The Dreaded Dratted Fuzzies

I love Novelty yarns.  Anything fuzzy or sparkly tends to draw my eye.  But knitting and crocheting with these yarns can be a challenge.  Particularly  if you have to frog your work when stitching with fuzzy yarns.

Shawl in Universal Yarns Swiss Mohair

A few of my favorite commercially available fuzzy yarns are Lion Brand’s Homespun, Premier Yarn’s Alpaca Dance, KnitPick’s Suri Dream, Caron Yarn’s Dazzleaire and Universal Yarn’s Swiss Mohair. 

Basically what I consider “fuzzy” yarns are any yarns that have a “halo” to them while you are working with them. Generally if there is Mohair or Suri Alpaca in the blend you are going to have some halo to contend with.

With crochet it is easy to twist the fibers of the halo together within a stitch.  Making undoing the stitches, or working into the top of a stitch extra challenging.

So here are some tips for working with and frogging fuzzy yarns without losing your mind:

1 – Don’t work tightly.  Using a small gauge needle or hook with these yarns is almost an engraved invitation to insanity. Most are marked as a bulky or super bulky yarn, and folks, they are not kidding.  When crocheting with most novelty yarns the smallest hook I use is a K (6.5mm).

2 – Working with a very pointed hook can help you get through the stitches without splitting the yarn.

3 – Avoid the grab and yank approach to frogging or even pulling your yarn out of a center pull skein.  Be prepared to be patient with these yarns and make your stitching (un-stitching) speed a bit slower.

4 – Have a small hook or needle on hand to tease apart the fibers if your stitches get stuck when  working.

5 – If you are making a toy or other project that needs tight stitchwork requiring a smaller hook or needle. Work slowly and be prepared with extra yarn in case you run into problems. Generally it is nearly impossible to frog your work when tightly stitching fuzzy yarns.

6 – If your fuzzy yarn gets it’s fuzziness from Mohair, sometimes sticking the project in the freezer for a bit can make it easier to unravel.

Good luck with your next fuzzy project. It’s well worth taking pains with these yarns to create luxurious wraps, scarves, garments and cuddly toys.