Product Review: Italia Yarn by Yarn Bee

I stopped crocheting sometime in the mid-1980s because I broke out into hives every time I crocheted. Near as I can figure it, I was allergic to the dye in the yarn. For a couple of months I had the notion to start crocheting again, but I didn't know if I wanted to get mixed up in that again. Crocheting is additive, you start off making a scarf and next thing you know you are looking at patterns for afghans and sweaters. Then I noticed a co-worker's crocheted scarves, she has enough to wear a different one each day of the month. All of them are beautiful. I started looking for one in the stores, but I couldn't find one soft enough or pretty enough or within my price range if it met my high standards.

So, I ended up going to Hobby Lobby and buying yarn for a scarf. I picked the color umbria of the Yarn Bee's Italia line because it was so soft it was decadent and it was a gorgeous mix of colors. The yarn is a blend of several colors of orange, gray and olive green with a fuzzy material wrapped loosely around the yarn that changed colors from orange to cooper. I bought 2 skeins of it despite its high price of $6.29 a skein. Actually the price, nearly made me chicken out of the project altogether, but it's so soft I had to get it. I borrowed a size J crochet hook from my mother. Why J? It was the biggest crochet hook she had - I planned on making the scarf fast so I could wear it right away. What was my hurry? Well when I went shopping for the yarn the temperature was in the low 30's and the weatherman said it was going to be in the 20's before it was all over. This was going to be the pattern for days, so I wanted to be warm and stylish at the same time. I didn't have a pattern, but I wanted it long so I could wrap it around my neck a couple of times. Keeping with the fast plan I chain stitched until the string was taller than me; then I started doing triple stitches in each loop. I figured using the biggest hook in the house with the biggest stitch I knew would hurry things along.

When I got the first skein finished, I looked back at what I had done. The mix of blended colors lined up so that they looked like stripes. My scarf looked like a tiger's butt...ahem...I mean back...a tiger's back. Beautiful, but I'm not into animal prints. That and the fact I made my chain stitches too tight so I had a nice curve going where I didn't one, got me to unravel the whole thing and start again. This time I used a double stitch and got a good mix of splotches of color with the occasional stripe. I love my scarf and have gotten a lot of compliments on it. Then I realized my neck was warm, but my head was unprotected. So, I went back and bought another skein of yarn to make a hat. Have I mentioned that crocheting is addictive? If I haven't let me warn you now, don't get started crocheting unless you want to be making beautiful things for yourself, your family and friends all the time.

I found a nice easy free pattern on the internet made from double stitches, so it matched my scarf perfectly. The pattern is called "The Thick "Double Crochet Hat" by Janelle Schlossman - the pattern can be found on her website by clicking here. The hat turned out beautifully - see the photos.

I can highly recommend Yarn Bee's Italia line of yarn. It is wonderful soft, gorgeous and fun to work with. Now that I've written this review, I can get back to searching for the pattern for my next project. Yes, my name is Genie and I'm addicted to crocheting, but you see I found more Yarn Bee thread on clearance and.....