Each week join us to review interesting products, books, yarns or accessories in the yarn industry in our Weekly Wednesday Review. This week we will be taking a look at the NEW Red Heart yarn, It’s a Wrap.
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We know that it can be hard to believe in a product that you can’t touch and try in your local store. It’s A Wrap has just launched with Red Heart and you can’t find it yet at your local box store, just on their website. My team and I have started to use a different color of It’s A Wrap to let you know our experience with the yarn. We hope that this gives you confidence in making your purchase.
It’s A Wrap Details:
If you have been out shopping for yarn over the past year you would have noticed a few different options of ‘cake’ yarn. These yarns have come from different companies, in different yarn weights, different content and different colors.
This is not Red Heart jumping on the band wagon, but rather filling a void that is in the market making the look of color blocking easier for the consumer. It’s a Wrap is a weight 1-super fine yarn. I would not call this sock yarn because most people associate sock yarn with some wool content. It’s a Wrap is made up of 50% cotton and 50% acrylic.
Each skein/cake of It’s A Wrap comes with a generous amount of yarn, 1,100 yards to be exact. Making it idea for shawls and wraps. With SEVEN different color choices I am sure you will find something that fits with the project that you love.
Each of the ladies on my team have selected their own color of It’s a Wrap and are each making a shawl and will share their honest thoughts and experiences with you below.
Team Member Reviews:
NOTE: Although Red Heart did send a complimentary ball of yarn to both Katelyn and Brittani-Pearl the comments below are their own opinion. They were not monetarily compensated for their review.
Katelyn’s It’s A Wrap Review:
When I first heard about this new yarn I was so excited to get to try it out. For full disclosure I have only worked with lace weight yarn once before, to make the Lacy Pineapple Shawl by Marly in Heart and Sole. I knew it would be a little bit of a learning curve going from worsted to lace weight for my hands and fingers!
For my project I decided to stick with a pattern that I knew would highlight the color change just right. I am working on the Asymmetrical Knit Shawl that is on the Red Heart website. I started off using metal circular needles, my favorite, and struggled with my stitches falling off. Once I switched over to wood needles the grip was much better and I could keep the stitches on much easier.
The fabric this yarn creates is amazing! I can’t wait to wear this in the spring and summer when you need just a little something extra on your shoulders. This will be making the trip with me to Stitches West this year!
Brittani-Pearl’s It’s A Wrap Review:
I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this yarn! After working with worsted and bulky weights exclusively so far, I was ready to get my lace on.
The colors are beautiful, and my favorite was Thriller. I’ve picked out the simple lace Little Red Riding Capelet designed by Elaine Phillips from ABC Knitting Patterns, and made a few modifications to fit this yarn. I’m currently working on a garter stitch block in the first color (black), which will then be joined in the round for grey lacework.
Once I got knitting with this yarn, the feel is great. I like the little extra grip that the cotton gives it, especially since I’m working with metal needles. My main tip would be to pick a looser cast-on method, as my go-to backwards e-wrap was very difficult to work into for the first row without splitting stitches.
Overall Notes:
After working with the yarn there are a few things we wanted to bring to your attention to get the best results from your project.
- We recommend using wood needles to help grip the yarn.
- When selecting your pattern be sure to think about how the stripes will fall. If you are going to make a garment think about how the sleeves will be different stripes.
- Remember that this is NOT an ombre yarn. The color changes will be abrupt.
- Be sure to block your finished item. Since this has cotton in it the fabric will need a wet block to relax the stitches.
It’s a Wrap FREE Patterns:
Since this is a new yarn there haven’t been many projects published on the Red Heart website yet. Below are the patterns that are available.
SNEEK PEEK: I will be releasing a new crochet shawl pattern using It’s A Wrap in the next month! Be sure to check back on the Red Heart site for when it is live.
thx for the yarn review. patterns and yarn look wonderful
Looks like a fun yarn. Thanks for telling us what you all thought about the yarn
I’d love a crochet review. I don’t really knit.
Michaels craft stores carries 6 colors of It’s a Wrap (no Thriller). I purchased one this past week. It is stocked with the crochet thread. It is listed on their website but I don’t believe it can be ordered there yet. I am looking forward to your new pattern for this. The yarn is so soft!
Would absolutely LOVE if Marly could do a video tutorial for the Little Waves Shawl. I really want to make it but have frogged it several times now as that much lace work confuses me. (and I have no idea how to tink back to fix mistakes.)
I always enjoy reading these reviews!