I had a great time with last year’s Tosh Shawl Club yarn subscription from Jimmy Beans, but decided to try something new this year rather than renewing.

This is https://www.yarnindulgences.club/. My first shipment finally arrived on February 21. (It shipped on Feb 11, I subscribed January 1st.)

When it arrived, my first thought upon seeing the plain white envelope it came in was “wow, that’s flat!”

Opening it up showed what I expected from the form factor: vacuum sealed yarn. How clever! I figure that’s how they can afford to send me posh yarn from Ontario for only $10. Shipping cost $1.80! I don’t know why January’s came near the end of February — I’m guessing it’s when it was dyed as opposed to when I get it?

It puffs up perfectly once opened and inside is some really soft hand-dyed cashmere/merino/nylon. I can’t wait to try it out! I’m thinking maybe some stained glass style colourwork in a hat? Maybe wait to see if it goes with next month’s mini? I don’t know but I’m going to pare down my active projects a bit first.

I gather they will rotate bases so I’ll get to try out their other options. This is great, since I sat in their booth at the yarn show we went to in Quebec and suffered such decision paralysis that I wound up not buying anything! Well, it wasn’t just decision paralysis; I also had to limit my shopping so it would fit in my luggage and I’d already fallen in love with some other yarn in another booth, but if I’d made a decision I would have been able to fit a mini!

Still, maybe then I would have been satisfied and not looked them up on the Internet and never subscribed to https://www.yarnindulgences.club/

So, uh, win?

One of the reasons I decided not to do the Tosh Shawl Club again is that I was tired of the single ply Tosh Merino Light, though, so I’m excited that my first package isn’t single ply as well as that it’s super extra squishy and wonderful.

Compare with my last package from Jimmy Beans:

Definitely more flat.

Comparing with the other $10/month subscriptions I’ve tried:

Yarn of the month: 2-3 swatch sized samples (maybe 20 yds each for a total around 40-80 yards?), Swatch patterns, one full sized pattern. Huge variety of yarns many of which I’ve not seen elsewhere.

(The company has changed hands so this has changed a lot since I was a subscriber.)

Jimmy Beans beanie bags: 3-4 swatch-sized samples (so around 60-80 yards total?), small project pattern for actual yarn (knit+crochet options, typically coffee cup cozy sized). Reusable zippered pouch. Small notion (eg, ruler, yarn needle). 5% back every quarter, so the $10/month is sort of $9.50. More familiar yarn brands.

(This one’s changed a lot since I was a subscriber too.)

Jimmy Beans Tosh Shawl Club: 80 yards of Tosh Merino Light (single ply, hand dyed, exclusive), year long mystery shawl pattern to go with yarn. Same deal with the cashback. No extras, though their cardboard shipping boxes are solid enough that we’re reusing them for small electronics projects.

(This one’s changed a bit this year, but not as much as the other two)

Yarn Indulgences mini-a-month: 100 yards hand dyed on their different bases, which look pretty nice! No pattern, no regular extras. (They say they might do that occasionally.) $10/month but prepaid subscriptions get a discount, so I got a year’s worth for $110, equivalent to $9.17/box.

Each one has its strengths, but this new one definitely wins for most yarn! This is what i wanted because I’m hoping to spark some creativity with mini skeins and maybe do some pattern creation over the year.