Anyone had this happen before?

[Kristina Miley]

I've been working on an afghan for a friend, using the Red Heart Soft yarn. I didn't notice when I purchased the yarn for the project that the cream (off white, I believe it's called) was rated for a J hook, instead of an I hook like the other colors. I started with a J, so I wasn't too worried about that, but when I started to use the cream, it was so incredibly much thinner than the other skeins (almost like it was 3-ply instead of 4-ply)... which I thought was even weirder considering it called for a bigger hook. 

 

I plodded on with that section, but it's about an inch shorter for the same amount of rows... I'm wondering if I should rip it out? The other skeins I bought of the same color appear to be thicker. 

 

If I do rip it out, do you think it's worth bringing it back to the store? 

[magiccrochetfan]

It sounds like you could just do more rows to make it the same height as the other sections.  Would that work with the stitch pattern?    

 

It is not unusual for different colors to have different thickness, even within one particular yarn.  I've read that this can be caused by the dyes, darker yarn can be thicker than lighter yarn.  

 

But if it actually does have only 3 plies I would return it.   

[Kristina Miley]

The stitch I'm using won't allow for an extra row, it would require an extra two, which would make it off by being too tall.

 

I checked the ply, it does indeed have 4. But the other skeins of the same color are MUCH thicker by comparison.

[magiccrochetfan]

If you only use the thicker skeins of Cream, will you have enough?  

 

Maybe make a quick trip back to the store to grab another thick skein, if they have any, and return the thin skein.  Take a snip of the thick and thin yarns to compare and be sure the replacement skein is not too thin.  

[Gingerbread Girl]

If the other skeins in the same color are thicker, I would return it. Or be a total hoarder and set it aside for some other smaller project that would work well with the thickness of it. LOL 

[Kristina Miley]

I might have enough of the cream without buying another.

 

Just so odd to me that the ones that require an I hook seemed almost to thick for my J hook, and the ones that say to use a J hook would have been much better an H. Like they have their labeling wrong.

[magiccrochetfan]

Well, bear in mind that the recommemded hook size on the label is just that, a recommendation....doesn't mean that we have to, or should , use that size hook.  But it is helpful as a starting point, so it's always nice when the recommended size makes sense! ;-)  

 

It could be a mistake on the label, as you say.  

 

I've also noticed that over time some companies have changed their recommended hook sizes, to larger sizes, as the trend has been to drapier fabric.  Maybe the thinner skein is newer and the label is "updated" compared to the others.  

[RoseRed]

using a bigger hook on the thinner yarn makes sense to me.  Since the yarn is thinner you'll need the bigger hook to get the stitches close to the same size in gauge. 

 

If the difference is almost an inch I would try it out and see if another 2 rows will solve the problem.

 

You don't have to do the entire row to check it.  I would work the next 2 rows over 6-8 inches, let it sit for an hour (so the yarn can spring back to shape and size) and then measure it to see how close it is to the rest of the other colors.  This way you'll only have a 6-8 inch section to rip out and you can see right away if you want to do it or not.