than regular yarn and doesn’t fray as I work. I always use about a size smaller hook whenever I work with it because it makes it easier to crochet more than one stitch into the previous stitch. It takes some practice getting the tension just right, but I love using it!
I found your frog pattern when it came out and I have been making them my personality since then. I use embroidery thread for them almost exclusively and turn them into keychains for gifts! I am so happy for this video and will be giving the black type a try!!!
A tip for those who want to work with fuzzy yarns double up with a second yarn like a normal acrylic yarn of the same or similar color. It also makes the yarn easier to frog.
I love working with chenille for amigurumis! For the fluffy fur or eyelash yarn, I’ve seen a video where they use a regular thin yarn with it and when you pull up a loop is when you grab the fluffy yarn and makes it so much easier to make each stitch
I've made actual blankets with the blanket yarn before (using a knitting loom), and once you get used to it, it's kind of nice since it's just one solid piece. I can't count how many times I frogged some of it, before finally using it for a project, so it holds up quite well to that. It's a decent yarn to learn with. My personal favourite to crochet with is bamboo yarn, it's so nice.
I use that fluffy yarn to make bears. I admit that when I use that yarn I crochet by touch way more than by sight. On the bright side, because of that, I don't miss anything when I watch something while I work, because I end up hardly looking at the project at all as I go, lol. With this yarn, I really recommend using a marker at the beginning or end of every round. I tend to use lots of markers because I just leave them in so I can count the rounds.
For that pale light green fluffy yarn, in the past when I've had to work with it, I've used it with another regular yarn of similar color to give it more structure. It helps with finding your stitches better, but like the chenille, a lot of it is just feeling your way through the stitches.
As a new crochet person, I love love love the feeling of fuzzy yarn but can’t see any of the stitches when I work with it 😭 When I tried “regular” yarn, I was astonished how easily I could see the different strands 😮
I was almost dancing upon the completion of the frog tower! I made your bee pattern (the one you demonstrated with the crewel) with a blend of a fluffy chenille (specifically bernat velvet in the blackbird shade) and a much MUCH thinner wool/cotton blend (yes I was swapping from a 5mm hook to a 3.5 every color change, I had to double the stitch count on the woolton blend but i made it work) and she's the cutest little leggy potato I've ever made (I need to do her wings still but we're working on sourcing wire for that part at the moment, i gave up on the last colorful stripe and just left her butt in the fluffy black). The chenille was a royal pain in the butt - probably by virtue of the unholy combo of black yarn and fluffy yarn. I think the only way I was able to get it working was by feeling for the posts of the prior rounds. The fluffy yarn likes to be loosey-goosey, i've found. having it in the tight normal crochet makes stitches impossible to perceive.
I don't use blanket yarn but I do use more chuncky yarn that is similar to blanket yarn. The thing is that if you want to give it a shape is beter to have a patern that is in more or bigger pieces or that you just more stufed it. It's harder to use cause you're used to thiner yarn. I was working with thiner yarn when I started crocheing and got used to it so it was a bit of a problem when I used chunkier yarn for the first time but now I somehow use both of the yarns easily. The think I do with my yarn for wich is recomendet 8,5 to 9,5mm hook is that I use 6mm hook. And in my opinion is easier. Hope I helped. Btw you are amazing and I love it when you and skeinspider complete chalenges togheter. ❤ That coment is for the rating yarn video. Sorry for late post
This is absolutely amazing! I really love your designs with crochet, and the dragon is especially a favourite! (The orange one!) which is one of my first videos (I think) I watched of yours! And the owl, BUT THE FROG IS ADORBS! I love love love your patterns, and it’s really helpful. ❤
i've made two animals with jumbo velvet yarn, and i really like working with it, even though i always end up needed to vacuum afterwards! haven't made one with blanket yarn, but i do love working with it to make blankets! bernat yarn is great. I can't use tiny yarn, so personal preference!
For the light blue fluffy yarn, there is a technique where you crochet with regular acrylic and work in fluffy yarn on top as you go (so you're not actually working stitches with the fluffy yarn). It takes some practice to figure out but pretty easy once you get the hang of it. Though to be fair you lose a lot of detail in the fuzziness so I'd use it more for a larger stuffed animal look than detailed amigurumi. With the pattern you were using it still may not have frogged that well.
