Saturday 31 August 2013

Yarns Part 1: Cotton

Hello! Happy weekend, everyone. Like you so many of you, I'm a yarn obsessive. I often dream about it, and I know I'm not the only one. So I though I'd blather on a bit about some of my favourite yarns, and offer up some kind of guide on the yarns I use regularly and not-so-regularly. I love working with natural fibres, and like a good range of colours, so I don't often use budget yarns or acrylics.

The first in this new series of posts is on cottons! I know we're coming to the end of summer, so cottons take a back seat....but why should they? They're perfect for crocheting small gifts and homewares with, as well as cool, washable baby blankets, so I think it's always worth having a few cottons in your stash.

Here are my favourites...
1. King Cole Bamboo Cotton DK- this has beautiful drape, gorgeous rich colours and is excellent value for money. It's ideal for blankets as it's very soft and silky to touch. I love this mustard colour and I'm looking forward to getting stuck into a Granny Puff blanket very soon in this beautiful granny shade. Double Knitting weight.

2. Rowan Handknit Cotton- This is nice and thick and of course excellent quality, as you'd expect from Rowan. Use a 4mm or 4.5mm hook to achieve good tension, I used this in my chevron cushion pattern, and love the colours. Good for coasters, cushions etc as the yarn is thick and hard-wearing. Double knitting weight.

3. Annell Cotton 8- This yarn comes in an extraordinary range of colour and is lovely to work with. It doesn't split and is really soft when worked up. I use this for all sort- blankets, coasters and small items too. It's fantastically good value too- you get loads out of the ball for under £2! 4-ply weight.

4. RICO Creative Cotton- This is thick, soft and amazingly cheap. The colours are vibrant and fresh and it's ideal for small makes and amigurumi. Aran weight.


So there we are. A small guide to start off your stash. Next time I'll look at my favourite wool and wool mix yarns, and later acrylics. 

Happy hooking!
xxx

2 comments:

  1. I'm just building up a stash of Rowan All Seasons for a blanket, bit at a time.....it's so expensive! I've been using Drops Paris, fantastic colours it does split a lot but that might just be me! :) x

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  2. Love yarn reviews/tips! I think our taste is quite similar too, I have used 2 of those (Bamboo cotton and Handknit) and I'm planning to try the Rico cotton as soon as I've finished some other projects. My favourite thinner cotton yarn is the Swedish Tilda. It's 50/50 cotton acrylic but so soft and easy to work with. And has a gorgeous colour selection :)

    Looking forward to seeing your wool yarn choices ^^

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