A recent and very welcome new addition to the recycled yarn market is this ribbon yarn from Paintbox. It’s a lightweight super chunky weight (#6) woven ribbon/tape yarn made from recycled materials in a gorgeous range of beautiful solid and metallic colours. It’s close rivals with similar products are Hoooked Ribbon XL and Wool and the Gang Mix Tape Yarn along with some other smaller brands.
Reproduced with the permission of LoveCrafts
It comes in a 250g tightly wound compact skein and has approx. 120m (131yds). Recommended hook size 8mm.
This review is not sponsored, I bought the yarns myself because I wanted to work and design with them, and this is my honest unbiased opinion.
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Ecofriendly Credentials
Made from 100% recycled materials (80% Cotton 20% Polyester) from off-cuts from the fashion industry that would otherwise go to landfill.
So top score for being made entirely from waste fibres and I give a big round of applause for Paintbox (and the other yarn companies) buying up waste fibres to turn them into yarn.
Recyclable wrapping! I’m delighted to see it’s yarn band is paper! It didn’t come wrapped in plastic either, so big green tick for this.
Being a mix of cotton and polyester it’s not biodegradable but ethical disposal of the finished product at the end of it’s useful life would be possible through rag bag schemes so it may be shredded and recycled all over again.
First impressions
Smaller than I expected, but heavy! It’s packed really densely though so that’s how they’ve made it quite small. Yarn ends are easily findable to work from either inside or outside. The colours are lovely and accurately reflect what I saw on screen.
The yarn is surprisingly soft and silky with no stretch. It is softer than it’s counterpart from Hoooked (review being written too, I’ll add the link here).
I really love the feel of this when working with it.
Although it seemed heavy in it’s ball, it’s actually works up very light. Much lighter and easier to work with than t-shirt yarn.
What to make with it?
It’s perfect for chunky makes like:
- bags
- rugs
- coasters
- table mats
- cushions
- throws
- belts
- jewelry
- wall hangings
Due to it’s softness it will be lovely to wear and will work on scarves and shawls and using a large hook it’d have great drape and will work up super fast too. It will also work well for clothing too.
What it’s like to work with
Lovely to crochet with, it glides effortlessly through your fingers.
There was only a little fluff transfer onto my clothes in working with it. I often wear black trousers so I notice this!
It pulls down easily if you make any mistakes.
It gives amazing stitch definition. Check out the stitch detail on the Totally Textured Tote pattern, it works up so fast too!
It’s versatile, using smaller hooks will produce a sturdy fabric that’s perfect for bags. While using larger hooks will result in a more drapey fabric that’s ideal for wearables.
There were a just couple of tiny variations occasionally in thickness throughout any 1 skein, but it was barely noticeable.
Dyes were even throughout the skein and seem well set on all the colours I’ve used. There was no transfer to my skin. I haven’t done a wash test.
Quality/Cost
Very good value for extremely good quality at £8 (UK) for a skein, it’s cheaper than it’s main big brand competitors AND it’s often on offer, so it’s worth subscribing to my newsletter because I’ll send you an email whenever I spot offers on any recycled yarns.
Pros
- 100% recycled
- Soft & silky
- Very easy to crochet with
- Great stitch definition
- Fun to work with
- Works up very quickly
- Easily available
- Good value
Cons
- it’s not plastic free and biodegradable due to polyester content. You can use a Guppyfriend wash bag to wash finished items (and all clothing with plastic fibre content) in to prevent microplastics shedding into the water.
- A little tricky to weave in ends. Use a very blunt large eye needle.
Where to get it?
Exclusively through LoveCrafts.com
Buy Paintbox Recycled Ribbon Yarn
Overall View
I’ve no problem confessing… I LOVE this yarn! I’ve bought and used quite a few balls and there will be many more I’m sure. I love working with it, it’s fantastic quality and the item works up so fast.
My patterns that use this yarn (there are more to come!):
I hope this is a helpful review, I’d love to hear if you’ve tried it too and all about what you made. Please share and Pin so others find this too. Thank you x
I love the Totally Textured Tote pattern!
Yay, that’s great to hear, thank you!