If you want to use the “fluffy yarn” (I think it’s called eyelash yarn), you can do what I did and crochet a base in regular yarn in the back loop only and attach the fluffy yarn with slip stitches. It is double the work, but the result is so worth it! Do make sure you take into account that crocheting in the back loop only does change the rotation, so you might have to adjust your pattern.
Love the video's you make. I always work with 5ply mercerized cotton. I have 2 favourite brands, which used together, have 225+ colors to choose from😍. But they might be difficult to find outside of Europe.
The smallest yarn I've worked with is #3 the largest #6. My fav is #4 but I found out when making amigurumi for craft fairs, kids love the plushiness of the #6. I use Premier Parfait Chunky, Bernat Velvet and Bernat Blanket yarn. So as long as the kids love those types of amigurumi that's what I'll keep using. I have to say when I first started with those types of yarn it was extremely hard but as I used it more and more it got easier. But you on the other hand do excellent work with the #3 and smaller yarns, my stuff doesn't turn out that well. Thanks for the comparison.
When i learned to crochet, started with acrylic. hated it, almost made me to quit.... but then tried different yarns and fall in love with mercerised cotton. 99% of my amigurumi made with it!
When you first said "Will it frog?" I expected the video to be about how easy it is to rip out stitches, lol! It's interesting that I've heard of a lot of people recommending cotton yarn for amigurumi, but acrylic is my favorite yarn in general because it's a lot more affordable to me and comes in ALL THE COLORS! I haven't done a lot of experimenting with specialty yarns, but I played around a bit once with Lion Brand ReSpun which is 100% polyester (a bit pricey to me, harder to find in stores, and has a particularly specific palette which forced me to use charcoal grey instead of black) and I once used a type of boucle in a commission where the yarn was provided (kinda a fun texture but splitty and harder to see the stitches, as well as a NIGHTMARE when I needed to frog).
Sparkle yarn is one of my favorites to use to create shawls. I got a special blue silver gradient sparkle yarn, and it looks amazing as a butterfly stitch shawl (especially in the sunlight!). The sparkle strand has a tendency to fray from the rest of the strands though 😅
I would try the fauxMo again but held with a thicker yarn like fingering or dk. If you can’t do that or want to see it on its own, try double or triple standing it. FauxMo deserves a second chance 🥺💕
I prefer cotton because acrylic makes my hands itchy, for amigurumi I mostly used Yatsal brand cotton from discount stores or ozyarn online (in Australia) I don't think its mercerised but it's denser than the cotton I usually use for clothes which is the rainbow cotton from Hobbii
With the fluffy yarns, & the feathered ones; I save them for scarves & beanies; where the stitches whilst important for shaping; don't really matter for exactness in length or width of project, so if my tension is off (always is) it's not noticable. I also go up a couple of sizes in hooks; but I have a really tight tension; I'm still learning, and relaxing into my own pace, & therefor tension is still not there for me; so your hook size will vary. Chenille again, I only use in chonky projects with a large hook; though I am thinking that they will make lovely face cloths, so when I fish my yarn out of storage, that's what I'm attempting next with the skein I have of it :)
I have gotten the most excellent advice from you all! I shall have to revisit fuzzy-frog-mountain in the future, and see if it changes the rankings!
Yes! That’d be awesome. Maybe people could send in pictures of things they’ve made with different yarn and you can review those too? Like if a specific type of yarn was someone’s specialty they could showcase what it can do. Just an idea!
Also I love your videos! Keep doing what you’re doing cause you’ve been so inspirational to me!!! 🧶
No. Lol. I know what I'm making
Chenille yarn - 1) burn the end so the stuff doesn't fall off when you sew in the ends 2) when doing a magic ring make the sc stitches loose, that way there is less friction on the thread as you pull the ring closed and 3) use a metal hook to help slide in and out of the loops. I love working with chenille yarn, it's really soft and has great squishable results, I hope you give it another chance!!
Some great advice here, but I'll admit at first glance all I saw was "Chenille yarn - burn." And I was like, yeah that checks out.
@@ComplicatedKnots 🤣
Hahaha! Chenille is the best but I def feel the burn it all down vibe too
For burning the ends, do you just take a lighter to it quickly?
