This Christmas, almost all the amigurumi gifts I made I used this yarn. The colours worked perfectly on what I wanted to make.

I got this yarn from Dressew as well, on sale <3 For the longest time I’d admire it, but not buy it as I’m usually after more “bang for my buck expensive wool/cotton/bamboo”. I saw it being acrylic and was “meh, I can get acrylic anywhere”, however the yarn snuck into my shopping basket after a few trips.

Shepherd Aussie Baby DK

is a 55% nylon + 45% acrylic yarn, recommending at a 4mm gauge. My first impression (which lead me to buy it) is HOLY CRAP SOFT feeling! Since it is a DK weight, the amigurumis will be on the smaller side vs worsted, though with DK weight and creating a pattern, one could make a moderate sized amigurumi with more smaller stitches which would look great.

PROS
+ Ultra soft that makes you want to snuggle the yarn all day
+ Great colour selection – nice vibrant colours to pastels that have alot of colour without looking too pukey baby or nuclear. Awesome for amigurumi. I am in love with the peachy skin tone colour they offer
+ 4 ply and very strong thus holding its shape together without being floppy
+ not too fuzzy

The feel of this yarn makes for excellent amigurumis (and I guess for its intended purpose of baby gear) and also the look is very high quality vs other acrylic yarns such as Red Heart super saver.

CONS
– Dense and slightly slippery, thus can be tricky for knots to hold (for adjustable loop or slip stitching the last stitch)
– Hard to determine gauge and a little tricky to get a tight gauge – more on this later

The denseness of the yarn is nice, however I found it being difficult to keep the adjustable ring closed. I can keep it closed if I pull the ring VERY tight, but I get nervous that the yarn will break, thus I suggest pulling before that point, and doing a few knots in the inside to ensure your finished product doesn’t have a hole in the top of its head.

Same goes for your last stitch, a slip stitch, I found it would just not close snug at all and slip out. To work around this, do an extra couple slip stitches and do a knot on the inside.

OTHER OBSERVATIONS
~ Works up similar to cotton, as there is no stretch (probably why I found it hard to get a tight gauge) This might be a pro or a con depending on what you like. I do like this yarn more than cotton because of the softness – much easier on the hands!

Personally, I found it a bit of a negative thing to use yarn without a little stretch as it is hard on my hands as doing a tight gauge creates more pressure while crocheting. I found more difficultly in finding the right hook size for this yarn, 2.5mm being the safest to not create holes inbetween stitches, though I think 3mm could work as well. However, I still had the same struggles with the yarn density with any sized hook.
With that said, and working with a small hook with a tight gauge + lack of yarn stretch, this stuff hurt my hands to crochet with if I was working with it for an extended period of time.

~ Makes great hair! For my Angel, I un-spun strands of Aussie DK and it worked very well! However, strands on their own have no strength, so don’t pull too hard!

THE VERDICT

Shepard Aussie DK is fantastic yarn, with great options for colours and wonderful softness for amigurumis. This yarn will greatly appeal to crocheters who prefer cotton for their amigurumis – it has similar lack of stretch and denseness, but no drying or scratchy texture! I would however, take extra care when using an adjustable ring and testing gauge before starting a project.