Recently I posed a free frog crochet pattern on my blog, with a corresponding video tutorial. I have since received a lot of love for creating that tutorial (thank you so much everyone!) and was also asked a few questions regarding if it is possible to use fluffy, chunky yarn to crochet the frog.
The TL;DR answer: You can use different sized yarns for the same amigurumi pattern. If you do that, I would also adjust the size crochet hook you are using based on the thickness of the yarn you choose. Even if you use different yarn, it should take around the same amount of time to crochet your amigurumi, because the total number of stitches is the same!
Upon receiving these questions, I thought I would gather a few different popular fluffy yarns I’ve been seeing around social media, specifically TikTok, within the last year and crochet a frog with each of them. I wanted show that it is possible to use different types of yarn to crochet the same pattern. I also wanted to test out a few of these viral TikTok yarns to give you a sense of what your frog might look like if you decide to use one of these yarns. Hopefully, this comparison will help save you some time and by the end of this post, you will be able to pick out which yarn is right for you!
After doing some research, I chose the following three yarns to compare: Sweet Snuggles by Loops & Threads, Bernat Baby Blanket, and Baby Bee Adore-A-Ball yarn.
If you’d prefer to watch a video, please find the below video where I compare the three mentioned yarns. Otherwise, please continue scrolling to learn more about these yarns.
Sweet Snuggles by Loops and Threads Yarn
The first yarn I decided to test was the Sweet Snuggles yarn by Loops and Threads, in the color “mint”. While Sweet Snuggles doesn’t have a lime green color like you might think of if you pictured a frog in your head, the mint color was a nice twist on the traditional bright green. Out of all of the brands of yarn that I am going to talk about in this post, this yarn has the widest range of solid colors.
Overall, I was very excited to try out this thick, fluffy yarn because it is extremely different from the thin, acrylic yarn I am used to using when crocheting my amigurumi. It is very soft and has a shiny, velvety yarn texture. It felt like I was crocheting with a soft blanket! The Sweet Snuggles yarn is the thickest out of all three yarns that I tested out for this comparison, with a yarn weight of 7. Since its yarn weight was so large, I decided to use a 9mm crochet hook to crochet my amigurumi, instead of the 3.25mm crochet hook that was recommended in the original pattern. Because the yarn weight and the crochet hook were larger than the original pattern materials, this ended up creating a much larger frog! The final frog was 8 inches tall and 9 inches wide. Despite its size, this frog took about the same amount of time to crochet as all the other frogs in the post, because they all followed the same pattern and had the same number of total stitches. Increasing your hook size and yarn thickness can be a great way to create a larger amigurumi in the same amount of time as the original pattern!
Because this yarn is so different from the usual yarn that I use, it did take me a while to get the hang of crocheting with it. As someone who crochets with a tighter yarn tension, I had to learn that with this type of yarn, I needed to loosen up my tension in order for my crochet hook to glide through the stitches more easily. In addition, if you follow my style of creating a magic circle, loosening up your tension and grip can help you more easily close up your circle. With that being said, I think that this is a pro of using this yarn. If you crochet with a looser tension, your hands are less likely to cramp up or feel pain over time. So it is a big plus!
One con about using this yarn is the cost. You can find this yarn at your local Michaels for about $10 a yarn ball (as of June 2021). This is one of the most expensive yarns of the three. In addition, after doing some calculations, you might be able to crochet two frogs with one ball of this yarn, but you would have to be very careful that you don’t waste too much yarn when creating yarn tails to sew your pieces of your amigurumi together. In the end, this yarn ends up being the most expensive if you count the cost of yarn per total number of frogs that you could create with one ball of this yarn. With that being said, Michaels usually has deals and coupons that you could wait for to lower the price of this yarn.
Another con I found with the Sweet Snuggles yarn is that it creates a lot of fallout while crocheting. It has the most fallout out of all yarns that I mention in this post. When I say fallout, I mean the loose yarn fibers that “fall out” or shed from the yarn. Since the fallout typically comes from the tip of the yarn, I noticed it most while sewing the pieces of my frog together. However, since completing the plush, I have still noticed a bit of loose fibers on occasion, but not too much that I am concerned. As long as you are careful and do not tug on the yarn fibers of your plush, it should be okay.
Overall, I really enjoyed using the Sweet Snuggles by Loops and Threads yarn. it was so much fun to crochet with such thick and soft yarn. Despite some fallout, I believe that I will continue to use this trendy yarn to make more velvety amigurumi with this yarn.
Bernat Baby Blanket Yarn
The second yarn I decided to test was the Bernat Baby Blanket in the color “lemon line”. I was very happy to see that Bernat Baby Blanket had a bright green color that I could use. This color matched the original pattern’s yarn color the best. While Bernat Baby Blanket doesn’t have as many solid colors as the Sweet Snuggles yarn, it still has a decent amount. There is also a Bernat Blanket line that is the same size and texture and offers additional colors to choose from.
While I had seen this yarn all over TikTok, I was unimpressed with it when I first purchased it (before crocheting with it). The texture of this yarn is not velvety like the others. This yarn feels more like a fleece blanket. However, it is still very soft and to my surprise, this yarn has become one of my favorites to crochet with. There is a slight bounciness in the yarn creates a squishy frog that is fun to carry around!
The Bernat Baby Blanket yarn comes in at a yarn weight of 7. Due to the yarn weight, I decided to use an 8mm crochet hook to crochet my amigurumi. This created a medium sized final frog that was 7 inches tall and 7.5 inches wide. I personally felt like this was a great size! Again, this frog took about the same amount of time to crochet as all the other frogs in the post, because they all followed the same pattern and had the same number of total stitches.
