virtual yarntasting: stylecraft bellissima

Stylecraft Bellissima
 
Following the success of the baby yarn Bambino, Stylecraft extended this yarn into the adult market with Bellissima DK and Bellissima Chunky.  The yarn is spun to mimic merino wool giving it a very round profile and plenty of bounce.  It has great stitch definition making it quite easy to work with but like all yarns with good stitch definition, isn’t forgiving of mistakes! 
  
Bellissima comes in a great range of colours as you would expect of a Stylecraft yarn and as it is 100% acrylic it has plenty of metres per 100g so goes a long way.  It is easy to knit and crochet with although some crafters may find the spin unwinds as they work – Ruth doesn’t have any problems with it while Jenny finds it fine to knit with but her (poor) crochet technique causes it to unravel.   For those of you who have seen the Honeycomb Blankets which we showed at Wonderwool in 2019, you will recognise the yarn -- you can find the kits here.
 
Like other acrylics, Bellissima is easy to care for as it can be machine washed.  Care needs to be taken though as if too much heat is applied it loses structural integrity and the project may grow and lose its bounce. Like any other acrylic, Bellissima originates from petrochemicals which may contribute to environmental changes. As a synthetic, it cannot resist heat and will melt and then burn if exposed to a naked flame.
 
Technical details: 
100% premium acrylic sold in 100g balls.
DK has 268m/ball and chunky has 156m/ball
Knits to standard DK and chunky tensions
Can be machine washed on 30 degrees, tumble dried on cool and can be dry cleaned.
 
Recommended For
Bellissima is a great all-round yarn for both knit and crochet and has good pattern support from Stylecraft.
​
Our opinion:
This is a good quality acrylic which mimics the appearance of merino yarn giving a high end look to a very affordable yarn.
 
Itch Rating: 
(0= not itchy at all 'I could wear this next to my skin' and 5  =very itchy 'I can't wear this'
Ruth's rating: 0
Jenny's rating: 0
 
Bottom line:
This is a quality acrylic yarn with a good colour palette. It feels soft when knitted up and is accessible to most budgets.

​Cons:
Petrochemical origin
Slow to biodegrade
Structure destroyed by heat
Medium stretch
 
Pros:
Good quality fibres
Good value
Smooth and easy to work with
Versatile
Good  colour range
Easy to care for

---