@SaltedKenzie you do! Agree with the frustration and the amazing results when you power through. Definitely burn the ends. All the ends.
Anyone else love buying yarn, but then have problems figuring out what to use the yarn for?
Buying yarn and using yarn are two completely different hobbies!
Yes
Absolutely, I always tell myself to think of projects I wanna make before going yarn shopping but never do 🤣
I struggle with this so much
I’m pretty sure you just summed up the experience of every single crocheter ever
"Just tell me...why? No wait, that's not positive. How? It's a deceptive marshmallow of doom!" 😂😂😂
I felt this so much. A friend of mine likes to make giant amigurumi and doesn't know how I can make tiny thread amigurumi. We both love "our own thing" and hate the other person's but respectfully appreciate each other's work!
I like making tiny amigurumi too.
This was not what I imagined when you asked “Will it frog?” I thought that you were going to look at work-ability with regards to being able to see stitches, be able to rip out stitches (aka frog it), etc. I have known some tempting fluffy yarns to become velcro when knit, so “Will it frog?” is a legitimate question. This was fun, too! I enjoyed going through the various types of yarn and yarn-adjacent things. The results were probably similar to if you had meant it more literally like I thought.
I like using Bernat blanket yarn (not sure if its similar to what you used in your video) for amigurumi. Very soft and snuggly, my niece loves them. But I can understand it being a very frustrating fiber to work with (I have snapped many a yarn mid-project and filled the house with colorful expressions of my frustration). But it works well with the way I crotchet because I strangely can't 'see' the stitches in any fiber I work with. Like I conceptually understand that the 'v' denotes where a stitch is and I see a chain is made up of 'v's but something doesn't compute in my brain when I go to actually crotchet. It's weird and hard to explain. It took years for me to finally get the hang of crotchet because of it. But eventually I figured out I could I feel out individual stitches with my fingers as I go and the blanket yarn makes that easier to do.
This. I have gotten better at seeing the stitches but when I first started I did better with feeling it out. I did start with softer fluffy yarns but even with acrylic I got confused and found myself feeling it out. Now I can see it in acrylic and cotton types but on my fluffy yarns I feel my way around them.
Oh my, what an amazing frog tower! I held my breath while you assembled it and it turned out so cool! 😮
Hey! As someone that loves using those specialty yarns as well as your standard 8ply Acrylic I just have some tips. With the faux fur yarn you wanna pair it up with your standard 8ply (so double strand them) so you can see your stitches! And with the Chenille you definetly have a bad brand there, have you tried velvet chenille? There's a few really good cheap brands in Australia, specifically at cheap dollar stores that you randomly find in stuff. I strongly reccomend that type of yarn, I've made a lot of your patterns with it and they turn out amazingly.
Oh my gosh, the fluffy yarn trick 👌👌👌 thank you! My son picked out fluffy yarn for me to make him a hat. I tried and failed twice and popped it in the too hard pile 🤣🤣
Love the idea of pairing it with normal yarn 🫶
I absolutely love using blanket yarns. In fact, most of my stuff is made from it. My secret is, that's what I started with lol. I would recommend going up a hook size if you're feeling tension and make sure to relax your grip a little 😊
For the blanket yarn: It works best for items that don't have a lot of structure to them. Soft, blobby potatoes that are super squishy are the right projects for them :) I like using it to make stuffies and lovies for babies.
To get the fluffy yarn to work, you need to make the frog in acrylic first in the back loop only for the whole pattern. Then go back and single crochet with the fluffy yarn in the front loops. Kind of like when you make your feathers and scales, like on your owl bear pattern. It’s mostly decorative, not a foundation yarn like acrylic. Might try the mohair and chenille this way too. It’s twice the amount of work, just depends on the look you’re going for, but it should hold its shape properly and still be soft and squishy.
This is great advice, I'll have to try that!
I just rewatched the frog video. The eyes and feet will stay in the acrylic yarn color, unless you put placemarkers were they need to go and then just add them when you are putting on the fluffy yarn. Or leave them in acrylic for a color and texture change up option.
Really? Is that how it's supposed to be used? I usually work with it as a foundation yarn by counting stitches with my fingers and using markers to mark rounds.
As someone who works almost exclusively with mercerized cotton for amigurumi I'm glad it made the number one spot for you. I really enjoy how easy it is to work with and you can get it in so many colours. I have a far too large collection of it.
