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| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| musicandneedles |
Posted - 05/20/2007 : 07:46:39 AM
I do not like Red Heart at all. It splits, and one of my skeins was tangeled horribly in the center of it. So that's what I've been working on, is untangeling it.
I don't obsess over things, I just think about them intently. :) |
| 20 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Sparklehal |
Posted - 03/30/2013 : 11:35:38 AM
I have used red heart for many years and whether I like it or not seems to depend on the dye. Black is hit or miss, along with red. I have not found anything I absolutely hate. Sayelle (vintage) is not a favorite but it will do in a pinch.
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| hillstreetmama |
Posted - 02/28/2013 : 9:58:11 PM
I bought some Red Heart this last month for the first time in over a decade. DH built a rope maker, and we're making jump ropes. I figure that they're basically plastic and should wash and wear well. I used to find RH all the time at Goodwill, but of course not now, so we've bought at least 20 big skeins. Now I wish I still had my leftovers from my crocheted afghan days of the 70's.
Jan
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| Zoomom |
Posted - 01/31/2013 : 10:16:28 AM
The only Red Heart I really use now is Heart and Sole sock yarn. I hate the feel of Super Saver (had to make a scarf and hat a certain colour last year and that was the only yarn I could find that matched) I hate the cheap scratchy acrylics. I have had good luck with Heart and Sole though, but I think because it has wool in it it feels a lot nicer and makes very pretty socks, fingerless gloves and mittens.
Hand knit socks rock. |
| Consuelo |
Posted - 01/10/2010 : 4:32:40 PM
I've never knitted with Red Heart. I used to be a weaver and acrylic never came into the picture. However, as a knitter I have used acrylics for babies and children because they are so practical. I'll have to get some Red Heart and see what it's all about
As far as tangles, I LOVE THEM!! Well, I don't like to get the all the time, of course, but when I do, de-tangling is like meditating to me. When we were young and tent camped, I was always in charge of any kind of rope we had because detangling was so much fun. I can't explain it... just one more weird quirk, I guess.
Consuelo
"Perfect is the enemy of good" |
| julie2cat |
Posted - 01/10/2010 : 11:10:45 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Isis Rising
I've got some Trekking that's horribly tangled in the middle. I still like it, though. Red Heart serves a select purpose. Since it's so cheap, if I get a messy skein, I buy a new one.
http://isisrising.typepad.com/
Julia A Wright |
| NCmusiclady |
Posted - 12/12/2007 : 4:01:33 PM
Llinn - Funny you should mention that - I did just that and got "that happens sometimes." I told them it shouldn't and the gal laughed and told me that I must be a newer knitter (which I was) and that I should "get used to it." Yep - I think the term "customer service" has different meanings for different companies. Sigh. . . |
| llinn |
Posted - 12/09/2007 : 9:01:40 PM
Regardless of whose yarn it is, I'd raise holy hoozis with whoever's name was on a skein with 8 knots. Seriously, Red Heart has an 800 line for customer relations. Call them and tell them what you found. I'll bet anything they send you coupons for replacement yarn.
Llinn |
| NCmusiclady |
Posted - 12/09/2007 : 3:08:21 PM
Llinn - I have some new Red Heart stuff I've been working with for Christmas gifts for my students - and I can tell you that I have several that have bonafide KNOTS in them - not plied together - and one skein I had to completely dismantle because there were 8 knots in the whole skein. This has happened to me more than once, so I always say a little prayer, "Please, God - let this one not have many knots!"
With that said, this summer I purchased some gorgeous wool to make a coat with -bought 8 hanks, which ended up being 18 balls of yarn. Severe and blatant knots - but at least the ply and dye lots were the same.
Unfortunately, in today's world, mediocrity rules over quality much of the time. |
| llinn |
Posted - 12/07/2007 : 5:00:17 PM
Write to Red Heart or call their customer service line for color availability. I haven't bothered for a while myself, but I can tell you that in the 80s and 90s Red Heart made 117 colors in Wintuk, and WalMart sold 19. Tough to get a lot of their colors except direct.
