Tag Archives: Red Heart Strata

Love This Spa Mat!

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I love it when beauty, practicality, and comfort all come together in a design. The Home Spa Bath Mat definitely fits this build.

It is created with Red Heart Strata Yarn, which is a pretty interesting yarn in itself…I talk more about it here. However what surprised me the most was how such a simple stitch pattern can create a fabric with such dimension. Not only is it visually appealing, the stitch pattern added a bounciness to the mat, which I love to have under my feet. This combination of the yarn and the stitch makes it a sturdy yet soft mat.

Home Spa Bath Mat Photo courtesy Coats & Clark

This design is easy to make a customize size to fit any room in your home, by simply ensuring that the rows and stitches remain in even or odd stitch counts, if it currently ends odd, then add or subtract to an odd number, and the same is true for even numbers. That is one of the great things about two stitch repeats, they are easily adaptable.

Personally I think that wide banded boarder really sets this design off. This is another simple two stitch repeat that adds a nice contrast to the main fabric while still complimenting it.

It might sound a little funny but this design inspired me. Working it up brought me to a little simpler, and more in depth knowledge of my craft, kind of like an awe ha moment. It may have just been timing or the Zen like nature of the stitches, but this design and yarn, are imprinted in my mind and have created a list of other items I hope to create with this same technique, stitch pattern, and yarn. If only there was enough time in the day to get to everything I want to do. I think that this is a design that you can feel good about too. It really will make a lovely addition to any room in your home.

Knitted Yarn that Allows Crochet Stitches to Shine!

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ScannedImageLooking for something different to crochet with? Want something with a little stretch and great stitch definition? Well Red Heart Strata comes to mind.

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Single and Double Crochet in Red Heart Strata yarn, every part of the stitch is highlighted.

This 76% acrylic, 24% nylon…well for lack of a better term….yarn, can fit the build. Strata is actually a more like a knit fabric, but it is not any cut strips like some T-Shirt yarns, it is a knit tube around a soft fill. This tube filled with fluff, creates a “yarn” that has some body and does not lay flat on itself when used. As the encasing is knit in what appears to be the fashion of an I-cord, there is no seam, no fray edges, just a smooth round pliable material.

The stitch definition with Strata is very impressive. The unique structure of this “yarn” with the soft roundness of the strand allows parts of your stitches to become more visible in a sense, causing a different appearance with even every day stitches. By this I mean that even a fabric of just simple or double crochet will look like there is great texture. It allows every yarn over and every pull through an opportunity to stand out on their own, and almost seem separate from the overall body of the stitch. I think this gives crochet a fun opportunity, as with minimal effort you can get a fabric that has a textured feel.

This is definitely a “yarn” to be worked on large hooks and needles, as even through it feels like a more medium weight, it works up as a bulky. This allows for fast projects, however with the small yardage per ball, just 95yrds/86m, you may require more skeins that first imagined to complete a desired project.

I can easily envision household items with is “yarn”, like towels or trivets, potholders or mats, maybe even a nice bath robe or pool side cover up. With the overall tendency of this “yarn” to seem heavy, and stretch, I would caution garment construction in most cases.

Overall though an interesting “yarn” that can offer a lot to the imagination.