Mesh Yarns: Who's Who

So after my initial foray into the realm of mesh yarns, I returned to Michael's with my mom and sister so they could choose colors for more ruffle scarves. And I have now knit with three brands of mesh yarn. There's Red Heart Sashay, Patons Pirouette, and Premier Starbella Flash. How are they different? Let's see...

Length: A skein of Sashay is 30 yards long, Starbella 33, and Pirouette 17. However, since the holes of Pirouette are wider, you can cast on five stitches for a scarf. Five stitches of Pirouette is about the same length as six of Sashay or eight of Starbella.

Mesh: As I've already noted, Pirouette holes are wider, so with the every-two-big-space rule, the spacing between each row is also wider. This makes the ruffles less dense--each starts where the previous one ends, unlike Sashay, where the ruffles are more "stacked." Also, Sashay's mesh is made of thinner string than Pirouette and Starbella, so while Sashay is knit with the top two strands, I feel comfortable knitting Pirouette and Starbella with only the top strand. Starbella's holes are wide enough to use one hole per stitch.

Price: At Michael's, Sashay is $4.99 a skein, Pirouette $5.99, and Starbella $6.99 (which is why I originally chose Sashay ;) ). But each brand offers many different colors and textures--Pirouette's edge, for example, is cotton-ball soft, while Starbella and Sashay have a metallic edge.