I use the "fluffy disappointment" for knitting socks. In knitting you don't need to see your stitches, it is enough to feel them on your finger tips. It works quite well, however, frogging and resuming work is a real pain and correcting a mistake after finding out you've lost a stitch is pretty much a no can do. But you get nice, comfy socks and need less stitches overall to finish a sock. So that's nice :)
As someone who has been too shy to try other yarns, I found this video really informative. I think a trip to the yarn store is in order 😆 The frog tower at the end made me smile so much. I was really rooting for you to be able to stack them all and you did!
Watching you use embroidery floss made me smile! My current favorite crochet at the moment is DMC Pearl Cotton 8 and a 1mm hook and I rarely see people using things like to.
Not sure if someone commented yet but the french knitter makes I-cord. You can attach more by matching the knit stitches with the new cord or just sew them together if you aren't picky. It's great for stuff like baskets or rugs. You can also run wire through the middle to make shapes or letters.
With the light blue really fluffy yarn, I usually add a strand of normal yarn that is the same colour. So I would be crocheting with two strands... but the result is both fabulous and wonderful. Love your video!! ❤
I was waiting for someone to give this advice!
I love big puffy yarn because the projects get big so fast. It makes me feel so accomplished. And I adore the finished projects being so soft and cuddly.
For chenille yarn, to help with the issue of not being able to see the stitches very well I put stitch markers at the beginning of each repeat in a round. For all of the stitch markers I use the same colour except for the stitch marker at the beginning of the round which I use a contrasting coloured one. It means there’s a lot easier to keep count and make sure you don’t miss any stitches, because if the count isn’t right between one stitch marker and another you know you’ve either missed or added a stitch. Also works well because chenille yarn you can generally frog a couple stitches just fine, but more than that and you’re gonna start losing/shedding yarn. Oh, and for chenille yarn I find that you can’t really use the magic ring method very well so it’s easier to do the chain 2 and slip stitch method. 🐸🐸🐸
I do a lot of that same stuff when working with the fluffy yarn.
So glad I stayed for Frog Tower, it was magnificient.
About the blanket yarn-totally agree. It feels so nice in the finish product but it has not elasticity to it so it’s super hard to stitch with. But! Bernet recently released a fleece blanket yarn that has solved the problem for me! The color selection is limited, but it works up so much better than the regular blanket yarn. I’m making a giant Snorlax with it now!
The joy and excited-ness of watching you build the frog tower was incredibly endearing, frog tower is adorable!!!
The secret to blanket yarn is to increase hook size (you already figured that out) and loosen up your tension a lot. It doesn't slide against itself, so when I use it, all the movement is the hook pulling in new yarn. Someone else said relax your grip and that made me realize I do hold the hook differently, sort of all in my fingertips instead of against my palm. I do agree with you about the lumpiness, so I wouldn't use it for amigarumi unless it was a REALLY big creature!
I love blanket yarn for a few reasons. There are no strands to split or accidentally poke your hook through, it's large which means projects work up fairly quickly and can make good size plushies out of small amigurumi patterns, and finally it actually helped a lot in my journey to learning to crochet! Since it can be hard to see your stitches you have to adapt to feeling your stitches a lot of the time versus seeing them and that means I had to get even more familiar with the stitch and the structure it creates without getting bogged down on it looking imperfect!
Blanket yarn: Agreed with other fans to try both XXL and small metal hooks, to avoid magic ring, and that glitter-blanket is harsher than regular. A hook change should help with the increases/decreases. Also consider a yarn-under OR tall, linked stitches (basically, vertical Tunisian done with a regular hook) to change the stitch texture.
But also, it's important to use a pull-once approach. I tend to pull a large loop, then yank it back to size it to the hook shaft. That approach fails utterly with fluffy and fuzzy yarns. I can't tell if you were doing that. But if so, put a metal finger-ring, plastic tube, smooth bandage, bit of plastic wrap, or something on your yarn-pulling finger (change the tool rather than fighting your nature) and accept that it won't show if loops are loose on the hook and not quite identical; see if that makes a difference. When it glides loosely through your fingers without any pulling backwards, you may find the Deceptive Marshmallow of Doom transforms into a Faithful Marshmallow of Delight. When I first got the stuff, I made things and ripped them out repeatedly just because I wanted to feel the yarn in my fingers again; it really can be the joy it promises to be.
