Looking for the best crochet yarn recommendations? Well, lucky for you (and not so lucky for my wallet), I’ve gone on a recent adventure to try every lightweight/medium yarn on the market.
When I picked up crocheting five months ago, finding the right type of yarn that was easy to use was difficult. Now, I’m saving you a couple of hours of your time by giving you my absolute favorite crochet yarn recommendations, while also giving alternative popular options that you may like*.
*Disclaimer: Some links are Amazon affiliate links and allow me to keep recommending great products and successfully run my business. Thank you for your support!
Helpful Beginner Tips
When I first started crocheting, I had absolutely no idea that there were different types of yarn materials and that you’re supposed to get different yarn hook sizes for said yarn. After months of testing, I’ve found these tips helpful:
- Hook Sizes: I like to use a 4.25mm hook for lightweight arugami and a 5mm hook for chunky chenille yarn. Using these hook sizes will make the overall project smaller, so opt for a bigger hook size like a 5mm hook for lightweight or a 6mm hook for chenille yarn if you want bigger stitches.
- Acrylic Yarn: Acrylic will be the most affordable but I also don’t prefer acrylic because it feels cheap. Opt for a premium acrylic if you choose this route.
- Tennis-Ball Method: There are different types of crochet hooks on the market, but my carpal tunnel says NO to traditional metal hooks and even ergonomic-friendly hooks. Instead, I opted to use the tennis ball method—sticking a metal hook into a small tennis ball for the ultimate ergonomic-friendly hook. I can now crochet for 4-6 hours at a time instead of 2-3 hours.
- My Wool Jeanie: I cannot recommend the My Wool Jeanie enough for all crochet projects. It is a yarn holder that prevents tangling and provides a seamless yarn feeder, allowing me to crochet without pulling. This saved me hours and hours of detangling yarn.
My Absolute Favorites
Now that we’ve got some beginner tips out the way, here are my absolute favorite lightweight/medium crochet yarn recommendations:
Lionbrand Made with Love: The Cottony One
- Weight: Heavy Worsted
- Texture: S on S Plied
- Fiber: Cotton (60%), Acrylic (40%)
- Price: $8.90/skein for 185 yards
This cotton blend yarn is my holy grail. I cannot recommend this yarn enough! Not only is it buttery smooth and easy to work with, but with proper form, hardly splits. I found this yarn the easiest to use when I learned how to crochet.
The pros are that you can find this at your local Michael’s (I use and abuse Michael’s coupons on these babies), but the cons are that they only have limited colors (12 colors to be exact) and are pretty pricey for the number of yards.
However, I think the quality of this yarn outweighs the negatives. When will they release more colors?! Asking for a friend.
Yarn Art Jeans Plus
- Weight: Aran/Medium
- Texture: S on S Plied
- Fiber: Cotton (55%), Acrylic (45%)
- Price: $8.99/skein for 175 yards
After finding out that Lionbrand Made with Love only had 12 colors, I was on the ultimate quest to find a dupe. And baby this is the one! The Yarn Art Jeans Plus cotton blend yarn is just as good and has a whooping 42 colors to choose from. That’s a lot of options if you ask me.
The quality of the yarn is very similar to the Lionbrand, although I do find with certain colors, the feel of the yarn can be either smoother or rougher. Nonetheless, this is a great yarn to learn to crochet with. It barely splits and the detailing of the final product is comparable to Lionbrand Made with Love.
The downside of this yarn is the price for the amount of yards (again), and the only place I’ve found this yarn is on Amazon. Because of that, I can hardly find this type of yarn on sale.
Milk Cotton Yarn
- Weight: Lightweight Worsted
- Texture: 5ply
- Fiber: Milk Casein Fiber (100%)
- Price: $9.33/2 skeins of 120 meters each
Milk Cotton Yarn is an affordable fan favorite of crocheters around the world. Although it is not my favorite, I appreciate that they have over 90 colors and that 2 skeins come out to about $4.50 per roll.
Personally, I was not a fan of the texture as it’s too soft for me to work with. I also found that the yarn splits way too much for my liking. However, I do know that crocheters love this yarn because of how soft it is. You may have better luck finding more colors on Etsy, but two packs are also available on Amazon.
Lily Sugar ‘n Cream Yarn
- Weight: Medium Worsted
- Texture: 3ply
- Fiber: Cotton (100%)
- Price: $5.84/skein of 120 meters
Lily Sugar ‘n Cream is another crochet cult favorite that I’ve used. I see the benefit of using 100% cotton yarn as the texture does make your projects come out cool. However, if you are just starting to learn crochet, it can be difficult to work with this yarn as it splits very easily and is hard to feed (also super squeaky if you ask me).
You can find this brand at your local Michael’s or Hobby Lobby, which makes it easily accessible; it can also be cheaper here because of coupons. You may also find it on Amazon at $5.84 per skein, which can be expensive to some.
Honorable Mentions
- Hobbi Friends Cotton 8/4: I haven’t tried this yarn, but have heard good things about it! And hello at $1.60 per skein?!
- Bernat Premium Yarn: I have tried this and although it’s not my favorite, many crocheters love this yarn. You can only find it at Yarnspirations for $8.49/skein.
Final Thoughts
There you have it! My favorite yarn recommendations as well as popular yarn recommendations for beginners. Learning how to crochet has become one of my favorite hobbies, so if you’d like to stay connected, you can follow my crochet adventures on Plant Babies Crochet and give my Instagram, Femme Flora Design, some love!
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*Disclaimer: Some links are Amazon affiliate links and allow me to keep recommending great products and successfully run my business. Thank you for your support!
