Recently, I was commissioned to make a few Fingerless Gloves for my mom's business for customers to use them as Manicure Gloves. I knew I needed something that was Machine Washable, easily acquirable, has a good selection of colors, and consistency between different skeins of yarn. I went through multiple different brands, but eventually Settled on Loops & Threads Impeccable.
I should also mention before we get into this that this is not a paid review - these are my honest thoughts after working with this yarn for so much over the past few months.
Impeccable Overview
Impeccable yarn is a worsted weight (weight 4) yarn by Loops & Threads made available exclusively at Michaels stores. It comes in various colors and styles including solids, speckled, stripes, tweeds, and ombres and is available to order in either single skeins or packs of 18 via the Michaels website.
| Weight | Worsted - 4 |
| Recommended Hook | US H/8 - 5.00 mm |
| Recommended Needles | US 8 - 5.00 mm |
| Care Instructions | Wash warm, tumble dry - low heat |
| Available In... | Solids, Speckled, Ombres, Stripes, Tweeds |
Price-wise, you can expect to spend about $3.99 per ball of yarn (before coupons and vouchers, be sure to check their app for coupons available to you!). Each skein weighs 127.5g (4.5 oz) and has about 260m (285 yd) of yarn.
| Usual Price Per Ball | $3.99 |
| Yardage/Meters | 185 yd. (260 m) |
| Weight of Skein | 4.5 oz. (127.5 g) |
| Price Per Yard (gram) | $0.021 per yd. ($0.015 per g) |
Availability & Price
Because Loops & Threads is a Michael's Exclusive brand, this yarn is available exclusively at Michael's stores. If you don't have a local Michael's, worry not! You can also purchase this yarn on their website. They also do allow you to buy in packs of 18 online in most colors.
Price-wise, this yarn is a fantastic deal. When there isn't a sale going on, you can find this yarn for $3.99 for 285 yards of yarn (260 m). There's almost always a sale going on though, or at least a coupon available, so be sure to check the Michaels app for your store location to see what's available to you!
Also don't forget to join their rewards program - they almost always have some kind of deal going on specific to yarn, so it's easy to rack up rewards points if you knit or crochet!
Colors
This is one of the things that really makes this yarn shine - there's SO MANY COLORS. As of the writing of this post, there are a whopping 62 different colors of the solid colors, alone. Including the other options available, it brings it to just over 90 different colors/color combinations available in this yarn. The other specialty colors come in smaller balls of yarn and have slightly different properties, so I'm going to skip them for this review.
Color-wise, I think this yarn has a good array of colors to fit whatever you may need. You can find anything from soft pastels to vibrant colors - I've even found a good selection of dusty colors perfect for fall! I also really like their selection of neutrals - whites to creams and even quite a few greys to choose from, there's sure to be something you can use!
Color consistency-wise, I have noticed that the colors seem to be pretty similar ball-to-ball, I haven't noticed any huge inconsistencies when it comes to colors between different dye lots. As always, however, it's always a good idea to try and get all the yarn that you need for one project at a single time to avoid any problems with color matching.
Swatching
For my swatch test, I will be making a simple granny square using the color "Cherry". I'll be using the recommended hook size (in this case, H), and making the square approximately 6.5" by 6.5". I'm using my trusty ol' Boye Aluminum hook for this as well, as it's the hook I'm most comfortable using.
Working Up
When working with acrylic yarn, there's a few things that can be a hassle - from the softness to how the yarn looks working up, there are all sorts of things that can be wildly different from one brand to another.
Softness
Working up, the softness of the yarn isn't anything to run home about - it's acrylic yarn, and it's not outstandingly soft, but also not the roughest yarn I've worked with.
I will say that it does work up a bit stiff - you can see in the photo above actually that my swatch was curling on the corners, something that I've only seen happen with similar other stiff yarns. I'm really hoping that washing helps soften this swatch and ease the corners a bit, because that's a bit annoying to deal with.
Splitting
One thing I do love about this yarn - it rarely ever splits! There is absolutely nothing worse than just having a grand ol' time making a blanket, looking back, and realizing that your yarn has been splitting and leaving split plies all over your work. Even worse when you're working it up and have to stop every few stitches to fix your stitch.
