Looking for a high-quality, #5 bulky acrylic yarn? Lion Brand Color Made Easy is a great choice! Watch my review video for my opinion of this yarn, including a comparison to a similar, more budget-friendly substitute.
So last week, I published my first raglan-sleeve knit sweater pattern, my Dotty Pullover. For this project, I tried a new yarn, and I was very pleased with it! I decided to do a quick review of this yarn to share my thoughts for anyone who hasn’t tried it before.
So here we go…
First of all, let’s read the label.
Lion Brand Color Made Easy is a #5 Bulky Weight Yarn (see my guide to the yarn weight system here). Each skein contains 7 ounces / 200 grams of yarn by weight, and 247 yards / 226 meters in length. It’s made of pure acrylic (we’ll get to more info on that later), which makes it machine washable and dryable.
The yarn strand itself is smooth and round, with a good amount of twist. The twist in the yarn gives it a nice springiness. I mainly used this yarn for knitting, but I crocheted a bit with it as well. It does not tend to split, unless you are using sharp knitting needles. The finished fabric also has great stitch definition.
Color Made Easy comes in lots of beautiful, fashionable colors, as its name implies. I used the Millennial Pink for my Dotty Pullover, but I also order a skein of Ultra Violet. Whether you like to work with bright colors or more muted neutral tones, there is sure to be a colorway in the lineup that you would love.
But now, the most important question with any acrylic yarn…
How does it feel?
This yarn is very soft and squishy, with very little fuzz to it. I think it has a high-quality feel for an acrylic yarn. It does not feel scratchy or plastic-y at all.
You may also want to note that Color Made Easy is manufactured in Turkey. I have tried many acrylic yarns over the years, and I have noticed that the acrylic yarns from Turkey generally tend to feel a little nicer than acrylic yarns made in China. There are some very nice quality, soft acrylic yarns that are made in China, but the yarns from Turkey are usually slightly softer.
Which brings me to the only thing I do not love about this yarn: the price. A 200 gram skein of Color Made Easy retails for $8.99 USD. I realize that it probably costs a bit more to manufacture yarn in Turkey, but this price is a little high compared to other similar-quality yarns that I have tried.
When I need a #5 bulky weight acrylic yarn, I usually get KnitPicks Brava Bulky. I have used dozens and dozens of skeins of Brava since I started buying it, and I’ve completed at least a half dozen large afghans in Brava, not including many other projects I have used it for. It’s soft and smooth, and comes in almost 30 colors.
However, the reason I usually choose Brava is the price. A 100 gram skein of KnitPicks Brava retails for $1.99 USD. You would have to buy 2 skeins of Brava to equal one skein of Color Made Easy, which would cost $3.98 USD. But even then, Color Made Easy costs more than double the price of Brava for the same amount of yarn (by weight), at $8.99 USD for 200 grams. (If you’re going by the yardage, Brava has more yards in 200 grams than Color Made Easy.)
While I do feel that Color Made Easy is slightly nicer-quality than KnitPicks Brava, I don’t think it’s so much nicer that it’s worth paying more than double the price for the same amount of yarn. I tend to be a rather frugal yarn shopper, so anytime I can save a bit of money and still get a good-quality yarn, I will. If you have a pattern that calls for Color Made Easy, and you’re looking for a more budget-friendly substitute, Brava is a great option.
The Verdict
So, do I think Color Made Easy is a good choice? Yes! Would I use it again? Absolutely! But I will probably only buy it when it is on sale. If I can get it at 40% or 50% off the regular price, then I would definitely buy it again. Otherwise, I will likely use KnitPicks Brava Bulky when I need an inexpensive, bulky-weight yarn.
Have you tried Lion Brand Color Made Easy yet? What did you think?
Pin the image below to save this article for later!
Thank you for your recommendation. The LB Color Made Easy is new to me so I appreciated your information. Being very tactile, not being able to touch the yarn is disappointing but because of your recommendation and the difference in price, I chose the Knit Picks instead because I needed so much for the project I’m doing. I used your link to their site and hope I did it right because I want you to get a kick back for your time. Thanks again!