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Premier Chameleon Yarn Review - JayRae Yarncrafting

By A Mystery Man Writer

Have you ever heard of color-changing yarn? Premier Yarns has launched a new yarn called Chameleon. It is a photochromic yarn that changes color with exposure to UV light or sunshine. Currently, there are six colorways: white to pink, white to pink multi, white to yellow, white to yellow multi, white to purple, and white to purple multi. I purchased white to pink, white to yellow, and white to purple for my review. THE YARN Brand: Premier Yarns Style: Chameleon Colorway: White to Pink, White to Yellow, and White to Purple Weight: 3 Lightweight Content: 100% cotton Amount: 229 yds/3.5 oz First thoughts: this yarn is very soft. Indoors, all six colorways appear pure white. The yarn has a slightly sweet, detergent like scent. It works up easily on the hook. I decided to make the Squares Bag from Ravelry. Here you can see what it looks like indoors: And here is what it looks like outside in full sun: Wow, that’s a significant color change! The yellow is very bright and vibrant. The pink is soft and pretty. My only disappointment is that the purple is a very pale lavender and not as bold as I was hoping for. Crocheting with this yarn was a challenge because indoors, where I was working, all three yarns look white. I had to tie bits of yarns to each square to make sure I knew which colors were which. I think it turned out beautiful. The only complaint I have is that the color fades instantly in the shade or indoors. It really does require direct UV light to change. This yarn would be great for garments and accessories worn at the beach or to a park- anywhere there is full sun. Let’s talk more about the scent of the yarn. I found it to be noticeable but not strong. It smells clean. However, people sensitive to any kind of soap or detergent type scents would likely find it off-putting. Premier addresses the scent on their website: the yarn was washed in scented soap to offset any scent from the UV-activated dye. They say that they have changed their process and to contact their customer service if the scent is a problem. As an experiment, I created two squares to see how the yarn tolerated being washed. We used unscented detergent and an unscented dryer sheet. The left square is the control- it has not been washed. The right square is the test. Unfortunately the scent is still noticeable. There was no loss of the color-changing properties, however. Final thoughts: It’s fun, it’s soft, and it’s machine washable. My only complaint is the limited colorways available. I would have loved to have orange or blue. I would recommend this yarn to people who plan to use whatever they knit or crochet outside. This yarn would be perfect for beach cover-ups or perhaps a shirt or top made to wear at a park or on some other outing. It would be fun to see the item be perfectly white inside and then change to bright colors when worn or taken outside. As for the scent, if you buy this yarn and the odor bothers you, I would contact Premier as they suggest. VERDICT: I recommend this yarn!