Eco Simply Soft

[Yarn or Fabric]

I guess you guys are really missing my point on the flecks..

 

NOT ALL OF THE COLORS HAVE IT.

I have a skein of Forest Floor and a skein of Wine Country which is the same color as Autumn Red - which is now discontinued in the regular Simply Soft line it looks like...

 

Only about a third of their colors have that flecking to it.

And after working with it and the regular Simply Soft on the same project I do think it is a better yarn than the regular Simply Soft. If you don't like the heathered linty look just don't use those particular colors. The ones with a linty look also have a counterpart in a similar shade that does not.

 

The ones that do not have the linty look to them are interchangeable with the Simply Soft. So if you don't like the linty colors go with one of the others.

 

I personally do not think that it is a step down for Caron but a step up. And about riding their shirt tails on the success of the regular Simply Soft? It is comparable to it. It is soft just like the regular SS. It is not like the wool(which is no longer listed on their site) or the one pounder(which I abhor) so if you had to put it in a category the Simply Soft line is where I would put it since it is the same weight and nearly the same feel to it.

I also don't think that they are replacing the regular Simply Soft - that must have been your local Walmart's decision. Walmart is cutting back on their yarn so it must have been a space issue. Complain to your Walmart and maybe if you get enough people to voice, your local store will make the change back.

 

And it isn't nearly as limp of a yarn as the regular Simply Soft is. It holds it's body better.

 

Most of all I think the color line is wicked cool. Forest Floor is an awesome color. Twig is really great. I can't wait to see wheat! Sadly the Soft White is that same disgustingly nasty dingy white color. I wish they would bring back bright white.

 

Here is an email for you guys to voice your issues with the yarn...

public_relations@caron.com

They are inviting people to share their feelings on the yarn.

 

I hope they make it in the Shadows line soon. I would be all over that! I am glad that it is not more expensive than the regular Simply Soft since a lot of things that are *green* are. It's nice to see the taking action and instead of using a new oil based plastic yarn(acryllic) they are using a recylcled plastic. I am all for it.

 

The flecks remind me of the tweed line of the Simply Soft. It took me awhile to like them. It would have been cool if the flecks were a different color - that would be very cool. I am sure that they tried.

It might be a success for them, it might be discontinued. Only time will tell. I am sure that Caron will survive. Every yarn company develops, markets and discontinues yarn. It is just part of it all. You try something and you hope for the best.

 

But if you feel strongly about the yarn one way or another, email them. Let them know.

Here is the email address again for those that didn't read all that I wrote.

public_relations@caron.com

[Craw]

As for trying the colors of CSS Eco without flecks/dust on them, my Walmart had 2 choices. (and remember, Walmart is the only place that sells this yarn, even Caron's website makes no mention of it) There was black and a dark green. I don't know all the colors that are available and there's no way to find out what they are or get them if I did. We're all pretty much limited to whatever our local Walmart has decided to offer. Walmart's decision to remove the original Simply Soft from their stores was discussed in another thread. Walmart removed it from ALL their stores and no, they don't care what the customer thinks about their decisions. I think that's the real discussion here. Well, that and Caron putting out what we feel is an inferior product.

 

Has anybody tried/seen Red Heart's eco yarns? Herrschner's has them.

http://herrschners.com/products/sku-010344__id-1790.html

http://herrschners.com/products/sku-010343__id-1790.html

Maybe Red Heart was able to get a better product. There aren't many colors offered but I think they did that on purpose. Less dyes and chemicals used in the process. It's pretty expensive. About the same price as Vanna's Choice, which I will only buy on sale and is a treat for me. I agree, the price of recycled yarn needs to be lower than regular yarn or most people won't be willing to try it.

[crochetkim]

Be sure to check out the Caron website for a description of the yarn, color cards and there are 4 free patterns listed as well:

 

http://www.caron.com/color_cards/cc_sseco.html

 

One of the patterns is by Karen Drouin. So, if you've been waiting for that gorgeous pineapple shawl pattern Karen has mentioned on her blog here:

 

http://karendcreations.blogspot.com/

 

it's now been posted! Yay!

[Craw]

Oh yay! Thanks for the link. Caron must have just put that up because I googled it last night and got nothing. Finally we can see the colors and learn a little about the yarn. They should have had this info up before the yarn hit the shelves.

[Yarn or Fabric]

I do dread the day Walmart does away with the yarn all together. It is suppose to be happening in the not so distant future. The fabric is disappearing and now the yarn is too. I am grateful that I live where I have choices - Hobby Lobby, Michaels (boy I miss AC Moore though!) and a few hoity toity yarn stores.

 

I am definitely going to look for that Red Heart recycled cotton - that looks interesting... Shredded up tshirts in my cotton?! I am all for that. It sounds interesting! I hope one of the local stores starts to carry it soon.

[Sylviaf]

I finally saw it today and thought it looked and felt OK, but didn't really need it for anything, so left it on the shelf. I do like the regular Simply Soft and am lucky enough to be able to buy it several different places.

