Basic Stitch Premium Review

If you are a crocheter or knitter and you haven’t heard of Lion Brand Yarn, you are most likely living under a rock. They are a wonderful yarn company that are available in most major retailers. Their yarn is high quality, accessible, and SO many types of options to choose from – if you head to my patterns page here, you will find most of their yarns are used in the things I create. My personal favorite by them is their Wool Ease Thick & Quick, which is a bulky yarn (size 6) and I just love how fast it works up.

I was told early from Lion Brand that they would be coming out with a new worsted weight yarn this fall, and my feelings were split. For their worsted weight yarns, I have been a big fan of their Vanna’s Choice line, which I make most of my amigurumi out of! Seeing that they had a new substitute was surprising to say the least, but after working with this company for 2+ years, I had full confidence that they would be releasing a yarn that would be even better for my worsted weight yarn addiction. 

Lion Brand Yarn was generous enough to send me a box of their new yarn to play with and try out – down below you will find my HONEST opinions of what I think of it, because as my readers, you deserve full transparency! These are my initial opinions after playing around with this yarn for a weekend, so things can change, but for now, here’s what I think of it!

Before we talk about my experience with this yarn, here are a few important details to know about that is shown on the label!

 

Yarn Weight	4 Medium
Crochet Gauge (4″ x 4″)	11 sc x 14 r on J-10 (6 mm)
Knit Gauge (4″ x 4″)	16 sts x 22 r on #8 (5 mm)
Length (yd)	219
Length (m)	200
Weight (oz)	3.5
Weight (g)	100
Fiber	Acrylic
Fiber Detail	100% Acrylic
Care	Machine Wash, Machine Dry

 

Pros:

+ Fuller 

+  Small amount of sheen

+ No splitting

+ Glides on hook easier

+ Squishier and softer than other worsted weights

+ Doesn’t feel cheap

+ 49 more yards than Vanna’s Choice

+ Not scratchy

 

Cons:

–  Pulling out from center isn’t flawless (yarn vomit, tangled)

 

Appearance:

This yarn is just so darn pretty! It fits in the realm of a classic worsted weight yarn, which is a pretty safe and standard type of yarn for most types of projects. After using Vanna’s Choice for so many years, just based off of the look, this yarn looks just a tad bit more “full”, which I think will make projects worked with this to look more put together. It looks, soft, smooth, and the most notable appearance feature I can see from it is the sheen! It’s not necessarily shiny per say, but it has a really light glass to it which makes it look a bit nicer in comparison to a normal, standard worsted weight yarn. Just because  a yarn is cheap doesn’t mean it has to be look cheap, and it’s nice to see Lion Brand giving us yarn enthusiasts something a little better!

 

Work-ability:

As mentioned above, this yarn looks a little more full and I think it feels a little more full as well! Working with it in my hands, it glides just a little better than Lion Brand’s previous worsted weight yarns (which is always superb!) Instead of the traditional wool feeling of most yarns, it feels a little more smooth, allowing for a great experience of it being able to catch with your hook. The most frustrating thing about some yarns is when splitting becomes a common issue and after making a swatch and starting a scarf, I haven’t had any problems with splitting, which is a  huge win. Also, this yarn has 219 yards worth while Vanna’s Choice only has 170 – having more yardage is always a plus! When working with this yarn, my biggest gripe so far is getting started and trying to put out from the center. After pulling out from 4 different skeins, I was still left with a tangled mess of yarn vomit (However, this may be different for you! I may have just been unlucky, but this doesn’t take away from the actual quality of the yarn!)

Texture:

The texture of this yarn is my favorite when comparing it to other worsted weight yarns. Typically, I feel like most are a little bit scratchy and makes you want to pay for a higher quality yarn – making a scarf or hat out of normal acrylic, worsted weight yarn never seemed like the best idea to me. however, with this yarn, I want it around my neck. It’s squishy and that scratchy feeling isn’t here anymore. It’s soo nice to be able to not deal with that within a cheap price range. When squeezing a skein, it doesn’t feel “airy” but rather, it feels squishy, which I think most people will find to be a delight! And the biggest selling point for the yarn is the fact that it’s anti-pilling! Having the piece of mind knowing that this yarn isn’t going to start losing it soft texture over time is a wonderful feeling and I think really stretches your dollar even further. Your favorite pieces now have an even longer life span!

 

Anti-Pilling

The other option of Basic Stitch is their Anti-Pilling yarn! Having the piece of mind knowing that this yarn isn’t going to start losing it soft texture over time is a wonderful feeling and I think really stretches your dollar even further. Your favorite pieces now have an even longer life span! However, it’s yardage is only at 185, which is still more than Vanna’s Choice, but less than the premium.

 

 

Conclusion:

There are lots of variations of worsted weight yarns but for a standard, size 4 acrylic yarn, I think this yarn is a great direction that Lion Brand Yarn is taking. I have been using Vann’as Choice for years and I am excited to being making this yarn my new normal. The color options are expansive, the texture is even better than before, and it’s a pleasure to work with. Both of the Basic Stitch yarns are great choices for a number of different projects.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my review! Have you tried it out yet? Let me know below! I am working on a scarf pattern that will be edited in here soon, can’t wait to start making patterns out of it!