Why do I find Homespun so difficult to work with??

sewinhotmama23 · 01-13-2007, 03:57 PM

I love the way that some of the Bernat at my Walmart looks, but have tried and tried... and its just so hard for me to work with... Any tips?? I was trying to do a simple stockinette skinny scarf with size 8 bamboo... It just seems like my needles try to poke thru the individual strands... maybe I was knitting too tight?? I have a tendency to do that.

alicia · 01-13-2007, 09:13 PM

Sorry~ Not a big fan of homespun~ I bought some to do a quickie baby blanket on 19 needles with 3 strands held together~ It was Awful! It kept splitting and wasn't laying right~ I frogged the thing like 6 times and then, I had enough!

So, I took it back! That's the only time I have ever returned a yarn!

Pretty colors though...

suzeeq · 01-13-2007, 09:25 PM

Homespun by Lion can be difficult to work with; you have to watch that you're not just knitting the thread instead of the whole strand. It works much better on larger needles, btw, like size 11. 8s are much too small for it - it's a bulky/chunky yarn and the gauge uses size 10s.

sue

Jan in CA · 01-13-2007, 09:39 PM

Bernat doesn't make homespun...

Lion Brand Homespun IS hard to work with and a lot of knitters don't care for it even though it does have pretty colors.

Personally I don't care to knit with any yarn that hides my stitches. I started knitting because I love the texture and fine stitch detail you get vs crochet which tends to look a lot the same and is much bulkier.

KEDEK5 · 01-13-2007, 09:43 PM

Funny that this should post just after I washed my sons afghan I made him out of Homespun. As I was taking it out of the dryer I thought, I really need to make him a better afghan. This was one of my first projects, an afghan in his school colors, and I was so dissappointed in the yarn. After all the hours I put into what I thought would be a heirloom, it now looks like a cheap afghan.

I really need to make a new one for him.

Calamintha · 01-13-2007, 09:51 PM

Yes, I had the same problem with Homespun. I made a chair throw out of it and each time I washed it it shed more and more until after about 4 or 5 washings there was so little left of it the cat didn't even want it! There is some bad Mojo connected with the yarn which is too bad because the colors are nice.

sewinhotmama23 · 01-13-2007, 09:57 PM

lol I guess I meant lion brand... Well Im glad that I asked, I was thinking of it for a throw for the living room... GORGEOUS colors are what attracted me to it.. needless to say, its going back..

suzeeq · 01-13-2007, 10:08 PM

It's not really that bad, you just need to use large needles.

sue

aprilbetty · 01-13-2007, 10:35 PM

I agree with all of the above! I printed out the instructions for the Lion Hooded Knitted Sweater (size 2 to XXXL) using Homespun yarn, planning to knit several different sizes. Fortunately, I first bought one skein to make a hat for my daughter. I could not even do a ribbed border with the yarn. I ended up making a perfectly plain hat and told her she could walk the dogs in it! See picture below. I am very happy I only bought one skein of Homespun. By the way, I enjoy working with other Lion brand yarns.

nadja la claire · 01-13-2007, 11:33 PM

They seduce you with the pretty colors and the soft feel. I was lured into the Homespun web. I got 6 skeins of that stuff because I liked the color and it was deeply discounted. I wanted to love it, I tryed to love it but it just treated me so badly. Finally I decided that I was in a totally disfunctional relationship with this yarn so I said goodbye, packed it in a bag and gave it to a friend who got along great with it. She combined it with some other yarns and knitted 2 beautiful throws with it on speed stix. I think that's the secret to working with this yarn; combine it with other yarns and use gigantic needles.

Nadja xxx