Red Heart Reflective Yarn – Oh Hell Yeah

I am a little obsessed with Red Heart Reflective.  When it first came out I bought a skein of each color that was in stock just to play around.  (Except for the pink, because there is no place in my world for that shade.  I’m surrounded by boys and men.  My only female ally in this house is a cat which means she’s not really an ally and I should consider myself lucky she doesn’t put the toilet seat up out of spite.) (And also this “just to play around” is why I have a bin of fun fur and shiny metallic yarn.  I need to stop that.)  ANYWAY.  No idea what I planned to do with all of this reflective, life-saving goodness, but I figured Ravelry would help me out with that.

NOPE.

Pinterest?

NOPE.  NOPE.

I mean, yeah, there are patterns.  You’ve got your dog sweater, and your jogging headband, your scarves, your arm warmers, etc.  All good things for high-visibility nighttime activities.  This yarn is hella useful.  It has Purpose.  It will keep your children from being squashed when they dart out into the street and also help passers-by know where not to walk because now you can see where the puppy is squatting in the grass EVEN WHEN IT IS DARK (provided there are nearby streetlamps or cars or maybe even glowing smartphones) and that is AWESOME.  This is all in theory about the puppy squatting — I am not allowed to have a puppy because cats.

For me…most of these patterns are a little…dull.  They’re mostly basic beanies or striped scarves relying on the reflective bits to be the amazingness.  Maybe it is just that I am not in love with the color range.  Neon was a thing when I was in junior high and they say if you are old enough to have done the trend last time around…you really shouldn’t do it again.  Not that I ever listen to what they say but neon is one of those things best left to people who do not have crows feet and laughlines and an ornery toddler who calls quite enough attention to whatever we are doing thank you very much.

I figured with the orange I could at least make a pumpkin hat for the little dude.  I went with my usual pumpkin hat pattern and modified it for the yarn.  I wish I had made notes because I really don’t recall what size needles I used or how many extra stitches I casted on to size it up for a 4 year old.  Anyway.  This hat is BRIGHT.  Blinding.  Even without the flash, you’d see this kid coming a mile away because the orange is that lovely safety orange color.  Think Emmett.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m digging the hat, but it hasn’t been chilly enough to life-test it yet.  The kiddo was not in a modeling mood when the hat flew off the needles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then I got busy re-opening and stocking my Etsy shop so I tucked the rest of the glowy goodness away for awhile.  And then I saw these awesome pumpkin face trick or treat bags on The Crochet Spot. LOOK!  So CUTE!

I really like this pattern but alas, I had used nearly all of my orange yarn on the hat.  This yarn is on the bulky side so even though I knitted the hat, the skeins are a little on the small side so they disappear fast.

But!  I did have green and black.  So I dug around and found an adaptable pattern and I can’t tell you any more because my fingers are furiously hooking away so I can see the end result!  Kiddo is in LOVE with what I’m making and he can’t wait to see it done.

 

Here’s a sneak peek:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s kind of interesting to see the way the squiggly reflective bits behave differently in the crocheted vs. knitted material.  In the crochet fabric, they are all like “WOOOHOOOO PAAAARTAY!!!”  They are much more organized in the knitted fabric.

I’ll tell you a secret:  I like knitting with this yarn so much better than crocheting.  This is a majorly splitty and fuzzing yarn (technical terms) and if it weren’t for the reflective coolness, I would have put it down ages ago.  It is not hook friendly, and even when I was knitting, my Addi circs were ok but when I got to decreases and switched to wooden needles, I was a little grrrrr about the splitting.  And now that I am doing the seams on the green and black secret project up there (slip stitch, because I want sturdy seams), it is taking me as long to hook the pieces together as it did to crochet all of the pieces.  This does not make me happy.

But I know in the end it will all have been worth it.

 

 

Sooooo, what have you done with this yarn?  How do you like it?