[HappyOldCro]

Naturally Caron had this in the newsletter I received today,

 

"Simply Soft Eco is soft to the touch, easy to work with and environmentally friendly. It can be used in any project that calls for Medium Weight (#4) yarn--just like Simply Soft. A notable characteristic of about one quarter of the darker shades is white flecks randomly dispersed throughout the yarn. These are the result of the specially processed fiber from the recycled plastic bottles. The flecks are not lint or the result of “pilling”. "

 

Thought you all would want to know.

[The_Virginia_Hooker]

I saw the yarn, i didn't think the lint's that big of a deal.

[froggie]

I finally saw the Eco SS last week, and I liked it. I didn't see any flecks in any of it (including the black). I liked Pine and Forest Floor. Anyway, I will buy some eventually.

 

Froggie (Jana in Denton,TX)

[Debbi-a1]

Be sure to check out the Caron website for a description of the yarn, color cards and there are 4 free patterns listed as well:

 

http://www.caron.com/color_cards/cc_sseco.html

 

One of the patterns is by Karen Drouin. So, if you've been waiting for that gorgeous pineapple shawl pattern Karen has mentioned on her blog here:

 

http://karendcreations.blogspot.com/

 

it's now been posted! Yay!

Thanks for the link. I love the pinapple shawl! I did the doily one and this one would be nice to have too.

Debbi

[CraftTeaLady]

I had to chime in - I have used many of the colors of Eco and adore it. I like the 'pills' honestly... its very 'crafty' looking and reminds me of things I see at the Portland Saturday Market.

[Debbi-a1]

I bought some to do the pinapple shawl on the site. I tried a little of the black but not enough.

Here's a photo of the close up of the shawl with some of the white pieces in it, but not too much. You can't even feel them when working with the yarn. The color is "woodland".

[clickable]

 

I'm up to row 6, but only got a photo of row 5 on my blog here (direct link) if you'd like to see more of the shawl

http://debbia1.blogspot.com/2008/11/caron-ss-eco-shawl-started.html

 

Though you might be interested in seeing at least a close up of the yarn.

Debbi

[SlowCrocheter]

I am worried about this yarn well not hold up well. I well not buy any till I hear more about it. I love the idea of recycling but hate the idea of my crochet projects not holding up to being used.

It looks nice(if you can get past the speckled look) but not as soft as SS.

[E.N.D.]

I am currently working on a bucket hat, using Lion Homespun in meadow and SS Eco in forest floor. I have no flecks, and it's working up beautifully.

[Debbi-a1]

I am worried about this yarn well not hold up well. I well not buy any till I hear more about it. I love the idea of recycling but hate the idea of my crochet projects not holding up to being used.

It looks nice(if you can get past the speckled look) but not as soft as SS.

I made a hat and scarf using 2 strands of eco (photos in my blog). So far it's holding up. Only used it about a week, but so far still intact:). And I just toss them in my car after I get in there and toss them in my house (one day I'll learn to hang up things:blush still a FlyBaby...).

I saw your post and wondered, figuring it would be fine, only 20% is recycled, so I wasn't too worried, but thought this would be an inexpensive way to try it. Very soft and nice. I'm thinking these would make great gift sets (budget-friendly too). The scarf didn't end up as long as I wanted, but that's fine. I'm thinking for someone else, I may try a different pattern to make it longer.

Debbi

[tonyal]

I recently went back to walmart and noticed that now only a few colors had the white-ish balls on them. the rest looked nice and felt pretty soft.

[Trinket]

I work for Walmart in the electronics department, but I help out my neighbors in the craft department when they're short. I helped them set the new mod for the yarn, and when I opened up the packs for this new yarn, I was intrigued.

 

I don't usually buy or use Simply Soft because I don't like how thin it is or the slick feel of it. I always thought it felt too flimsy. I don't really like how it turns out after a wash and dry, either. But from time to time I'll pick it up for something specific. Usually clothing items like hats and scarves.

 

I actually sort of like that this Eco stuff isn't quite as slick feeling as the old yarn was. I liked that it felt thicker, too. The white specks did catch my attention right away, but I figured I could just pick it out as I went along if I wanted to. Most of the skeins didn't seem to have it, so I did figure it must be some quirk to the process of making the yarn. I'm not a very picky yarn buyer, either.

 

There are some colors of this yarn that I like. In fact, it has a peach color that I don't ever see in Red Heart, which I use most often. So I'm sure to be buying some of it. I don't, however, see much of it selling when I help out with stocking it, and that kinda makes me sad.

 

I'm interested in things that can be done to help the environment by reducing wastes. I think the idea of using plastic bottles for things like cloth is a new idea, and so it's going to take some time to work the kinks out of it. I figure I'm gonna give this stuff a chance. It should get better with time and practice.

