Yarn Alternatives

Hi,

I’m new here and I have a question right off the bat.
Everyone knows Schachenmayr Catania. Over time, though, it’s getting too expensive for me to use for amigurumi.
Does anyone know if the DROPS ❤ YOU yarn is similar?
Both are 100% cotton.
Or does anyone perhaps know of any other alternatives??

Thanks in advance

If you use DROPS ❤ YOU #6, that’ll work. It just has 5 m less per 50g.
However, it doesn’t have the same sheen as Catania because it’s made from recycled cotton.
Your projects will look a bit “dull” as a result.
Also, the yarn might split occasionally.
Price-wise, it’s half the cost of Catania, but you do sacrifice some quality.

I sell Katia Capri in my shop as an alternative—it’s just like Catania, but a ball only costs 2 €.

Best regards, nici

There’s also “Yarn and Colors Must Have” or “Gründl Cotton Quick”—both have a yardage of 125m/50g and are comparable in quality to Catania.

Maybe you could also keep an eye on discount offers at online yarn shops; that can really be worth it sometimes ;-)

Best regards, Stefanie

Wow... thank you so much for the quick replies and tips.

Gründl Florida is also great, but a bit more expensive than Cotton Quick. Still, I think it’s cheaper than Catania. 

Um, what do you mean by that??
Sorry, I’m not very familiar with this yet. 

Scheepjes Catona is also comparable and cheaper.
I think the quality is great!

The same goes for Twister Ibiza—it’s also cheaper (I think even a little cheaper than Catona) and I was very satisfied with it. 

Hi Deleen,

I knit and crochet almost exclusively with Drops cotton and wool.
Of course, there are differences. Drops You comes in various weights and qualities. The recycled cotton (I think it’s You6) might be less suitable for amigurumi. But I use it for that anyway.

If you want something with a sheen, I’d recommend Drops Muskat—it has a subtle sheen and looks great. It’s 100 m/50 g, so it’s a bit thicker.

Otherwise, I also like to use Drops You7 for small crochet projects. It has 170 m/50 g and works great for that. All varieties are affordable, and best of all, they hold up well in the wash.

Best regards
Monika

Wow… thanks so much for the great answer…
I’ve only been crocheting and knitting for a short while and am still a bit unsure.
The sheen isn’t that important to me… I’ve already bought a lot of yarn at Tedi and similar stores, and those are great too…
  To be honest, I haven’t actually held any Catania yarn in my hands yet, but the price is pretty steep… especially if you’re only using it for amigurumi.

What I haven’t quite figured out yet is what the “yardage” means. And what this “gauge” is all about…

Best regards, Silvia

Response from Silvia ((Deleen)), which unfortunately didn’t appear here. Apparently, the technical issue hasn’t been resolved yet. I assume Silvia found my post via the link in the email and then replied there. I’ll go ahead and paste Silvia’s response here and reply to it separately.

Silvia (Deleen) wrote:

Wow… thank you so much for the great answer…
  I’ve only recently started crocheting and knitting, so I’m still a bit unsure.
The sheen isn’t that important to me… I’ve already bought a lot of yarn from Tedi and similar stores, and those are great too…
  To be honest, I haven’t actually held any Catania yarn in my hands yet, but the price is pretty steep… especially if you’re only using it for amigurumi.

What I haven’t quite understood yet is what the “yardage” means. And what this “gauge” is all about…

Best regards, Silvia

Hello Silvia,

yes, it doesn’t always have to be the most expensive yarn—I agree. Drops You7 is definitely suitable for amigurumi and small crochet projects. It’s thin, yet the yarn holds its shape well.

The yardage tells you how many meters of yarn are in a ball—for example, 170 m/50 g. That means there are 170 meters in that ball.

Other balls have 125 meters, for example, in 50 g. In that case, the yarn is thicker.

The gauge is important for getting the measurements right. To check it, I knit a swatch of about 30 stitches that’s at least 10 cm high. Then I measure how many stitches there are per 10 cm in width and how many rows per 10 cm in height.

Since everyone knits a little differently (tighter or looser), the gauge is very helpful. Before I started doing this, I had to rip out quite a few knitting projects and start over because the measurements weren’t right.

Best regards
Monika