Yarn Review: Lion Brand Truboo

TLDR: incredibly soft, nice drape, but the yarn may be too slippery and “splitty” for some people.

​Fibre	Bamboo
Weight	DK (3)
Price	​$7.99/220m
Where to buy	Michaels, Lion Brand website

Overall Rating: 4.5/5 fist shakes

I don't know about the rest of you, but I got into bamboo yarn by accident.

This past spring, in the midst of making a bunch of summer-ready crop tops out of extra acrylic yarn I had laying around, I realized almost immediately that acrylic is not a good choice for summer clothing.

Turns out, it really traps the heat (who knew?!) so it’s a bit like wearing a trash bag in 30 degree weather.

Much like this

In a quest to avoid heat stroke, I researched better summer yarn options and came across bamboo. Bamboo is a great fibre for clothing because its:

• Breathable

• Absorbent

• Resists odour, mold, mildew and bacteria

• Soft

• UV-resistant

Sounds like a dream come true. So how does Truboo stack up?

I read online that Truboo is not great for crocheting, and works much better for knitting. Armed with a set of bamboo knitting needles, I tried to make a tank top, and I just...

Kept.

Dropping.

Stitches.

So annoying. Also, not to brag, but I almost never drop stitches, despite being a very mediocre knitter. Truboo is very slippery, and if you’re not paying close attention, it’s easy to lose a stitch or five.

It’s also very “splitty” which makes it easy to accidentally carry only part of the yarn over each stitch if you're not careful. If you choose to just keep charging onwards despite this (me), you'll end up with little loops sticking out of your project randomly.

I ditched my knitting to try crocheting with Truboo instead, and immediately made my life a thousand times easier. I still found it a little splitty, but not the end of the world.

Turns out I should have stuck to what I was good at. Who knew?

Truboo has a beautiful drape as your project works up. It's a little shiny, which I love, but may not be everyone's cup of tea. It would be a great choice for a cardigan, small blanket, or a loose top. The colour selection is decent and leans very summer-y, which makes sense given that bamboo is more of a warm weather fibre.

Fair warning, this yarn has some weight and drape as it works up. It would almost certainly be a little heavy for anything that’s especially large or holey, like a blanket with lots of chain stitches, or like the knit top I tried to make where I dropped half my stitches (d'oh).

Pros:

• Super soft

• Beautiful sheen

• Nice drape

• Good price point

• Decent colour selection

Cons:

• Very slippery

• Yarn tends to split