(1 Skein) Lion Brand Yarn Mandala Yarn, Troll

Very nice color. Easy to work with. Good value and soft. Would recommend and re-purchase.

A nice, soft yarn that doesn't split. It is very easy to work with. I am making a few baby blankets for my expected great grandchild. The variations in color work out beautifully.

Worked great for my project. I love to play with colors, was enough to make a cover for a throw pillow and still have some leftovers that I turned into a zipped pouch.

I was fortunate enough to be able to purchase one each of several colors of this yarn when it first came out. I wanted to buy more but apparently it is sold-out everywhere until September/October (it is now June.) Because I only had one skein, I developed a diagonal scarf pattern that, for me, shows the color changes and works for my needs. I will include that pattern in the comments at the end of this review for anyone who might want to try it.I was really happy to find that Lion Brand brought out their color change yarn in acrylic and in a size 3 weight (the other brands are currently all worsted weight 4 and at least one includes wool.) I love the drape of a sports weight 3 for clothing items. That they included 590 yards on the yarn cake is also an outstanding plus.The yarn is spun as a cake rather than a skein. That means that pulling from the center is not advisable. You can find the end and try it but eventually you will hollow out the center and have a floppy cake that cannot hold its shape. You can always ball the yarn (and be able to see and deal with any problems you come across. As I like to pull from the center of skeins and don't like to have a cake or ball spinning around on my lap while I stitch, I found and am using a yarn dispenser. There are a number available but this is the one that I found that I like best (though I had to make a small fix to it which is included in my review.) Yarn Dispenser by Yarn Valet - Non-Slip Base with Built-In Holder for Markers, Pattern and 4" Gauge RulerThe color changes are immediate – it does not slowly blend from one to the other. That would also be a beautiful style yarn and I hope Lion Brand comes out with that, too. Maybe Mandala Gradient? However, on Mandala yarn, the changes are abrupt.Personally, I like that. I have two adult daughters that I love to crochet items for. One doesn't like yellow and the other doesn't like pink. With the generous amount of yarn I get on these cakes and the abrupt changes, I can snip out the color they don't like and rejoin the yarn and continue on. I save the color I snipped out to use for the other daughter (if the colors works) or to use in my amigurumi projects.The yarn has a soft feel but has a good twist and substance considering its weight. I've used two different color skeins thus far and have not run into a knot. I fully expect to do so as even the most expensive hand-dyed yarns I own have knots in them from time to time. What I did find was that one of the yarns (Warlock) is more of a heathered yarn than the other one (Phoenix). As I have found with other heather yarn, sometimes the “heathering” is inconsistent with tiny knobs of it showing up thicker from time to time. I keep my sharp embroidery scissors handy and carefully snip off the excess heather “fuzz” when that happens.I'm looking forward to when this yarn is available in quantities once again. I am planning a variety of projects which will utilize the lovely color changes and hope that Lion Brand will come out with more color choices, including some which remain in a color family. I will add photos of the scarves that I finish as I go along and will update this review if I come across any issues.

While I live this color way and the yarn itself is good overall.. I have a small complaint. The gauge of the yarn narrows in some places within the skein. Very noticeably so, it appears like maybe it was compressed in those places, they aren’t too frequent, and they aren’t too long, but they are there and bother me a bit as it’s not just enough that the crocheter would feel it, but I can see it. Outside of that, I LOVE it! For the project I am using it on I don’t believe it will have a major impact on the outcome, but for other projects it could be more of an issue. I think it’s a fair price, the colors are stunning, overall the yarn weight seems accurate outside the compressed parts, while I wouldn’t refer to it as a “soft” yarn, I do think it has a nice soft feel if loosely stitched. I love that it’s a cake vs a skein or hank, because there’s very little change for tangles and no real need to unravel and rewind the yarn. Very easy pull (probably my favorite thing).

Beautiful yarn. Used it to make a shawl for my mom for Mother’s Day. She loves it.

I got this one brown harvest looking one because I honestly thought it would be a SLOW gradual color change. which is what I needed to create the large leaf patterns Im making to make a shawl.but its not, its a quick change with slight color changes to LOOK LIKE its a gradual color change. but its still drastic.its soft. I usually buy cheap yarn because I can make it work and I like sturdy yarn. this is a little bit soft.yarn is yarn is yarn to me... unless its black or weird yarn lol.so this was good. it is true to its color, at least for me on my screen.

Absolutely lovely color for what I made with it. And I managed to get 2 skeins for about $10 at the time. Which was more than enough to finish the project I made... even if it didn't fit. Though I'm a little disappointed the price went up since I've bought it... maybe it was just on sale or something.Either way, the yarn doesn't split or fray at all, wonderful quality and strong no matter how many times I had to frog it and it got tangled. And it was small enough to where I could just pop it into my bag and take it with me if I had to go somewhere.