New Year, New Challenge

Pattern: Antler Toque by Tin Can Knits - Yarn: Red Heart Eco-Ways in 3372 Petal - Needle: US size 8

  A while ago there was a trend going on around the internet where people were going to the lowest rated place in their area for various themes.  They were getting their nails, hair, or makeup done at the lowest rated salon.   It was then expanded to compare the lowest and highest rated locations.  Then people were buying things from the best and worst locations, so they could be buying cakes from the highest and lowest rated bakeries and comparing the results.  This got me thinking about how I could do this as well.

  I thought it would be really fun to try it with yarn and patterns.  There are some rules I made to go along with this project/challenge.  The yarn or pattern has to have a few bad reviews, not just one, and it has to be something I can get ahold of fairly easily.  While it would be fun to see how I feel about the Tangled Poets Advent Calendar 2019 from Aberdeen's Wool Co, I feel like it would not be easy for me to find.  I also really like the ones with the really scathing reviews, like this one:

Sloppy written pattern:

* No legend for abbreviations (neither written pattern nor chart)
* only a few measures

* inaccurate pattern

After the 5th row of chart and the second bug I found, I frogged my project.

It’s impudently to take money for this!

~ Vorlesetante (10 years ago) 1/5 stars

  I'm going to be posting the reviews I find while making some of my own.  However, I'm not doing this to shame the designers or yarn brands.  I'm curious if these patterns really are as bad as people think they are, or are they just written in a way that isn't compatible with the person trying it.  Any dates I have on here will be accurate to the time of posting.

  On Ravelry you can rate things without giving a review, so something might have a low or high rating, but no reason to go along with that rating.  This means that I have had to expand my search areas.  One of the yarns that fit the requirements only had such a bad rating because it was listed online as a three pack, but people only received one skein when they ordered it.  There was nothing about the quality of the yarn at all in any of those reviews and when I looked into it further, the single skein listings had pretty high reviews.

  Another problem I've run into with the yarn is how wildly varying the reviews will be sometimes.  The following reviews are both for Caron Simply Soft which has an overall 4.6/5 rating from 1604 votes:

This is the absolute worst yarn I have ever used. Not only does the yarn split with great ease, but in every skein I must cut out inches and inches of poor quality yarn half a dozen or more times per skein. There are entire sections that are just fuzz or the yarn is thinned out and appears to be a lighter weight. Unacceptable. Truth is, the gorgeous colors and sheen will draw you in and tempt you, but don’t let it. Buy something else.

~ Logan626 (one month ago) 1/5 stars

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This is among my favorite yarns and has been for several years. It is so very soft. The colors are exquisitely rich. The drape is lovely and washing and drying is perfect. I would recommend this yarn to anyone wishing to make garments or afghans with a bit of sheen.

~ Maple Mountain Magic (3 months ago) 5/5 stars

  I personally would agree more with Maple Mountain Magic, but I'm sure there are a lot of people who agree more with Logan626.  Yarns also have different ratings on different websites.  On Ravelry Caron Simply Soft is rated 4/5 while it is rated 4.6/5 on Joann's and 4.7/5 on Michael's websites.  I'm starting to get really excited for this!  I think I'm going to call each part "Is It The Worst?" or "Is It The Best?"