Made by Wool and the Gang, Shiny Happy Cotton is a fabulous yarn! It is a worsted-aran weight, somewhere in between I’d say. It calls for a smaller hook, but it hurt my wrist to work at that tension with cotton. While I’d normally use a J for worsted or aran, I chose to try out an I size because cotton has a tendency to “bloom” and grow slack with use. 

I read some reviews online that said SHC is splitty.. So I’ll say that if you hack away at it with the hook, you can split it, but if you keep even tension and control your movement, you’ll be just fine. The matte color look (despite the name!) is what drew me to this yarn, since most cottons have a heavy sheen. The smoothness,  matte finish, saturated color, and beautiful stitch definition are worth the occasional split of the yarn.

And the color range is lovely! While there are currently a limited amount of shades, they are very trendy and off-beat colors like mustard yellow, spearmint, and navy.

I made my Wildflower Blanket pattern with Shiny Happy Cotton, and I couldn’t have been happier working with it. I was so pleased that now I have amassed enough SHC for a decent l’il stash! They have a brand new hot pink and a bright purple that are just fab. They’d go quite well with that beautifully bold blue in my Wildflower. Can’t wait to pick those up!

So run! Don’t walk! They’re always having some kind of sale or free shipping for a great first-timer opportunity to test it out. Highly recommend!

_________
Check out Wool and the Gang for this Billie Jean denim yarn – made out of upcycled denim remnants straight from the jeans factory!

I’ve used this yarn in a large blanket project for my upcoming book (!) and I’ve really enjoyed working with it. Is it squishy soft? No.. But it’s not meant to be. This is a very natural denim feel with excellent stitch definition and not too stiff, but not smooshy either. It has beautiful drape and is quite weighty.

This big blanket will do best if it lives on a bed – perfect to warm you snuggling under the sheets in cold winter weather. I’m calling this piece “the northerner,” so the yarn weight and texture are just perfect.

Highly recommend this yarn. There are 3 shades so far, and working with all 3 is really lovely. You can see plenty of project inspo on the WatG Instagram and website. ❤️❤️❤️