Cotton yarn is often the go-to yarn for home décor like dishcloths, potholders, wearables, and blankets. Most cotton yarn is durable, sturdy, machine washable and dryable, and comes in eye catching colors.

Lily Sugar’n Cream yarn is a 100% natural cotton worsted (4) weight yarn that comes in an amazing array of spectacularly bright colors. At $2.99 per 120 yard skein, it is perfect for beginners who want enough yarn to work with without denting their bank account.

It is also great for experienced crocheters who want to branch out from their normal yarns and try something new! The cotton yarn grants you nice, crisp textures, allowing your gorgeous stitching to pop out.

Sugar’n Cream Breakdown

Price	$2.99
Yardage	120 yards
Price/yard	$0.02
Number of Colorways	39 (solids)
Weight	Worsted / medium (4)
Fiber Content	100% cotton
Care	Machine wash and dry
How does it feel?	Soft or rough cotton-y feel

As Sugar’n Cream has many different variations touched upon later in this review, I will be focusing this review on the Original Yarn variation. It is Sugar’n Cream’s most popular 120-yard skein available with nearly 40 different beautiful colors to choose from.

It is a 100% cotton yarn which is perfect for people looking to use a cheap, yet quality, non-acrylic yarn. It is great for household items or anything else needing a sturdy, non-acrylic base. It’s a lightweight, breathable, durable yarn with amazing versatility.

Acrylic can be irritating and itchy for people with sensitive (or even non-sensitive) skin. An all-natural cotton yarn is a great substitute for anyone who has an avoidance to acrylic, especially a high quality brand with a cheap price for their cotton yarns.

In each Sugar’n Cream skein, there are very little, if any, knots. While it does split at times, it is not a skein that will fall apart in your hands. If you accidentally stab through a thread, you can twist it back together. The cotton clings to itself quite easily.

This yarn is great for beginners who are looking to practice for the very first time. Almost, if not all, of Sugar’n Cream’s colors are bright and cheerful, making the stitches easy to see and fun to work with.  It is a sturdy yarn that is great for showcasing different stitching with its crisp threads.

If you are looking to use this yarn for amigurumi, I would recommend going down at least two sizes front the recommended hook to minimize the holes in the project. As it does not have any fluff or fuzz to help you hide the natural holes that appear, it’s always better to use a small hook size (unless those holes are needed for your design).

My experience using this yarn!

Sugar’n Cream is not a yarn that I personally like using for too many projects. It is a great cotton yarn and comes in small skeins that are great for small items, but it’s not a yarn I regularly search out for the texture.

I love how bright the many color choices are with Sugar’n Cream, and I enjoy the final product that the yarn produces. It’s truly a cheerful yarn and quite easy to work with.

If you’re looking for an inexpensive cotton yarn with an array of color to choose from, Sugar’n Cream is a wonderful choice regardless of your experience level. It’s great for kitchen cloths and other home items if you’re looking for a study cotton texture.

However, despite all the good things about it, the texture of it differs so greatly from one skein to the next that it makes me hesitate when I want to use it.

One skein can be incredibly soft, gliding smoothly on the hook, and perfect to work with. The next skein can be incredibly rough, even hard, snagging on any healing calluses you might have on your hand. It’s not easy to work with if you have dry hands, either.

I’ve had to use bandaids to cover areas of dried skin due to the rough skeins snagging on it and irritating the areas. If you are prone to dry hands or have calluses that might snag at yarn, I would recommend either skipping Sugar’n Cream all together or softening the skein before you work with it.

While it’s a great cotton yarn grown and spun in North America, I find myself looking elsewhere for other yarns. If I am in need of a small, quick, brightly colored item, I will use Sugar’n Cream if it happens to have the colors I need. This is not a yarn I would personally use for anything large.

What should you use this yarn for?

As it is a 100% cotton yarn, it is best used for household items like towels, washcloths, rugs, market bags, potholders, and more. I have used it for amigurumi, which gives it a study, cheerful form.

Since cotton is absorbent, it is great for kitchen towels, washcloths, hand towels, and scrubbies. If you want to create a towel, or items like a towel, make sure to use a cotton yarn like Sugar’n Cream. Do not use acrylic as it will fall apart or melt under a high heat.

It works well for wearables, as long as you keep in mind that cotton shrinks during the first wash and when dried on high heat. Summer, spring, and early fall clothing can be created with cotton as it is lightweight and breathable.

What yarns can I substitute for Sugar’n Cream?

Sugar’n Cream has five different variations. The Original Yarn, which is what this review mainly covers, is the most popular version. The other five variants are slightly different from the Original Yarn in price, skein size, and colors, but they all have the same medium worsted weight.

There are the small 120-yard versions of each type, usually priced at $2.99 a skein, and there are Super Size 200-yard skeins of each type, priced at $4.49.

The original Super Size skeins come in 32 different colors. Cotton Cone, priced at $15.99, is the largest Sugar’n Cream skein. It comes in 674-yard cones in 22 shades.