I'm glad to say that through the two swatches I made for comparisons, while there was some splitting, it was nothing to go too crazy over. I had a problem with my Prym hook splitting the yarn as I drew them back through stitches, but not as I first started off my next stitch. I think this may be more a hook issue, as I didn't have any trouble with my trusty ol' boye hooks.
Consistency
Consistency-wise, I'd say this yarn is generally more consistent with its weight than some others. In the ball I did use, however, I noticed it was un-conventionally thin in a few areas. I'm not sure if I just got a bad ball, but I haven't noticed this in any other skeins I've opened up of this brand.
Yarn Barf/Tangling
So this is where things get a bit iffy - I've personally never had issues with this yarn tangling, but I also pull from the outside of the ball. So... pulling from the outside, it's pretty good! I haven't noticed any huge issues with tangles and it's smooth to pull from the ball.
One thing I have also noticed is that there's very few knots in the yarn - I rarely come across a knot with this yarn. I think I've only ever come across a knot once or twice in all of the skeins I've used (~15 or so skeins at this point). Overall, pretty good and pretty tangle free!
Squeakiness
With my aluminum hook, I haven't had much trouble with the yarn squeaking while working up. I did, however, give it a shot with my new Prym Ergonomic Hook and could not deal with it. It got so squeaky feeling and I was just not dealing with that!
If you're a plastic/resin hook user - it might be best to break out those metal and wood hooks for this yarn... because that was bad.
Wash Test
Since Impeccable is an acrylic yarn and it states on the label that it's safe for the machine wash (warm/gentle, tumble dry low heat), I decided to go ahead and toss it in with a load of my towels for the week. I didn't put the swatch in any sort of lingerie bag or anything, just threw it in there. Hey, if it's machine washable, it should stand up to the test!
Plus... how many people do you know that actually hand wash/dry their hand-made objects? I personally don't know very many. May as well give it a test to see how it'll hold up to a normal wash!
Shrinkage
Both swatches pre-washing came out to be about 6.5" by 6.5". After the one swatch was washed and dried (per label instructions), the finished dimensions came out to be about half an inch less, with the washed swatch coming out to 6" by 6". While not a huge amount of shrinkage, it is something to take note of.
"Bloom" & Halo Factor
Acrylic fibers tend to have a bit of a "halo" effect after washing or after a long time of use. This yarn is no exception.
In the photo above comparing the two swatches, you can notice two things off the bat. The first: how much smaller the washed swatch is than the unwashed swatch. The second? The stitch definition. The stitches look like they puffed up more and the holes between the clusters actually look quite a bit smaller.
Something else I noticed is that the Halo around the edges seems to be a bit more prominent after washing than before. You can still tell the stitches and where they are, but they become a bit less defined as well. I put a more close-up photo of both of the swatches below to show a bit of a better comparison for the stitch definition.
Softness
I have to say... this yarn softens up SO nicely! After the wash, it becomes incredibly soft and so fluffy. The stiffness of the yarn completely goes away (it actually flops!). Is it the softest I've ever felt? No, not by a long shot, but considering how stiff it was before, it turned out really good!
The good news is, I didn't notice much pilling on the yarn after it went through the wash. Granted, pilling can be fixed, it's still annoying to deal with, so the less pilling a fabric does, the better!
Final Thoughts
I do love how valuable and available this yarn is. As someone who lives in the good ol' corn fields of Illinois, I don't have a lot of options when it comes to yarn stores nearby. Literally the only place I can go for cheap (ish), decent yarn? Michaels.
Well, Hobby Lobby too, but I don't count that.
Despite the yarn being rough and stiff pre-wash, the amount of yarn you get for the price (especially with coupons) makes it great for big projects like blankets and playing around with new techniques. I also love this yarn because of its wash-ability.
So what would this yarn be good for? I'd personally not use it for wearable projects - things like sweaters and shirts, cardigans, etc... may not be great with this yarn, simply because of how rough it can feel.
I would, however, highly suggest it for things like blankets, maybe even tote bags! I would even suggest it for things like Amigurumi. Actually, I'd really suggest it for amigurumi. Its durability, consistency, and affordability make it ideal for things like these, and its range of colors would make for a wonderfully beautiful blanket, no doubt!