[Yarnluver]

Well, I've changed my mind about CSS Eco . After I received my Caron Connections newsletter and saw that wonderful pineapple shawl I decided I had to make it soon. Almost 2 weeks ago while shopping at W-M I stopped at the yarn aisle but they only had a few colors so my only other choice was to go to Joann's another day (it was too late that night) because they had the CSS on sale, but I never could make it there. Friday night I went back to W-M and again stopped in the yarn aisle, this time I was pleasantly surprised to see it better organized and the section destined to CSS Eco was well stocked so I came home with 3 colors and one of them has the flecks but as someone mentioned looks"heathered" and I decided that wasn't bad.

 

I guess the combination of needing a soft yarn like CSS but not being able to go to Joann's (only on the hope that they might've had any color(s) I liked because their yarn selection is small) plus finding all or almost all the colors I saw at the website, several of which I did like, made all the difference for me. And even though I griped about the price (regular CSS was sold for $2.07 and the Eco is $2.28) it's still cheaper than regular CSS on sale at Joann's or Michael's.

 

Now like someone said earlier, I just hope it will hold up reasonably well.

[Titus2woman]

I love your attitude, Yarnluver, and I'm hoping to have the same change of heart! I haven't gotten back to see the Eco, I did love the colors available, and I TOTALLY LOVE that it's from recycled bottles. Maybe it's because it was not organized and on a bare, bottom shelf it looked so dusty. (((((HUGS))))) sandi

[Trinket]

I'd mentioned before how Caron seems to be the only yarn I can find that has a peach color. I never see such a color in Red Heart yarn. And as such, I went ahead and bought a skein of it yesterday because someone asked me if I could make her something, and she specifically wanted it in peach.

 

Turns out, it ain't half bad. Compared to the original SS, I like this better. It feels better to me. The skein I picked up didn't have so much of the white fuzz in it, and from what I could tell, most of the skeins on the shelves didn't, either. Maybe they've identified which plastics they had been using that were causing the issue and have stopped using those particular ones now?

 

Since it does have a "heathered" look to it and they have some nice colors, I think I'll probably be picking up more of this in the future. That's coming from somebody who used to avoid SS entirely, too!

[The_Virginia_Hooker]

Red Heart SS has a peach color, which i have 3 skeins of, called "Light Coral".

[Titus2woman]

We went to Wally today after church~a different Wally than the one I saw the "dusty" Eco in. I do now believe the other actually was dusty, because this yarn was fab! I didn't have any $$ to buy it, but I would've.... (((((HUGS))))) sandi

[Yarnluver]

I originally also liked the idea that recycling was involved because I'm all for it, I was just disappointed by the look of many of the colors the first time I saw them.

 

I too bought lovely "Peachey", I showed my daughter the colors available on Caron's site and that was her 2nd choice. Her first choice for her pineapple shawl I think was "Forest Floor" but I convinced her a neutral color would go with more things and she could use it more often (which won't be much anyway here in this climate...) so she then said either the "Wheat" or "Natural" and I bought the last one. For my goddaughter who likes 'earth tones' I bought the "Soft Taupe". I really had a hard time seeing the difference between it and "Twig", which is not quite as light as it appears on my monitor, and under the fluorescent lights they looked almost the same.

 

I don't quite get though why some people didn't like regular CSS at all, while it may not be adequate for some things its softness and luster made it much more appealing to me for wearables and I've been told it makes wonderful afghans. The first time I used it I couldn't get over how much I enjoyed feeling it between my fingers (I guess my sense of touch is key to my crochet addiction...) and really looked forward to having the chance to use it again,the problem was that W-M had very few colors available (now I imagine that was because it was on its way out...). And while I use RHSS often I can't say I enjoy working with because most of it is quite rough and looks it. I also don't like the appearance of Vanna's Choice and because it costs more I've never been remotely tempted.

[ArielManx]

I don't quite get though why some people didn't like regular CSS at all, while it may not be adequate for some things its softness and luster made it much more appealing to me for wearables and I've been told it makes wonderful afghans. The first time I used it I couldn't get over how much I enjoyed feeling it between my fingers (I guess my sense of touch is key to my crochet addiction...) and really looked forward to having the chance to use it again,the problem was that W-M had very few colors available (now I imagine that was because it was on its way out...). And while I use RHSS often I can't say I enjoy working with because most of it is quite rough and looks it. I also don't like the appearance of Vanna's Choice and because it costs more I've never been remotely tempted.

 

Like I just said on another thread here on the 'ville, you'll find as many different yarn preferences among crocheters as you will hook preferences! Everyone is different and I guess it's just good there are so many different yarns out there to please us all!

 

I'm one who doesn't like the original Caron Simply Soft - to me it has a weird slippery feel that almost makes me shudder, but the Simply Soft Eco feels wonderful to me. Caron One Pound and Vanna's Choice are my favorite worsted weight acrylics - soft and delightful to work with! I use a fair amount of RHSS too, because it's sturdy and comes in so many colors, and I do find it softens up a lot in the wash. Everyone's experiences and personal definitions of what feels good to them can really vary though.

[CrochetisCrack2001]

I'm sorry you guys haven't seen any good yarn of this....I found some at my Walmart and bought it and made a hat for my Grandma....I loved it. :/ It was soft and I didn't notice any lint. So if you see some without lint just give it a shot.