If trying textured yarn with a smoother 2nd strand: Also test a thin strand, used just on the final yo/pull-through (if you're okay with handling 2 strands separately), to stabilize and help locate the top loops.
For embroidery floss: Try two strands or chain-ply if you continue to lack a tiny hook. It comes in some much-longer lengths (spools and balls).
Looking forward to your ranking-by-ease rather than result!
I loved this video. I've been making your patterns into smaller and larger items using different yarns. I've made your tiny frog and cockatoo into earrings using crochet thread that dollies are made from and I've made your gorilla very big to really small. I just love making things from your patterns. Thank you for being so creative.
Frogs are a favorite animal for me so I absolutely adored this video. And once you get the feel for it, embroidery thread is fun to crochet with.
LoL that frog tower was the best part of the video. I was half listening but immediately stopped what I was doing to watch that tower go up LOL love it
All of the frogs are so cute, the embroidery thread looked really nice with the frog.
I love that the final order seems to be a graduation of colour - perfect!
Really enjoyed this episode, ironically most of my stash is odds because of the fact that I mostly have others in my community donate me wool or we buy a random bag of wool from savers which you never know what size hook you really need.
On the failed wool, I would always double yarn it. (Fauxmo with an acrylic in either as close to the same colour/contrast/grey scale yarn) same said for the fluffy or yarn I can’t see and feel the stitches in project.
The pipe cleaners I used as introduction to framing because I could give a toy movement but I could also let an end stick out and have antenna for fun and they are fluffy to protect your hands a little.
That frog stack was like Yertle the Turtle in frog form. May void frog reign supreme.
Nice cotton can be SUCH a dream to work with! I tend to stuff my critters VERY tight and use smaller hooks to make things tight so there's no gaps, so I've found it works pretty well for me :D the mercerized cotton also just has a delightful finished texture to me
You are such a ray of sunshine 🌞 you're so bubbly in your videos, and it brings me joy to watch them ✨️
I'd love to see your ranking of how easy/pleasant the yarn was to work with, even if the end result wasn't exactly what you were hoping for.
Oh my God the void Frog! Looking forward to more Void Creations in the future :D
This was a great video! I have been thinking about making some plushies for charity and seeing the differences between all the various yarns was very helpful. I have a partial skein of that blanket yarn and it doesn't even want to stay wound in a ball, I'm impressed you were able to work with it at all. I call it Cthulhu yarn - the stuff of madness.
Yes! I've recently become obsessed with cotton yarn for everything so I'm happy to see you enjoying it!
I used jumbo chenille yarn to make that balloon dog I was seeing everywhere and the magic ring took a painfully long time. Totally worth it for my giant balloon dog tho I love her lol
Omg I had to laugh! I love chenille and blanket yarn and it’s my fav!!! I look at acrylic and I’m like oh no… idk how you guys do it 😂
Just recently found your channel. SO enjoyed your videos, especially this one. Talented, eloquent and funny not to mention educational ❤❤❤
personally i love working with the chenielle esp since it's only a $1.25 at my local dollar stores and its so soft it makes certain amigurmis less tedious
Mercerized cotton is my absolute favorite. Always sad that I can't find as much color as I want to (as lace size), but so perfect to work with for me ❤
I always love bamboo yarn, it's really soft and smooth, but too smooth to keep shape sometimes
I love the heavyweight yarn, I use bernat blanket which I can get on sale for $5-8 for a skein the size of the one in the video. I like it because it works projects very quickly in that it's thick and makes a larger project. I tried introducing my friend to it as a beginner but she couldn't work with it. So to each their own with what yarn we like
I prefer acrylic, however, I amazingly am currently using a fluffy yarn for a unicorn project and I can't see the stitches but I can feel them. I make sure and write down and use stitch markers. That way if I need to frog I can up to the last stitch marker. But always, always keep a running count in your head and down on paper so you wouldn't get lost. That's my tip for fluffy yarn. It is cheaper with acrylic, so that is what I use mostly.
Would love you to do a part 2 with velvet yarn! There’s some in spotlight but I’ve also gotten some from OzYarn (it’s called Yatsal Imperial Velvet Chunky Yarn). Finished projects feel nice, and it’s much easier to crochet with than blanket or chenille!
