Hobbii Yarns has released a new, worsted weight chenille yarn called Toucan Fine and in today’s post, I’m going to be sharing my in-depth yarn review of Toucan Fine so that you can have all the information you may need to help you decide if this is the yarn you would like for your next project.
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Toucan and Toucan Fine? What’s the Difference?
Earlier this year, Hobbii released a new yarn called Toucan Yarn and have now released Toucan Fine. Toucan is Toucan Fine’s big sister and is a super bulky (6) yarn whereas Toucan Fine is a worsted weight (4) yarn.
Hobbii Toucan Fine Yarn Label Information & Other Details:
- Current Number of Colourways Available: 16 – Check out the color possibilities here on the Hobbii.com website.
- Type of Yarn: Chenille
- Fiber Content: 100% Polyester
- Yarn Weight: Aran (4)
- Yarn Ball Weight / Size: 100g / 3.5oz
- Yardage: 196 yd / 180 m
- Suggested Crochet Hook Size: 5mm (H) hook
- Suggested Knitting Needle Size: 5 mm knitting needles (US 8)
- Gauge: 11 Sts x 13 rows = 4″/10 cm
- Care: Machine wash 40°C (104°F) / Do not iron / Dry flat
Check out the video version of this yarn review:
What Does it Feel Like?
Toucan Fine is very soft and feels to me like a cross between a velvet yarn and a blanket yarn. It has more structure when crocheted than velvet yarn but isn’t as stiff as your standard blanket yarn.
Honey Bunny or Baby Snuggle Vs. Toucan Fine?
When I posted about this yarn on social media, I was asked to compare it to the popular, voluptuous chenille yarn Hobbii has called Honey Bunny and another called Baby Snuggle.
Compared to Honey Bunny and Baby Snuggle (both super bulky weight yarns) the Toucan Fine isn’t as soft and is obviously thinner. Compared to Honey Bunny it is less prone to pilling.
The Hobbii website states that the Toucan Fine will “add a touch of velvet” to your stash and while it’s soft, the other above yarns give you a much more luxury velvety feel in comparison.
Testing Out Hobbii Toucan Fine Yarn
When testing out Toucan Fine, I used a 5.0mm (H) crochet hook to create a test swatch using basic crochet stitches (several rows each of single crochet, half double crochet, double crochet).
The yarn is very soft on your hands and nice to work with. As it’s a chenille yarn there were no issues with splitting and it was generally an overall, positive experience crocheting with it.
The fabric created with the 5.0 mm hook was plush, though it have a bit of a dense result, it had decent enough drape, which if you’d using it to make plushy animals isn’t a big deal. However, if you’re looking to use it for a baby blanket or a sweater, then it’s something to keep in mind.
There is not much stitch definition (as is the case with many chenille yarns), making it work best with the simplest crochet stitches.
I didn’t notice any shedding from the yarn as I worked with it and even after crocheting with it wearing black clothing, I noticed only minimal shedding.
Making Amigurumi With Toucan Fine Yarn
I also made one of my crochet toy patterns – Octo Ollie – using this as well to test it out with an amigurumi piece.
Again, it was an enjoyable experience and because the yarn is a bit stiffer than a velvet yarn, it had great structure when. crocheted into a toy. I used a 3.5mm crochet hook with this yarn to make my Octo Ollie Toy.
What About Frogging? How Does it Hold Up?
Having used both Toucan and Toucan Fine yarns, I will say that the Toucan Fine frogs (can be unravelled) quicker, easier and with less damage to the yarn strand than the Toucan.
There was some damage to the strand (i.e. worming) but it was significantly less than the regular Toucan yarn. I didn’t have any large bald spots or bare string after frogging 2 rows of stitches (see the video version of the review to see me frogging with this yarn).
However, I would recommend leaving a few extra inches when cutting your yarn tails with this yarn as I did have some worming (where the yarn fibers fall off the core strand) at the end of the strand that was made worse when trying to thread it on to my tapestry needle.
I did find the yarn strand stronger in the Fine yarn than I did with the standard Toucan plush yarn. The Toucan Fine was harder for me to break than the super bulky Toucan.
Overall
I enjoyed working with Hobbii Toucan Fine yarn and enjoyed it much more than I did the super bulky Toucan yarn. I’d definitely use this yarn again in an amigurumi project but right now the color options are incredibly limited so I’ll wait to see if they release any additional colors.
I think this is a great yarn to use as an alternative to a super bulky weight yarn to make amigurumi projects smaller or if you want to use a plush yarn that is available as a worsted weight option.
Free Crochet Patterns To Use With Hobbii Toucan Fine Yarn
Looking for some pattern inspiration to use with your Hobbii Toucan Fine yarn? While this yarn is so new, I couldn’t find any patterns specifically using this yarn, it could be used with the below patterns:
- Octo Ollie No-Sew Crochet Octopus
- Percy the Pigeon
- Chillin’ With My Snowmies Mini No-Sew Snowman
- Fab-Boo-Lous Mini No-Sew Ghost
- Mini Crochet Teddy Bear
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Love yarn reviews? Check out these other yarn reviews for crochet
- Hobbii.com yarn reviews (a collection of Hobbii yarns)
- King Cole Forest Aran Recylced Yarn
- Caron Spice Cakes Review
- WeCrochet Heatherly Review
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If the toucan fine lost a bit with frogging does than mean it might not be a good idea to give as a toy to play with. Would it go bare with play?
Sorry if you addressed this but was just thinking.
Hi Debbie,
That’s a good question and I don’t know. Many of the chenille yarns do this (often much worse than this one) but seem to do ok once in the finished toy though, I do share your concerns about the longevity and durability of finished toys with yarn like this. The only way to find out unfortunately is to submit finished items to longer-term, rigorous testing to see how they hold up. My best guess would be that they would not be as durable as toys made with plied yarns or other yarns that do not do this (like Bernat Blanket).