Boutique Yarns Fur vs Sashay Fringe

Today I am going to be talking about two Red Heart Boutique yarns, Sashay Fringe and Fur. These two yarns might look similar at first glance, but they could not be more different. It surprises me every time how much different two similar things can be once you dive down and really explore the intricacies of each.

Sashay Fringe is actually a mesh ribbon construction with an edge of faux fur along one edge. This means if you were to squish the whole ribbon together and knit with it, you would not get the furry appearance you’re seeking.

If you have ever knit with a ruffle yarn, such as Red Heart’s Boutique Sashay, you will have a good idea of what I am talking about. The key with this yarn is to knit with the mesh edge and allow the fur to remain un-knit, but the prominent feature of the project. I’m including a video of how to knit this yarn in case you haven’t ventured into the wonderfully addicting world of ruffle scarves.

Red Heart’s Boutique Fur is about as straight up furry as you can get. The yarn has a stranding running through the middle with all the fur attached to it. The fur around the strand is actually quite bulky and bumps the yarn weight up to jumbo. With a recommended needle size of 12.75mm (US 17) you are sure to knit up any projects very quickly.

Something I did not expect with this yarn was how soft and squishy it is knit up. The first thing I made was a swatch. I like to get a feel for the yarn and let it tell me all the secrets it likes to keep before I start designing something for it. As I was knitting with the yarn, it felt amazingly soft on my hands and having to grip this soft squishy mass to turn my work was so delightful I kept going. I am really glad I did though because it really gives a great impression of what ‘jumbo’ yarn looks like knitted up.

The ‘swatch’ pictured above is just in plain garter stitch and is actually a perfect rectangle. There were no increases or decreases to change the shape. If you were to do something that involved shaping, which there maaaay be a pattern coming up for later this week, it would not be difficult. Since this yarn has a strand construction at it’s center it is very easy to knit with. Simple cast on’s and bind off’s are not an issue, the only place I could see anyone having issues is trying to read their work. If you’re looking for the last place you did an increase/decrease, you will have issues. The yarn creates a seamless fabric effect more than an individual stitch by stitch visual construction.

Regardless of the differences between Boutique Fur and Boutique Sashay Fringe they are both soft and warm. The weather is changing fast and we all have long lists of holiday knitting. I don’t believe throwing in a project made from jumbo yarn counts as cutting a corner; we’re simply using the best tools we have to get to the bottom of that ‘to-knit’ list.