Llinn |
| crsknit |
Posted - 12/06/2007 : 06:43:27 AM
When I really got into knitting about 20 years ago, I lived in Huntsville, AL and there were no yarn shops. The only yarn available was the Wal-Mart, K-Mart, variety. In fact, no one carried cotton yarn and I had never seen it or knitted with it until I moved to Mableton, GA 13 years ago and met a knitter who made dishcloths and she got her cotton at Michaels.
I made lots and lots of baby afghans and throws for gifts from Red Heart. I was always told how much they were used and washed and were still in service years later and looking good. A friends "baby" was still using her blanket for naps 3 1/2 years later. I now tend to use TLC Essentials or Caron Simply Soft for these items because of the softer feel. However, these yarns just do not hold up as well as the Red Heart. I have two afghans in my home right now that were made from TLC and they have not stayed looking as good as the ones I have made from Red Heart.
I am thinking of going back to Red Heart. It is readily available in more places and has a greater color selection than some of the "soft" products.
Finishing is better than starting. Ecclesiastes 7:8 NLT |
| llinn |
Posted - 12/05/2007 : 9:08:26 PM
Probably not under the Red Heart label, Moose, but Patons is part of Red Heart so Patons wool is their wool.
NCmusic, lots of brands have knots. And it sure does tick people off. Red Heart has about the fewest - someone who shall remain nameless except that their name has something to do with big cats had an official policy that allowed up to 3 (THREE!!!!) knots per skein.
Red Heart used to allow none--I bought a lot of yarn in partial skeins because of that, but they have switched to a one knot policy.
What you won't find in RedHeart and what burns me sometimes worse than anything is knots where they have added new plys. Red Heart twists them into the yarn and you'll never notice, but I've found more than one place where they've tied on a new single in Cashmerino. For some reason those little knots annoy me worse than a big one.
Llinn |
| NCmusiclady |
Posted - 12/05/2007 : 10:43:04 AM
I had Red Heart - and other brands KNOTTED on me - like they took two ends and tied them in a KNOT! It's more than irritating, to say the least!
I've also had tangles from the center pull skeins and now I only use the yarn from the outside - put it in a ziplock bag and go for it.
Just because the THEORY says one thing - doesn't always mean that's the REALITY. Really. |
| moose |
Posted - 12/04/2007 : 11:21:28 PM
When I learned how to knit, Red Heart was wool in 4 oz or 2 oz skeins. Quilt batting was cotton. Both yarn and batting switched to synthetics, but the batting company now offers cotton batting again. Would Red Heart ever return to wool? Moose |
| llinn |
Posted - 12/04/2007 : 4:39:12 PM
Ooops, hadn't looked at this site for a while. Pye, we have Woolbearers over in Mt. Holly. They do a spin-in the first Sunday of every month which Anne and I go to occasionally. Other than that I'm not real sure, I still have so many thousands of pounds of yarn, I only ever buy novelty for scarves and some colors in acrylics I don't have or can't dig out easily.
mindy, have you washed the hoodie? Red heart does have a finishing "bath" after it is dyed and before it is bulked. It washes away in the first trip through the washer and dryer and the yarn softens considerably. If the kidlet really is showing a reaction to the yarn, you might consider that she may be sensitive to acrylics. I know people who are allergic to petroleum based synthetics and cannot wear anytning except natural fibers.
Llinn |
| MindyO |
Posted - 12/02/2007 : 11:38:42 PM
I use red heart super saver strictly for peole I dont like and would rather not knit for! Like my SILs kid... I will use the other Red Heart brands, like Heathers isn't too bad, and any of the red heart baby is pretty nice and soft and fluffy. The only reason I would choose red heart SS for myself is if there was a particular color I HAD to have! I used it last year to crochet daughter a hooded cardigan and she insists it makes her neck itch, and it actually turns red! I didn't think acrylic would be itchy. So a year of slow and steady work down the drain on that one, good thing the yarn was cheap! |
| pyewackett |
Posted - 11/30/2007 : 11:05:05 PM
Llinn, I never realized we lived so close to each other! I'm just north of Trenton, in Lawrenceville. What LYS do you have down your way?