Ombres have 41 shades of variegated yarn. Super Size Ombres have 25 shades. Stripes are $2.99 self-striping yarns that come in 5 different colors and 95-yard skeins.

Scents yarn comes in $2.99 skeins of 95 yards or in $4.49 Super Size 150-yard skeins. There are 4 different scents and colors: Fleur de Lavande, Lavender, Aloe Vera, and Camomile. The soft scent infused in the yarn will fade with washing.

Scrub Off is a yarn with alternating scouring textures and cotton strands built for items like washcloths and dishcloths. Priced at $5.49, it comes in 106-yard skeins with 9 different colors to choose from.

Twists is a variant you will see, but as of this review, it only has one color to choose from. It is just as it is called: neutral cotton yarn twisted together with a colorful shade.

If you would like something other than Sugar’n Cream, Crafter’s Secret Cotton Yarn is an almost exact match. Found at Hobby Lobby, at 120 yards per skein, it is slightly cheaper, priced at $2.29. With 33 different colors from solids to twists to choose from, it’s a great substitution.

If you like to shop online, or are in Europe, LoveCrafts hosts another almost exact match: Paintbox Yarns Recycled Cotton Worsted. It has 170 yards per skein and is a bit pricer, sitting at $5.00 (£3.50) with 10 different colors to choose from.

3 Easy Sugar’n Cream Patterns!

Double Crochet Dishcloth by Desert Blossom Crafts

Sugar’n Cream, being 100% cotton, is great for dishcloths! This super easy and quick dishcloth can be made to fit whatever size you’re looking for, with or without the cute border. There is also a video tutorial you can follow to help you through completing three different sizes from a towel to a scrubby!

Simple Flower Coasters by Oombawka Design (Danyel Pink)

These flowers are a simple and easy pattern that works up in under 30 minutes. These flowers, especially the petals, may seem complicated, but this pattern includes a detailed step-by-step YouTube tutorial if you get stuck and need help.

You can create the center part one color, then tie off and switch the petals to a different color. Be creative!

Nesting Baskets by Yarnspirations

These baskets are worked with two strands of yarn together to create a sturdier basket. There are three sizes: small, medium, and large. You can choose to make all three or just one of the sizes.

If you decide to use one thread, it may not end up as sturdy, but you won’t need to worry about it collapsing in on itself. It is a sturdy yarn in general, so it will work just fine with one thread.

Commonly Asked Questions

Where is Lily Sugar’n Cream made?

Lily Sugar’n Cream yarn is made from 100% USA-grown cotton that is spun and dyed in Canada.

How do you soften Sugar’n Cream yarn?

Here are three different ways to soften any cotton yarn:

The first way is putting it in a mesh bag and washing it with fabric softener. This is great for both finished items and unworked skeins.

If softening an unworked skein, remove all labels and loosen the skein up a little bit. Make sure to wash it with like-colors to prevent bleeding. Put it into a mesh bag, add to your laundry load, and wash it with fabric softening. Dry with low heat.

The second way is giving it a conditioner bath. You can do this with hair conditioner or fabric softener. This is best for completed items.

In a bucket or bowl big enough for your item, fill it with warm water. Let the yarn sit until fully soaked, about 3-4 minutes. Once fully soaked through, add a few drops of conditioner. Work it gently into the item, and let it sit for another thirty minutes.

After sitting in the water, rinse it with cool water and gently squeeze the excess water out. Wringing or twisting the item might damage the stitching. Leave it out to dry or dry it with a hair dryer.

The third way involves steaming the yarn. This is best with unworked skeins.

Just as you would prepare to steam food, take a pot and fill it with water. Bring it to a boil, place a metal strainer with the yarn inside of it over the boiling water.

Cover it with a lid and lower the heat. The goal is to keep the yarn moist but not wet. Once the yarn is damp, but not soaked, remove it and let dry.

If you don’t happen to have a steaming pot, you can run a long, hot shower and drape the yarn in the bathroom.

Does Sugar’n Cream yarn shrink?

Typically, cotton shrinks a bit after the first wash and heat dry and remains the same size afterwards. Cotton will continuously shrink when exposed to high heat. Since Sugar’n Cream is a 100% cotton yarn, it will shrink if always dried on a high heat.

If you don’t want to risk too much shrinking, it is best to wash cotton items with cold water then hang to dry.

What is the best stitch for cotton yarn?

Since Sugar’n Cream is a crisp cotton yarn, it is great for showing off different stitches and designs. Textured stitches will hold their shapes with this sturdy yarn and prevent stretching.

Post stitches are a great stitch to work with, as it locks around previously made stitches to hold it into place.

Is Sugar’n Cream yarn good for blankets?

While I personally would not recommend Sugar’n Cream for blankets, many people have created amazing afghans and baby blankets with this yarn. Here is just one example pattern by Yarnspirations.

As a worsted weight cotton yarn, it is incredibly versatile. It allows for lightweight, breathable items, which is perfect for throws and other blankets during spring and fall months without the risk of overheating.