Yarn Review · Rico Design Creative Pom, Fashion Inuit & Creative Cocon

I may have mentioned a few dozen times that I used to live in Germany. We were lucky enough to spend a glorious year working in Hamburg and, apart from falling in love with the city and people in general, I fell hard for the wonderful yarn shops and creative atmosphere in the city. Let’s not forget the currywurst and Weissbier, as well. Yummers.

I have to admit that half of my salary and most of my lunch break was spent mooching around the ginormous creative superstore ‘Idee’ that was located underneath Altona tube station. It was/is a truly dangerous space for knitters and makers in general, with its aisles and aisles of yarn, paper goods, pompom makers, stickers, needles… I even took up cardmaking because I got so tempted by their gorgeous goods, but that only lasted a week. I was crap at it.

It was in that shop that I first discovered Rico Design and their incredible yarns and craft supplies and it’s been a love affair ever since! Imagine how happy I was when the fine folks at Rico let me try out some of their yarns and review them?

The first I tried out was their Fashion Inuit yarn, a gorgeous 100g ball of fluff with a wonderful bouclé effect. Working with this yarn is like knitting with a cloud, and it’s a quick knit, working up fast and allowing you to create unique outerwear and adorable accessories for children. I decided that the best way of showing off was in the form of a family of hats – sadly it isn’t cold enough to use them yet – combined with a bright pom on the top. I’d definitely say that this yarn is recommended for knitting with rather than crocheting, as it can be hard to see the stitches and you could get into a muddle.

Next up I had lots of fun working with their Creative Pom yarn which was easily the chunkiest yarn I’ve ever used. It was so thick that I didn’t use a yarn needle for weaving in ends, I just used my fingers! This yarn is by far my favourite XL yarn. It gives a stunning ‘teddy’ effect and is excellent for any large homewear project like blankets, baskets, poufs… I chose to design a pouf using Creative Pom and a small amount of their Cocon yarn for that I will talk about next.

I didn’t knit a swatch using Creative Pom, but crocheting with it a 20mm hook created an incredibly thick and durable material. If it’s hardwearing but beautiful yarn you are after then this is the yarn for you!

Last but not least is this beautifully soft and silky yarn, Creative Cocon. At first glance this yarn is very similar to roving yarn, light but chunky, airy but also firm, and it allows you to make substantial and elegant creations such as blankets and even statement jumpers. The available palette is muted and classic, and has that unmistakable modern look of all Rico Design yarns. I’m gushing, I know, but this yarn blew me away! It’s just so pretty.

I used this yarn to make the puffy tassel at the top of The Perdita Pouf, but I’m definitely going to use it in the future to create something special on its own.

As always, Rico’s ball bands are clean and modern and very easy to read. My only criticism is nothing to do with the yarn itself, but the amount of plastic packaging that was inside the box. I know that it’s important to make sure items travel safely, but with yarn – especially yarn of this size – I don’t see how plastic air-filled bags would be necessary.

To sum up, it was a marvellous experience trying out and reviewing such amazing yarns and I’m so grateful to Rico Design for giving me the chance to play around with so many balls of fun! If you fancy making The Perdita Pouf you can buy the pattern over on my Lovecrafts designer shop or on Ravelry if you prefer. Happy making!