Custom designed knitting projects

Introduction

Time for another “yarn spotlight” blog post!

I’ve mentioned before how I’ve been obsessed with buying yarn that comes in a variety of bright, eye popping rainbow colors for my custom-designed knitting projects. And while M&K ECO Baby Ull Color is a great super fine weight yarn that satisfy that requirement, I wanted something that came in a thicker yarn weight as well.

The fact that it was also a 100% organic cotton yarn (i.e. a plant fiber yarn) enticed me even more into wanting to buy the yarn, since my previous yarn experiences dealt mostly with animal fiber yarns (e.g. wool yarn, angora yarn, etc.).

And the final factor that convinced me to buy Estelle’s Cloud Cotton yarn? Each hank was extremely affordable, priced at just $9/CAD per hank at my local yarn store… and each hank weighs a nice, hefty 100g!

So anyway, I went ahead and bought 2 hanks in every rainbow color, along with a few hanks in white and a few in black (check out the photos below for details):

• Color shade #112 – Red
• Color shade #108 – Orange
• Color shade #106 – Lime green
• Color shade #107 – Dark green
• Color shade #109 – Light blue
• Color shade #111 – Dark blue
• Color shade #121 – Purple
• Color shade #102 – White
• Color shade #101 – Black

I went home with my Cloud Cotton yarn stash, and instantly decided to try the yarn out by using it in my latest custom-designed handbag knitting project. All I did was use Cloud Cotton in a straight-forward Stockinette stitch pattern, with no increases or decreases or anything fancy.

After knitting two square-shaped swatches in Stockinette stitch, I came to the conclusion that I did NOT like Estelle’s Cloud Cotton yarn. Yup, that’s right. I’m writing a yarn spotlight post on a yarn that I dislike.

The main reason why I’m not a fan of Estelle’s Cloud Cotton yarn? It pills. A lot.

I accidentally made a mistake while knitting with Cloud Cotton, and tried to backtrack by “frogging” my work.

Definition of “Frogging:” Unraveling your knitting project to a point before the mistake occurred

What ended up happening was the yarn started “pilling“…

Definition of “Pilling:” Little balls of fiber appearing on your knitting project

…to a point where the “frogged” part of the project didn’t look “newly knitted” anymore. That’s not exactly something you want to happen when knitting a project you’re intending to sell on Etsy!

While it was already too late to return the hanks of yarn that I had already used, I did go back to my local yarn shop to return the remaining unused hanks of Estelle’s Cloud Cotton yarn for store credit… that’s how unsatisfied I was with the yarn.

So even though Cloud Cotton by Estelle Yarns is affordable, made of 100% organic cotton, and comes in a wide array of rainbow cotton candy colors… I strongly recommend opting for a different yarn, simply based on personal experience and preference.

Estelle Cloud Cotton Yarn Photographs

Note: Before returning the unused yarn, I took some photos of my Estelle Cloud Cotton yarn stash. Check them out below…

Introduction

Welcome to the second “yarn spotlight” blog post on M&K yarn!

If you’ll recall, I’ve been doing a lot of yarn shopping recently (once again, please excuse me while I drool for a bit… mmmmm… yarn).

Just like with the last time, the main reason I’m investing in so much yarn is because I’m in the middle of mass-designing/knitting new custom designed knitting projects in order to get my soon-to-be-live Etsy shop underway (again, stay tuned for details!).

So like I had said in the beginning of this blog post, this is the second “yarn Spotlight” on yarns by the Marks & Kattens brand. The first spotlight showcased Mark & Kattens’ M&K ECO Baby Ull Color yarn, which I was especially drawn to due to the wide array of rainbow colors that the baby weight, 100% wool yarn came in… from reds to oranges to greens to blues to purples.

This second spotlight will be focusing on the heavier & thicker version of the M&K ECO Baby Ull Color. Introducing the M&K ECO Ull Color yarn!

Same with the M&K ECO Baby Ull Color yarn, this medium weight version is also made out of 100% pure wool (with a guaranteed minimum 20% consisting of merino wool). It’s also similarly affordable (currently listed at $7 CAD/ball in my local Canadian yarn store). And like the baby weight version, it comes in a wide array of colors. But instead of the eye-popping rainbow shades of the M&K ECO Baby Ull Color, this non-baby weight version comes in more subtle, less vibrant shades. Also like its super fine yarn weight cousin, there are 7 different natural raw shades of the regular, non-color M&K ECO Ull yarn.

As I had just mentioned, the M&K ECO Ull Color yarn comes in wide range of colors that rival the baby weight version… but the shades are definitely much more muted. I had purchased the following color shades (check out the photos below for details):

• Color shade #300 – Red
• Color shade #301 – Orange
• Color shade #302 – Green
• Color shade #304 – Teal
• Color shade #309 – Blue
• Color shade #308 – Purple

I also purchased the following natural shades of the non-color M&K ECO Ull yarn:

• Color shade #1977 – Gray
• Color shade #1979 – Cream
• Color shade #1981 – Brown

So if you’re looking for an affordable, 100% wool medium weight yarn that comes in a wide array of rainbow colors in muted shades… then I strongly recommend M&K ECO Ull Color by Marks & Kattens.

M&K ECO Ull Color Yarn Photographs

Here are some personal photos of my M&K ECO Ull Color yarn stash…

Introduction

Welcome to another “yarn spotlight” blog post!

I’ve been doing quite a lot of yarn shopping recently (please excuse me while I drool for a bit… OK, I’m good now!). Why? Well, the main reason is because I’m in the middle of mass-creating / knitting a whole bunch of new custom designed knitting projects in order to get my soon-to-be-live Etsy shop underway (stay tuned for details!).

So of course, I decided to use that as an excuse to explore purchasing new yarns, from brands that I’ve never experimented knitting with before. I was especially drawn to yarns that came in a rainbow of colors, from reds to oranges to greens to blues to purples.

As a result, I’ve recently discovered (and fallen madly in love with!) M&K ECO Baby Ull Color yarn by Marks & Kattens. Actually, I’ve also discovered the non-baby, thicker version… but I’ll reserve that for another day’s yarn spotlight post.

Made out of 100% pure wool (with a guaranteed minimum 20% consisting of merino wool), this yarn is the finest spun in M&K’s ECO wool range. It’s also extremely affordable (currently listed at $5 CAD/ball in my local Canadian yarn store), yet it comes in a wide range of bright, rainbow colors (compared to the regular M&K ECO Baby Ull yarn line, consisting of 7 different natural raw shades).

Like I had said before, I basically fell in love with M&K ECO Baby Ull Color yarn simply due to the wide range of rainbow colors that it comes in. As a result, I’ve purchased the following color shades (check out the photos below for details):

• Color shade #187 – Red
• Color shade #177 – Orange
• Color shade #183 – Green
• Color shade #184 – Teal
• Color shade #188 – Blue
• Color shade #189 – Royal purple
• Color shade #181 – Light purple
• Color shade #179 – Fuchsia
• Color shade #178 – Pink

So if you’re looking for an affordable, 100% wool super fine baby weight yarn that comes in eye-popping shades of bright rainbow colors… then I strongly recommend M&K ECO Baby Ull Color by Marks & Kattens.

M&K ECO Baby Ull Color Yarn Photographs

Here are some personal photos of my M&K ECO Baby Ull Color yarn stash…