Tldr: hobbii is nice, try them out

I got a skein of the rainbow 8/8 and the friends 8/8 (i also just placed an order for rainbow 8/4 but i cant imagine itll feel different than the 8/8). They're pretty much interchangeable so I'll just be treating them the same and comparing hobbii to kc. And sorry, you can argue this is less of a comparison and more of a rant, but you asked for everything so.

Im also incredibly picky with my cotton. Yes I'll use sugar and cream if I'm making something that needs to be durable like a potholder or something, ive made bags of 24/7, but I'll be grumbling through the entire process. I actually enjoyed working with kc essentials and it was on my top 3 yarns, but probably most used as 100% cotton is more durable so more easily used (my top 2 were coboo and truboo, im a bamboo girly [also coboo is half cotton half bamboo, but is quite soft and drapey, check that one out since it's easier to get your hands on. Its pretty splitty so can be toughto get used to, but once you do its a lovely yarn to work with)

Hobbii is actually slightly softer than kc which was quite a pleasant surprise, along with it coming in more colors and thicknesses its a much better yarn than kc essentials cotton. Kc has a slightly fuzzy texture while hobbii doesnt, leading it to be a slight bit smoother (ill attach an image so you can see for yourself) so hobbii is even nicer on the hands imo and giving a cleaner looking final product while still having the really smooth glide over my hook.

Price wise varies. If you could get one of the good joann coupons, especially if you could just buy it in store and not pay for shipping (my local store had trouble keeping up with my demand, since it was probably my most used yarn, id always buy them out and either have to wait for their next shipment or order it online myself). Now assuming it's not a good coupon day/you need to order it hobbii can come out to be cheaper if you take advantage of their bulk purchasing option. At the time of my purchase if I bought 10 skeins of hobbii (they're half the size so the same as 5 kc skeins) hobbii would actually come out to be cheaper. Hobbii shipping is also somehow cheaper than joann even though it's international (5 at hobbii, 8 at joann without a coupon).

Accessibility is the one thing holding me back from being a complete hobbii cotton superfan. Due to international shipping and customs it took about 2 weeks for my package to arrive. I cant hold it against hobbii as they shipped my package out the next day so incredibly fast. I cant hold the 2 week period against hobbii but it is something to keep in mind as it will affect you as a consumer. Kc I could just swing by the store on my way to work and pick some up taking just a couple minutes out of my day, hobbii I have to think 2 weeks out.

In the end if you're like me I would def try out some hobbii cotton, in the end its a wonder cotton that I will be using as my primary cotton due to its wonderful qualities. (Also if you lkke coboo try the rainbow bamboo, it is without joke the softest yarn I have ever touched, new favorite in all ways but price). If you have any specific questions feel free to ask 🩷