VS.

Caron Cakes or Sweet Rolls?

Caron Cakes or Sweet Rolls?  The latest yarn craze are these large skeins of self-striping colors with a long band for each color.  They come in a rainbow of colors to choose from, some with high contrast and some ombre in a single color family.  No matter which brand you go with you are sure to find a color scheme to suit any project.  But how do the two stack up against each other in other ways?

The Good

I decided the best way to compare was to create the same scarf using each brand.  It’s a simple pattern you can view HERE!  The color repeats were fairly consistent in both of the first scarfs that I made.  The Caron Cakes has a bit longer run of color than the Sweet Rolls. Both brands seem to have consistent lengths of color.  I really like this because it gives an even, planned look to the project.

Caron Cakes are  quite a bit larger than Sweet Rolls.  You get 383 yds or 200 g in the Caron Cakes and 245 yds or 140 g in the Sweet Rolls.  At retail price this makes the Caron Cakes a slightly better bang for your buck, but not by much.  As Michael’s (Caron Cakes) and JoAnn’s (Sweet Rolls) both have sales and coupons regularly it is rare to have to purchase these at full price.

The Bad

Here’s the part I don’t like.  There seem to be a lot of knots in the yarns.  Mostly at color changes.  I’ll admit the knots are pretty good and so far have held, but if I am going to deal with knots at the color changes I can just choose my own colors and knot them myself.  Then the colors change when I want them to and not in the middle of rows.  While both Sweet Rolls and Caron Cakes changed colors this way the Sweet Rolls did have more knots per roll.

In one of Sweet Rolls I came up with a long section of yarn that was wound so tightly that it was a completely different texture.  It created a funny narrowing in the project.  I had to pull it all out and cut that section of yarn out.  I was quite disappointed and I am hoping that it was just a one-time occurrence, and that I don’t have to worry about it in my remaining Sweet Rolls.  As you can see below, the aqua is much tighter and thinner than the purple yarn that was “normal”.  The next picture is of the entire section I had cut out, it turned out to be quite a lot of that color band.

The Conclusion

Overall, these are some of the most addictive yarns I’ve found in quite a while!  The color combos are awesome and I just keep working until I get to the next color, or the next, or the next.  They are a fun addition to any yarn stash and the new color combinations have such fun names and interesting shades, you’ll want to collect them all.  Make sure you get all that you need to finish your project though.  You never know when one of these colors will be discontinued and become impossible to find!

So to answer the question Caron Cakes or Sweet Rolls I think I have to go with the Caron Cakes as a favorite here.  I hope both brands work out the issues with the color transitions, so that there are not so many knots.  Overall, I think they are a fun product and can be used in many beautiful projects.

So which do you prefer?  Caron Cakes or Sweet Rolls?  Let me know in the comments!  Please share, comment, and don’t forget the free scarf pattern to test these out for yourself!

Bonus Review:

Have you tried the Bernat Blanket Stripes?  These are the fantastic blanket yarn in long bands of self-striping color.  I love the blanket yarns!  However, the two skeins I have used EVERY color change is a knot.

This is one I would probably not use a lot because of these knots.  I can create my own striping if every colors must be knotted anyway.  I think I will stick to the variegated and solids in the Blanket Yarns