- pye |
| llinn |
Posted - 11/27/2007 : 9:35:54 PM
South jersey is it's own little world. We're not like any other part of the country. Now I sold all mill ends at substantially less than normal retail, so I marketed to people who are cheap.
I did great so long as I just had to make grocery and luxury money. When Ma went nuts and sold my house out from under me and got me a $2000 per month mortgage I had to quit selling yarn and go get a real job. Yarn stores won't support anyone at a living wage.
Llinn |
| judye |
Posted - 11/27/2007 : 10:39:22 AM
Llinn, how did you make out selling the Red Heart yarn? Where do you start this sort of thing? By the way, I have found that most yarns can get tangled in the middle. It is most annoying. Patience is required, but not so easy to come by.
judyeisner@yahoo.com
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| llinn |
Posted - 11/25/2007 : 10:04:01 PM
Boy,howdy, have computer problems for a couple of weeks and y'all have the best discussions without me.
I sold about 1,000 lbs. of Red Heart a month for 17 years and never had anything from them pill. On the other hand, Lion and Caron both pill like buggers. On the third hand, Red Heart now produces other acrylics than wintuk [tm] now and those "soft" yarns do pill.
Sooooo, it's tough to make an absolute pronouncement about pilling yarn. I know that Red Heart still has the most aggressive quality control program in the industry. Wayyy tougher than any of the others and they are still the only yarn company in the world that makes their own acrylic yarn from spinning to finishing. Lion, Caron and that other one I can't remember are all done up at SpinRite in Canada for finishing. I'm not sure where they are all spun.
If a Red Heart product pilled immediately they would absolutely want the customer to return it to them. And they take that kind of thing seriously. They would investigate the production lots and find out why that fiber failed. So even if someone doesn't want to reknit in RedHeart, then consider that they would take it as a favor to be shown a failed product.
Unless they've gotten a divorce, Coats & Clark (Red Heart) is also part of Patons. It trades internationally as Coats-Patons and Patons yarns for the US market are also produced at Albany. Moda Dea is theirs as well, but most of those are novelty yarns made in Turkey but put upp in Georgia.
Any good acrylic (in particular, red heart) really needs to go through a dryer to behave itself. It's an engineered fiber that is moisture activated, heat set. In other words, when it gets hot (in a dryer) after it's been wet (in a washer) it will snap back and rebulk itself like new.
Dazzle type yarns tend to pill like buggers because they have particularly hairy fibers mixed in to give the yarn it's sparkle. Plain, smooth surface yarns pill less or not at all.
Acrylics have their place, just like polar fleece and sweat pants - no matter what Tim Gunn and Michael Kors have to say.
Llinn |
| GaiaDea |
Posted - 11/23/2007 : 2:17:41 PM
Yes Grayling, that's a good explanation! The pull skeins that come in the long "log" shapes are usually ended by the manufacturer by taking the outside or finishing end of the yarn, slipping it under the first loop of the inside or beginning end, and pulling both ends to the inside of the skein....presumably to keep it from unwinding during shipping and shelving. So to free the inside end, you must first pull out the outside end and then pull out the inside end from the opposite side of the skein the outside end was on. On occasion the machines that do the winding and finishing don't get the very first loop of the beginning end though, so a tangly wad can happen in the middle where you can't see it. In that case the only two solutions I know of are: you can pull the wad from the center and persuade it to cooperate, or you can use the outside end.
As far as Red Heart yarn goes....I used a great deal of the worsted weight of that and many others from general discount stores over the years. I thought ALL yarns were plastic-y and slightly rough, static-y and totally non-breathable and non-absorbent---until I used good wool yarn for the very first time. No store locally carries ANY wool yarns at all, so my choices were limited to Red Heart and Caron and Lion, all in acrylic. I was also afraid of wool because I had always been allergic to wool, or so I thought. In learning to spin, I found it is the sizing and dye treatments used for commercial weaving that I am allergic to and not the wool (most folks allergic to wool clothing have the same sensitivity). So I bought some Mountain Colors 4/8's and I try really hard now to avoid using most acrylic yarns ever at all, LOL.
GaiaDea |
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