I kind of feel like I'm on a never-ending quest to find the "perfect" yarn for my amigurumi. A lot of people swear by certain brands, types, others just sort of use whatever is in their stash. I need to find something that I can easily access, love to use, and won't spend a fortune on.
My current stash, which is a good six years old by now, consists of Lion Brand's Micro Spun in a few colors, which I used for my first few amigurumi. It's a great yarn, has a nice sheen and works smoothly, but it splits like CRAZY which drives me insane. It's also only useful for smaller projects, and I'd like to do things that are a little larger down the line. The rest of my "oh God why did I get so much yarn what am I going to do with it" collection is tagless, but feel like acrylics or acrylic blends. One of them is a nice shade of green which unfortunately must be wool because it's scratchy and uncomfortable to work with. Since I also want to appease those that may be allergic or have ethical reasons against yarn that uses animal products (vegans), I'm trying to avoid wool as my "go-to".
Lily Sugar 'n Cream seems to be the one brand that hits all three of the aforementioned targets. It doesn't tear up my hands, the stitches have a great definition, and it costs $4 for 2 balls of it. One ball is enough for something on the smaller side - the elephant pictured above only used one ball. To bypass the fact that they lack a lot of colors that I foresee using, I've gotten a sample grab bag from
Pisgah Yarn and Dye of their Peaches 'n Creme, and it's essentially the same as Lily's product. The only downside is I have to pay extra for shipping and can't simply drive down the road to pick up a few colors.
I should probably find a go-to acrylic though, which I'm thinking will be the Caron Simply Soft line. They have about a bazillion colors and it's the right hook size for my beloved 4mm hook, meaning I can probably use it in conjunction with my cotton stash.
Fun fact: I'm slightly bambakophobic, which is the long confusing word for "I can't touch raw cotton". Cotton balls, Q-tips, those cotton circles that you use for make-up and what not...can't touch 'em. If I find a bottle of medicine with a cotton ball in the top, I can't get it out. Even some cotton clothing and towels are enough, but it really depends on the items in question. Considering cotton yarn is among my favorites to use, I have to enjoy how ironic this seems. :D