Overall
Value

Lily Sugar n’ Cream yarn is a 100% cotton 4 ply worsted weight yarn made in Canada by a company called Spinrite, the same folks who make Bernat and Paton’s yarns.

It’s no surprise then that Lily Sugar n’ Cream seems suspiciously similar to Bernat Handicrafter Cotton. The texture of the yarn is a bit thicker, feels a bit more sturdy and it also is not “shiny” like a mercerized cotton. The variety is identical in colour and name to what is available in BHC with a few exceptions. Namely red, emerald green, a grape type purple and black, which doesn’t exist in BHC outside of the seasonal red (country colours have a little bit of khaki tinge to them) are a staple in the LSC catalog, which makes it all the more irritating the BHC doesn’t come in those colors, because clearly, it could. Sugar n’ Cream doesn’t seem to branch out into seasonal colours as as BHC but as I don’t have access to store that carry it, I can’t speak to weird fluctuations or oddities. LSC is not available anywhere in my area other than at a few overpriced local yarn stores that carry one or two colors, usually ombres or twists for the dishcloth crowds. I am not sure what the deal is with cotton yarn, but everyone seems to want to make dishcloths out of it.

When it comes to quality the yarn is very similar to BHC, works up nicely, great for amigurumi, the lighter bright colours (sunshine) are snaggier but not too bad, finished fabric feels nice and soft and it doesn’t fuzz up a whole lot. You can combine the two without any noticeable difference in the finished piece. I usually work it with a 3.75mm or 3.5mm hook for amigurumi, though the manufacturer recommends a 5mm hook.

I haven’t bothered buying any colors I already had in BHC seeing as LSC is pricier ($2.89 a ball on Mary Maxim, $3.99 a ball at the local yarn store) as I don’t see a big enough difference to want to pay for it. The balls are less sausage shaped and more like little cylinders, looking neater and cuter, and actually the center of the ball is more tightly wound and the yarn is neater when you get to the end of the ball. The solid ball is 2.5oz and I have never even seen a big ball or cone in the wilds so there’s no point in getting into those.

My Lily Sugar n’ Cream Stash

Apparently in the states you can find this brand in Walmarts and JoAnn’s fabrics all over the place, but Canada, not so much, which is weird because even though it is a Canadian company that manufactures it in Canada, it is distributed mainly in the US and not so much in Canada. Makes sense right?

My grievances with Lily Sugar n’ Cream are similar to the issues I have with BHC, too many ombres and stripes, too many bland pastel colors, not enough vibrant colors, primary colors (royal blue folks! can it be any harder to find?), and this bizarre distribution thing and having two yarns that are basically the same packaged and distributed in different ways at different costs, and so as to appear not to come from the same company. Since I have to mail order this stuff, I don’t really bother with it anymore unless I just need a ball or two of a non-BHC color I don’t have, for a project or something.

The images on the Lily website, showing the colors, are as terrible (or in some cases identical… were they even trying to hide that?) as the BHC ones, sort of washed out, faded versions of the actual colour, so if you are purchasing this yarn online, beware!

Best places to buy this yarn are Do It Yarns, an independent online seller who is very reliable, Herrschners (use .ca for Canada) or Mary Maxim (use .ca for Canada).