The Caribbean Ruana

If you haven’t seen or heard yet.. Red Heart Yarns has some new yarns!!!! I had received a email a week or so back from Red Heart introducing the new yarns & a SALE!!! So… me being the yarn hoarder I am, I bought a couple skeins of each to try.

Red Heart has been around for as long as I can remember. It was the first yarn I had ever used. If your a yarn addicted like myself, I’d recommend reading the history of this Company. There’s some pretty interesting facts and I was pleasantly surprised to have found out, and understood why it was my Grandmothers favorite after I read the history and found out they are part of Coats & Clark, which comes from Scotland 😉

I know alot of experienced Knitters & Crocheter’s that Cringe when you mention Red Heart yarn. The first thing that goes threw their mind is.. Scratchy. Red Heart has come along way and has many yarns with many degree’s of softness. Super Saver, being the cheapest, In my mind has come along way though. It does not feel as stiff and “scratchy” as it used to. You will run into a skein here and there that doesn’t feel that pleasing to the touch BUT don’t let that deter you from purchasing because there is a very simple and easy trick to make that yarn feel just as soft as a baby’s bottom 😉 haha

Your gonna go to the local Dollar store and buy yourself a bottle of hair conditioner. Basic, not fancy, not fragrant, just cheap plain hair conditioner. You can either do this prior to making your item or after. If your making several, I would wait til your done making them.. then do this trick. Depending on how large your item is you can either do it in the tub or sink. Fill the sink with just enough warm water to cover the items. Then you will squeeze in about 2 – 3 handfuls ( depending on the size of your hand) into the sink. Now gently knead your item in the water.. squeezing out the water then dunking it again a couple time… Leave the items in the mixture for atleast 20 mins. Drain the sink, then rinse your items with cold water, lay out flat to dry or block your item at this time if need be. When Items dry’s you will have Softer yarn!! 🙂

Now that you have no excuse to not use Super Saver lol I’m going to talk about The New Super Saver Ombre yarns….

I have tried Caron Cakes & Mandala so when I saw the Ombre I did a little dancing jig in my chair!!! I was not pleased with Caron Cakes  but I was impressed with Mandala. Eagerly wanting to try Ombre I went threw my pattern stash before the yarn arrived I was not going to mess with making my own design for 2 reasons.

1.) I was only purchasing 2 skiens, Scuba & Anthracite. These skeins are decent sized 10 oz (283 g) Yardage 482 yds (440 m) but I wanted to make sure I made something that was going to use just one full skein. 

2.) I wanted something that was going to show off the colors of these yarns. After being disappointed with my pattern stash, I went to Red Hearts website and started looking at their patterns. I saw the Ruana but the Ruana is more of a Fall/ Winter items so I did alittle of my own tweaking and came up with a Ruana that was more open and flowing along with being a bit shorter. Something that was going to work great for the summer breeze’s & nights.

As I worked this yarn.. I was noticing soo many neat little aspects about it. Ombre is a #4 weight yarn so even though I used a 9mm ( recommended is 5.5mm) it was still working up great with the colors. The color gradient is smooth & almost unnoticeable as your working. It is kinda hard to see in the photo’s, even though I tried 20 million lighting options .. grrr… to see it but it kinda has a “frosted” type look to it… And…

JUST LOOK AT THAT COLOR!!!!!! ❤ ❤

This is definitely going on my “Yarn Stash” list of must keep handy at all times.!! I have already started on the Anthracite skein. Kinda just flying by the seat of my pants on this one.. It will most probably end up being some type of wearable cardi, cocoon, poncho thing hahaha

Comparison

Since I have only used 2 other brands of “gradient” type yarns. This isn’t a huge comparison list…

Caron Cakes VS Ombre… To me, There is none. Caron Cakes does not meet my guidelines of “gradient” yarn. Ombre was far more superior. I found so many issues with the Cakes. I would direct you to a review I had done but when I decided to get a domain and tried to transfer my posts from the other site.. well it got eaten by the big transfer monster 😉

Lion Brands Mandala VS Ombre… This was going to be tough for me TIL I realized a important factor between these two yarns. As stated above Ombre is a weight #4. Mandala is a weight #3!!! As both have a flawless blend of color changes I was torn between which I loved better 😉 Seeing as how they are different weights this made it possible to love both. Mandala is a bit softer than Ombre but both were pretty dang equal with each other.

SUMMARY

Super Saver Ombre….

Comes in 12 colors – Is a weight #4 yarn – Skeins are a good size – Gradient is smooth & flawless. As in most all super saver skeins I have purchased in the past, there was no frayed sections, knots, etc while working with this yarn…. No surprises.

The only way to get your hands on this new Ombre is from Redheart.com   or

A.C Moore Arts & Crafts store. As far as I could figure out.. A.C Moore is a East Coast craft store. I never recalled hearing or seeing one back home on the West Coast.

I’m hoping they will release it at other stores as time goes on.

Have A Wonderful Holiday Weekend!!! 🙂

I am NOT affiliated with anyone mentioned in this post. Any &/or all opinions are solely my own, I do not get paid to write reviews.