The Great Cheap Sport-Weight Yarn Competition Round Two: Crochet That Fits Cap-Sleeve Top

In the second installment of The Great Cheap Sport-Weight Yarn Competition, we meet Caron Simply Soft Light. Weighing in at 3 oz. (330 yards) per skein, and costing around $4 apiece, this top cost me a staggering grand total of $8. Not surprisingly, it is similar in texture and feel to its big sister, normal Caron Simply Soft.

Before we begin, I must apologize for the ridiculously bad quality of the pictures accompanying this post. My beautiful, charming, dear, sweet offspring has damaged our Real Camera, so I'm left with phone pictures. And since I prefer to keep my phone as stupid as possible, that means its camera is also stupid. Aggravating the problem is that I had to take mirror shots, and I'm too busy making sweaters to properly clean my mirrors. Alas! for us all, I'm sure.

Let's talk about the shirt itself first. (I'm not calling it a sweater because it's basically sleeveless, and sweaters are for warmth.) This top is worked in four pieces: Front, Back, and 2 straps. Edging goes around the sleeves and along the bottom, and a single row of sc is worked to finish the neckline. (The pattern [may require login] suggests using elastic on the neck, but I just switched to a smaller hook.)

 It is worked vertically, and on the front piece, there is a band of sc just under the bust that provides the shaping, so the pattern uses stitch height rather than number of stitches to control the shape. It makes the pattern very flexible so that you can work it to fit your own shape.  I'm a fan of this technique. The skirt at the bottom is created by working in trc; I like the swing of the skirt, but the transition from dc to trc is a little jarring to me. Given my shape, though, I had to include it.

Now for the yarn:

First up, I love this color. I love that this light-gauge yarn comes in bold, fun colors. I like that I can look like a grown up in cheap sport-weight yarn. Huzzah for the color options!

In terms of how it feels, it's not bad for an acrylic yarn. It actually is pretty soft, and it doesn't bother my skin while I'm working or wearing. It's not all inviting and tempting for people to touch, which might be a good thing since I don't typically enjoy the touch of the uninvited.

It is a little fuzzy, so don't expect very defined stitches from this yarn. Also, there was a knot or two in each skein, but they didn't cause problems on this particular piece. The weight of the yarn is actually pretty perfect for this garment. Because of its unconventional construction, it seems that it would be easy for this garment to stretch over time. This yarn makes the garment sturdy without making it heavy.
All in all, it's a decent cheap yarn. I'm all about an $8 top, and depending on how it holds up over time, I don't see that a yummy high-end yarn would improve this particular garment all that much. Maybe a little sheen would be nice, but I'll live.