The cutest benchmark I have ever seen - I´ll just have to make him!
I don't know what this says about me but after watching this I am determined to try chenille and blanket yarn
That was amazing! I have tried most of these myself and came to similar conclusions as you. I have also tried Fluffy yarn a few times with very little success until I found a lady on CZcams (sorry I can't remember who it was 😥) who suggested to crochet the shape in BLO with plain yarn and then just SC into the leftover loops with the fluffy yarn: the result is amazing, and it is really easy. 🙂
As someone who does both crochet and knitting, some of fuzzy yarns you were unable to get frogs from would be ones I would mentally categorize as “can use to knit but not crochet.” I find the weirder textures easier to use while knitting since the loops are stuck on the sticks, unlike crochet where it can be a literal search and rescue to find every loop. That doesn’t stop me from petting the fluffy yarns in the store though 😂
Also, “doom marshmallow” will now be entering my vocabulary 😁
Agreed wholeheartedly: If you can't find the crochet stitches, put the yarn in the knit-this stash. Tunisian (Tunisian Knit Stitch or maybe extended Tunisian - add a chain-1) might also be an improvement. Not great for amigurumi, though.
Amazing video (as always!) You became my favorite CZcams channel basically within a weekend and since then I've been very excited for Thursdays
Same for me here lol. Black yarn, in general, is very complicated to work with.
It’s so interesting to see a crocheters perspective on this because as a knitter all I use is blanket yarn
The blanket yarn is great for more simple plushies that are big, simple, and squishy. For that reason, I do enjoy it quite a lot!
As someone who loves using Chenille, I see this as an absolute win
Just found your crochet corner and I’m loving it all!!
I found a yarn brand (definitely not in Australia but it's Alize Velluto) that's like a blanket yarn, but more like chenille. I mean it has the structure of a strand with fluff on it, but it's chonky like your blanket yarn. Best part is that it doesn't shed at all! Only at the ends, which is fine imo. I'd love for you to try using blanket yarn more often, I think it makes the best plushies
I use the blanket yarn for 90% of my plushes. Definitely metal hooks. And I end up not doing any special stitches. It more lends itself to extremely large safety eyes or embroidered on felt bits.
However, only the plush texture saves me from lumping it in with chenille and fur as devil spawn.
Omg if you fill the french knitting yarn from with heavy stuff I think the thick, stiff yarn would hold up perfectly for a door stopper! 😍
This was so interesting! Love that you took on this experiment.
For yarn that is hard to work with on its own, it often works to add a thinner strand of regular yarn so you can see your stitches.
I use blanket yarn and I love it. I usually buy it when it’s on sale or I use coupons from Joann’s or Michaels. I’ve never paid $20 for blanket yarn 😮
Also I recommend tighting your tension when using it and it won’t become lumpy. 😊
Everything seems a tad more expensive here in Australia I've noticed. I watch a lot of crocheters from America and always shocked at how much cheaper it seems over there!
We also don't seem to get coupons like you guys do, we just have sale weekends etc 🫶
I love watching your reactions to different yarns. Blanket, chenille, and 'fluffy' were the best! But we all have the struggle, it's whether we stick it out if we want it. Try plastic, wood or ceramic hooks. I've even seen some bone hooks out there. I've had to change plastic to wood when having migraines because of the sound of the hook through the yarn. You just have to be careful your tension isn't too strong or you'll break the hook, if not metal. If the fuzzy yarn is too hard to see to get your stitches, try pairing a matching 8-ply with it and work it on the double. When I first used a fuzzy yarn like that, I had to go very slowly and feel each stitch, almost not even looking at my work, just feeling with my fingers. Hope these help and stay with your passion, we love seeing it!
I love using blanket yarn because it works up much faster than regular yarn and doesn’t fray as I work. I always use about a size smaller hook whenever I work with it because it makes it easier to crochet more than one stitch into the previous stitch. It takes some practice getting the tension just right, but I love using it!
I LOVED this video!! You've made me want to try out a pattern in all the random yarns I've collected and never used
I found your frog pattern when it came out and I have been making them my personality since then. I use embroidery thread for them almost exclusively and turn them into keychains for gifts! I am so happy for this video and will be giving the black type a try!!!