Like the Sweet Snuggles yarn, the Bernat Baby Blanket yarn is more pricey. You can find this yarn at your local Joann for about $11 a yarn ball (as of June 2021). This is the most expensive yarn of the three. However, after doing some calculations, you should be able to easily crochet four frogs with one ball of this yarn. In the end, this yarn ends up being the more cost effective than the Sweet Snuggles yarn if you count the cost of yarn per total number of frogs that you could create with one ball of this yarn.
In regards to fallout and fiber shedding, the Bernat Baby Blanket yarn has little to no fallout. The first time I crocheted a frog with this yarn, I noticed a small piece or two while sewing the frog together, but haven’t seen fallout since. After completing the plush, I have still have not noticed any fallout at all. This yarn definitely creates the most durable amigurumi of all three yarns.
Overall, I was very impressed with the Bernat Baby Blanket yarn. While it did not have as much “wow” factor as the Sweet Snuggles yarn did with its thickness and velvety texture, I loved how squishy my frog turned out when I used the Bernat Baby Blanket yarn and how durable the yarn is. I will definitely be using this yarn to crochet amigurumi for my upcoming craft fair!
Baby Bee Adore-A-Ball Yarn
The last yarn I decided to test was the Baby Bee Adore-A-Ball yarn in the color “mint charm”. Originally, I was not going to include this yarn in the comparison because it is much thinner than the other two yarns, but I had seen it used on TikTok and when I touched it at the store, I could not put it down. It was so velvety! It also came in a lovely bright green shade with a slight shine to it due to the velvety texture. While the mint charm color is absolutely beautiful, this yarn only comes in a few solid shades. If you like the size and texture of this yarn, I would consider trying something like Baby Snuggle Solid by Hobbii. While I have not tried this yarn yet myself, it looks to be about the same thickness as the Baby Bee Adore-A-Ball yarn, but it comes in a rainbow of solid colors!
The texture of the Baby Bee Adore-A-Ball yarn is the most velvety out of all three yarns. Because it is velvety, it has a nice shine to it that is a unique touch to an amigurumi. It is also very soft, and is light on your hands when crocheting with it.
The Baby Bee Adore-A-Ball yarn comes in at a yarn weight of 5. Since this is a much thinner yarn compared to the others, I decided to use a 5mm crochet hook to crochet my amigurumi. This created a smaller sized final frog that was about 5 inches tall and 5.5 inches wide. This is still a few inches larger than the frog using the original pattern materials, which stood 2.5 inches tall and 3 inches wide. As mentioned before, this frog took about the same amount of time to crochet as all the other frogs in the post, because they all followed the same pattern and had the same number of total stitches!
Out of all three yarns, the Baby Bee Adore-A-Ball yarn is the cheapest. You can find this yarn at your local Hobby Lobby for about $4.50 a yarn ball (as of June 2021). After doing some calculations, you should be able to crochet about three frogs with one ball of this yarn. In the end, this yarn ends up being the most cost effective yarn if you count the cost of yarn per total number of frogs that you could create with one ball of this yarn. However, it does create the smallest frog of the bunch, so if you’d rather have a larger frog, it’s probably worth the money to buy one of the thicker yarns mentioned in this post.
In regards to fallout and fiber shedding, the Baby Bee Adore-A-Ball yarn does have a decent amount of fallout. I noticed it mostly while sewing the frog together. After completing the plush, I haven’t noticed as much fallout in this frog as I have with the frog created using the Sweet Snuggles yarn. Of course, if you tug on the fibers on purpose, you will probably be able to pull out some fibers!
Overall, I was very happy with the Baby Bee Adore-A-Ball yarn. While it creates the smallest frog out of the three I tested, I loved how velvety and shiny the yarn was.
I hope this comparison helped show you how your amigurumi might look if you use a thicker yarn and a larger crochet hook. I also hope that it makes the decision of which of these viral TikTok yarns to buy much easier for you. Best of luck in your crochet journey!
Please find the below chart to summarize the yarn comparison.
Frogs | Yarn | Yarn/Hook Size | Frog Size | Texture | Cost | Fallout (yarn fibers shedding) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sweet Snuggles by Loops and Threads Color: mint | Yarn Weight: 7 (thickest) Hook: 9mm | Largest 8 inches tall, 9 inches wide | Velvety and very soft. Most fun to crochet with (in my opinion) due to the softness and thickness. | Currently about $10 per yarn ball. I might be able to squeeze 2 frogs out of this ball of yarn if I keep my yarn tails shorter. | Most fallout out of all of the yarns, especially during sewing. Occasionally, fibers fall out of finished plush. | |
Bernat Baby Blanket Color: lemon lime | Yarn Weight: 6 Hook: 8mm | Medium 7 inches tall, 7.5 inches wide | Feels more like a fleece blanket, but still creates a soft, squishy, and durable frog. The yarn has almost a bouncy texture. | Most expensive, at around $11-13. However, I can easily make 4 frogs with one ball of this yarn. | Little to no fallout. I maybe got a tiny bit of fallout while sewing the pieces together, otherwise I saw none. This yarn is the most durable out of all three. | |
Baby Bee Adore-a-ball Color: mint charm | Yarn Weight: 5 (thinnest) Hook: 5mm | Small 5 inches tall, 5.5 inches wide | Most velvety and silky. Feels like I am crocheting with a cloud! | Cheapest. Currently about $4.50. I could make 2 maybe 3 frogs with one ball of this yarn. | Medium amount of fallout, mostly during sewing. |
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