I really liked the variety of colours. I didn't realize it was #8 cotton thread, but it didn't really matter. I make Christmas decorations. I love crocheted Christmas decorations. Each ball of yarn will make 2-3 (sometimes more) decorations (depending on what you're doing of course). Last year I bought a lot of round plastic baubles to hang on our Christmas tree because they are unbreakable. I was busy knitting other ornaments. But,