The light purple frog was called in my growing up as corking 4 finishing nails into wooden spool. However I'm 53 yrs old also.
A tip for those who want to work with fuzzy yarns double up with a second yarn like a normal acrylic yarn of the same or similar color. It also makes the yarn easier to frog.
Personally, I prefer using a metal hook with fluffy yarns, also when using size 6 and 7 yarns, I personally recommend a size 6mm and a size 7mm hook.
I love working with chenille for amigurumis! For the fluffy fur or eyelash yarn, I’ve seen a video where they use a regular thin yarn with it and when you pull up a loop is when you grab the fluffy yarn and makes it so much easier to make each stitch
I've made actual blankets with the blanket yarn before (using a knitting loom), and once you get used to it, it's kind of nice since it's just one solid piece. I can't count how many times I frogged some of it, before finally using it for a project, so it holds up quite well to that. It's a decent yarn to learn with. My personal favourite to crochet with is bamboo yarn, it's so nice.
I use that fluffy yarn to make bears. I admit that when I use that yarn I crochet by touch way more than by sight. On the bright side, because of that, I don't miss anything when I watch something while I work, because I end up hardly looking at the project at all as I go, lol.
With this yarn, I really recommend using a marker at the beginning or end of every round. I tend to use lots of markers because I just leave them in so I can count the rounds.
It makes sense you enjoyed the mercerized cotton, it's designed to be crocheted with!
For that pale light green fluffy yarn, in the past when I've had to work with it, I've used it with another regular yarn of similar color to give it more structure. It helps with finding your stitches better, but like the chenille, a lot of it is just feeling your way through the stitches.
As a new crochet person, I love love love the feeling of fuzzy yarn but can’t see any of the stitches when I work with it 😭 When I tried “regular” yarn, I was astonished how easily I could see the different strands 😮
I was almost dancing upon the completion of the frog tower!
I made your bee pattern (the one you demonstrated with the crewel) with a blend of a fluffy chenille (specifically bernat velvet in the blackbird shade) and a much MUCH thinner wool/cotton blend (yes I was swapping from a 5mm hook to a 3.5 every color change, I had to double the stitch count on the woolton blend but i made it work) and she's the cutest little leggy potato I've ever made (I need to do her wings still but we're working on sourcing wire for that part at the moment, i gave up on the last colorful stripe and just left her butt in the fluffy black). The chenille was a royal pain in the butt - probably by virtue of the unholy combo of black yarn and fluffy yarn. I think the only way I was able to get it working was by feeling for the posts of the prior rounds.
The fluffy yarn likes to be loosey-goosey, i've found. having it in the tight normal crochet makes stitches impossible to perceive.
For the fluffy yarn, i usually double strand it with a thinner acrylic yarn so that i can see the stitches easier
Marshmallow of Doom------love it ! ❤
I absolutely love your frog pattern! I use it all the time and make them for friends and family! I have to make one out of the thick blanket yarn now!
for the fluffy yarn i have i used stitch markers on almost every stitch 🙂
I don't use blanket yarn but I do use more chuncky yarn that is similar to blanket yarn. The thing is that if you want to give it a shape is beter to have a patern that is in more or bigger pieces or that you just more stufed it. It's harder to use cause you're used to thiner yarn. I was working with thiner yarn when I started crocheing and got used to it so it was a bit of a problem when I used chunkier yarn for the first time but now I somehow use both of the yarns easily. The think I do with my yarn for wich is recomendet 8,5 to 9,5mm hook is that I use 6mm hook. And in my opinion is easier. Hope I helped. Btw you are amazing and I love it when you and skeinspider complete chalenges togheter. ❤ That coment is for the rating yarn video. Sorry for late post
This is absolutely amazing! I really love your designs with crochet, and the dragon is especially a favourite! (The orange one!) which is one of my first videos (I think) I watched of yours! And the owl,
BUT THE FROG IS ADORBS! I love love love your patterns, and it’s really helpful. ❤
17:34 for these yarn I use a larger hook, you really have to take your time but it turns out amazingly cute 😊
i've made two animals with jumbo velvet yarn, and i really like working with it, even though i always end up needed to vacuum afterwards!
haven't made one with blanket yarn, but i do love working with it to make blankets! bernat yarn is great. I can't use tiny yarn, so personal preference!
