Himalaya Dolphin Baby (100g/120m, 100% polyester)
As many of you know, I am a big fan of this yarn. Almost all my nap wraps and plush yarn amigurumi are made from this yarn, I usually plan with this also animals and, by the way, my son and daughter love it too.
If I use this yarn then With a 4.5 mm needle I usually work, but those who crochet more tightly can feel free to use a 5 mm needle, and those who crochet more loosely can use a 4 mm needle. In fact, I go further, I use this yarn with a 3.5 mm needle in some of my patterns and it works perfectly well too! Although I add a whole game, I wouldn't crochet with it again, Lucy the baby swan that's how I crocheted and it was already out of my comfort zone.
In the following, I will share with you what I think are the advantages and disadvantages of this yarn.
Photo: Own (Rebeka Novák-Szabó ev)
PRO
🔘 The first and most important - especially for products made for babies - It has OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 certification, which means it can be used especially for babies and toddlersand products made from them. I know many people do not dare to give it to a baby because of the possible fluffing, but I would defend the plush yarns. Sure, it fluffs up during use, especially because you do other things with it while making the game, e.g. you might sew with it, or when you cut the thread it will come off. However, I did not experience this at all while using the game! However, my son has been skinning his bunny and other toys I made for more than 3 years now, and I never once noticed that any of the toys were wasted. It is a fact that it loses its fluffiness during use due to a lot of skinning and saliva, but I think this happens with any type of textile (e.g. minky blanket as well). So for those who have only this one thing to complain about with chenille, I would like to reassure them that can be safely given to babies the yarn!
🔘 It's very soft, I think the end result is wonderful, what is made of it, a kids love your material (I am writing this based on several feedbacks).
🔘 Durable yarn between the chenilles. During planning, I have to disassemble the current animal many times before it gets its final shape and tolerates being disassembled very well. After the third or fourth time, it just starts to go bald, it doesn't tear that hard, and it also withstands sewing quite well.
🔘 A huge selection of colors can be found from it, so also ideal for making amigurumi. There is also a thinner version of it, the Himalaya Dolphin Baby Fine, so you can even try our usual designs written on cotton yarn without the end result being brutally large.
🔘 One of the best value for money on the market.
CONS
🔘 It is not made of natural material, so those who are allergic to its material, or who only want to use yarn of natural origin for their babies, should look for another alternative.
🔘 What else (usually, that also for all chenille yarns) disadvantage: it's hard to make a magic circle with it. If you need a little help, watch my video, in which I show that I how to make a magic circle with chenille yarns.
🔘 The disadvantage of yarn is that there are many of them they have difficulty seeing the eyes, so it requires some practice and experience to use it. If you want to work with this yarn before I suggest you try it with a smaller project, so you can see how well this type of yarn suits you. I recommend it my free giant octopus pattern, for which half a skein is enough and can give you enough experience to decide if you want to start a more complicated project with it.
🔘 Chenille yarns in general they can tear more easily say while sewing and it cannot withstand repeated undoing (this often causes the yarn to become bald). Unfortunately, this brand is no exception.
🔘 In general, chenille yarns are more expensive, such as cotton or acrylic yarns, so the price of the raw material for a project can be higher than the cost of cotton.
OVERALL
I don't shine anymore I love. It's been for me for years my favorite chenille yarn, to be honest, since I found it, I haven't really experimented with other varieties since it's so perfect for me. If you want to try chenille yarn, I recommend this brand, I think it can be an excellent starting material.
💬 Note: This is just my opinion—others may find this yarn perfect for completely different reasons. I shared my personal experiences in this blog post.
Cover photo: Saját (Rebeka Novák-Szabó ev.) – the bunny pattern shown on the cover photo in Hungarian: Bunny Lovey Crochet Pattern (crochet bunny lovey pattern in English HERE)
