Is Vanna holding up?

[Carol]

Now that Vanna's yarn has been around for a while, I'm curious: How are your Vanna projects holding up?

 

I ask because, when Vanna's Choice first came out, I made a swatch and washed it, and it came out beautifully, so I made a shawl. The shawl is only six months old, and it is completely pilled and terribly shabby and looks worse than the 28-year-old shawl it replaced! Seriously, it looks terrible!

 

I'd already purchased more Vanna yarn, so I made a lapghan with it. It's about two months old now, and it too is starting to pill already.

 

Neither item has been washed, btw.

 

Anybody else have this problem? I find it hard to believe that I got into "bad Vanna" yarn twice. (Both came from Michael's, but I bought them months apart.)

[ArielManx]

I made an afghan for myself out of Vanna's Choice about a year ago, and it gets washed about every two weeks (it's on our bed). I don't think it's pilled or worn any worse than any other ww acrylic that I've worked with, and it's sooooo soft! The small items I've made still look nice too. So my experiences with it have been good so far!

[Sylviaf]

My projects from Vanna's yarn have held up well, too.

[Craw]

I've made 2 afghans with it so far but I gave them both away so I don't know how they're doing. I kept a scarf I made with the afghan scraps and it's holding up well for a second or third season of use but it's not getting the drag around treatment an afghan would. I have a bunch of this yarn ready for an afghan for myself once I figure out what pattern to go with. Any of the acrylics I've used so far have pilled at least a little but yikes, some are worse than others. The RHSS was by far the worst for me.

[onfire4Jesus]

I'm not a big fan of Vanna's Choice. I used it making some of the hat sets for our gran'kids and great gran'kids. It seemed scratchy to work with but softened up when washed. I coughed a lot when using it too. Other yarns that I used for the projects didn't give me that problem. I've been using I Love This Yarn from Hobby Lobby ... and the title speaks for itself. I had purchased some Red Heart Soft Yarn and have a project planned for it.

[RoseRed]

I get a lot of pills with Simply Soft too. A friend of mine is making a wedding blanket with it and I told her to wrap up a pill shaver with it so they can take care of it.

 

In a way it's kinda sad to give a sweater shaver with a present but on the other hand it's practical. This way it can be washed and (most) people appreciate knowing how to care for an item.

[HappyOldCro]

I've made 2 afghans with it so far but I gave them both away so I don't know how they're doing. I kept a scarf I made with the afghan scraps and it's holding up well for a second or third season of use but it's not getting the drag around treatment an afghan would. I have a bunch of this yarn ready for an afghan for myself once I figure out what pattern to go with. Any of the acrylics I've used so far have pilled at least a little but yikes, some are worse than others. The RHSS was by far the worst for me.

RHSS made with the older RH, held up great, but 2 years ago (when I started having allergic reactions to it) the last ghan I made with it, pilled and didn't bounce back to shape after washing. It got very puffy and pilly.

I haven't had Vanna's long enough either, and I hope the ghans I did make and give away don't get raggy!!!

As for Simply Soft, I haven't had problems with it in the wash, but there were some manufacturing defects like bumps of tangled thread (that had to be cut out) in some of them. I still have loads of Vanna's left, I'll have to keep an eye on their progress, once I use them.

[kittyloverdeb]

I use Vanna's yar ALOT and it has held up great! I have 2 afghans in my living room that I wash constantly and neither one has got "fuzzies" yet. It just gets softer and softer...one of my favorite yarns to use!

[PBLKNP]

I get a lot of pills with Simply Soft too. A friend of mine is making a wedding blanket with it and I told her to wrap up a pill shaver with it so they can take care of it.

 

Can I ask a dumb question...what is the best pill shaver to use? I've tried the electric one, which didn't work too well. The sweater stone was a complete disaster, in that it pulled the yarn.

[Carol]

Thanks for your responses. I guess I just got into some bad skeins. Still, I was at Michael's today, and I want to make my grandson a hat, so I picked out the Vanna and walked around the store with it awhile. In the end, I put it back. Once burned, twice shy... Instead, I bought Cotton Ease and will just make him a summer hat.