For the light blue fluffy yarn, there is a technique where you crochet with regular acrylic and work in fluffy yarn on top as you go (so you're not actually working stitches with the fluffy yarn). It takes some practice to figure out but pretty easy once you get the hang of it. Though to be fair you lose a lot of detail in the fuzziness so I'd use it more for a larger stuffed animal look than detailed amigurumi. With the pattern you were using it still may not have frogged that well.
If you want to use the “fluffy yarn” (I think it’s called eyelash yarn), you can do what I did and crochet a base in regular yarn in the back loop only and attach the fluffy yarn with slip stitches. It is double the work, but the result is so worth it!
Do make sure you take into account that crocheting in the back loop only does change the rotation, so you might have to adjust your pattern.
Love the video's you make.
I always work with 5ply mercerized cotton. I have 2 favourite brands, which used together, have 225+ colors to choose from😍. But they might be difficult to find outside of Europe.
The smallest yarn I've worked with is #3 the largest #6. My fav is #4 but I found out when making amigurumi for craft fairs, kids love the plushiness of the #6. I use Premier Parfait Chunky, Bernat Velvet and Bernat Blanket yarn. So as long as the kids love those types of amigurumi that's what I'll keep using. I have to say when I first started with those types of yarn it was extremely hard but as I used it more and more it got easier. But you on the other hand do excellent work with the #3 and smaller yarns, my stuff doesn't turn out that well. Thanks for the comparison.
When i learned to crochet, started with acrylic. hated it, almost made me to quit.... but then tried different yarns and fall in love with mercerised cotton. 99% of my amigurumi made with it!
When you first said "Will it frog?" I expected the video to be about how easy it is to rip out stitches, lol!
It's interesting that I've heard of a lot of people recommending cotton yarn for amigurumi, but acrylic is my favorite yarn in general because it's a lot more affordable to me and comes in ALL THE COLORS! I haven't done a lot of experimenting with specialty yarns, but I played around a bit once with Lion Brand ReSpun which is 100% polyester (a bit pricey to me, harder to find in stores, and has a particularly specific palette which forced me to use charcoal grey instead of black) and I once used a type of boucle in a commission where the yarn was provided (kinda a fun texture but splitty and harder to see the stitches, as well as a NIGHTMARE when I needed to frog).
I absolutely love blanket yarn, but I agree that it is insanely expensive. I wish I could use it more!
My favorite yarn is the sweet snuggles yarn from micheals. The same type of yarn as the parfait yarn
Putting in my formal request for a frog in every color!
Sparkle yarn is one of my favorites to use to create shawls. I got a special blue silver gradient sparkle yarn, and it looks amazing as a butterfly stitch shawl (especially in the sunlight!). The sparkle strand has a tendency to fray from the rest of the strands though 😅
I would try the fauxMo again but held with a thicker yarn like fingering or dk. If you can’t do that or want to see it on its own, try double or triple standing it. FauxMo deserves a second chance 🥺💕
Love this episode! I use baby yarn as my go to. Love the small ones!
deceptive marshmallow of doom 😂😂😂 il never look at blanket yarn without laughing again! ❤
Mohair´s secret is to knit something light and airy. Or frog with other more firm yarn at the same time.
The stack looked like little ice cream scoops 😂❤
I agree with you i love the way projects come out with Chenille, but reaaaaaally dont like working with it lol
I prefer cotton because acrylic makes my hands itchy, for amigurumi I mostly used Yatsal brand cotton from discount stores or ozyarn online (in Australia) I don't think its mercerised but it's denser than the cotton I usually use for clothes which is the rainbow cotton from Hobbii
Happy Thursday! Absolutely love your stuff. :)
Hello! Glad you like it :)
With the fluffy yarns, & the feathered ones; I save them for scarves & beanies; where the stitches whilst important for shaping; don't really matter for exactness in length or width of project, so if my tension is off (always is) it's not noticable. I also go up a couple of sizes in hooks; but I have a really tight tension; I'm still learning, and relaxing into my own pace, & therefor tension is still not there for me; so your hook size will vary. Chenille again, I only use in chonky projects with a large hook; though I am thinking that they will make lovely face cloths, so when I fish my yarn out of storage, that's what I'm attempting next with the skein I have of it :)