Tag Archives: tahki

Cotton Classic- a Little Different than “Traditional”

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Some yarns always inspire me, some always tell me what they want to be, others, well maybe not so much. Cotton Classic by Tahki Stacy Charles is one of the former, it can always find a design in my mind.

Cotton Classic is 100& Mercerised Cotton and this sometimes causes people to pause. The term cotton is generally understood, it had a great marketing campaign throughout the 1980’s about how it is a naturally grown product that lets the fabric breath. Cotton also is stronger when wet, has limited stretch, and many think of it shrinking when first washed. This first wash shrinking, is not like felting of wool, this is essentially because cotton, being a short in length fiber, has more “twist” worked into the yarn in order to hold the fibers together (if a strand is long it does not need to be twisted together as much to hold, while something short needs to have more twists to ensure the hold) this puts a lot of tension on the fiber. When the yarn (of cotton shirt) finally gets fully submerged in water it actually allows the fiber to relax, this allows it to release the tension, and this caused the fiber to contract. So cotton will only shrink in the first washing whereas wool will continue to shrink with washings.

Cotton Classic by Tahki www.lindadeancrochet.com

Cotton Classic by Tahki Stacey Charles

The term that confounds many is Mercerised. Mercerised is a process that removes the slight halo effect that can accompany a cotton fiber, this is essentially the tiny ends of the fiber protruding from the yarn. To Mercerise the yarn, or thread is brought over an open flame to burn off the fibers. This creates a yarn that has a nice smooth finish that has great stitch definition. Another side effect of this process is that it does not allow the cotton to absorb water as is normally considered. Thus Mercerised Cotton is not recommended for dish clothes, where regular cotton will work wonderfully.

I find Cotton Classic is wonderful for warm weather projects, dressy scarves, home décor items, a great market bag. I even love it for tank tops and cover ups. This yarn has a wide arrange of colors available, and it shows of lace work stitches and textural stitches fabulously. It comes in small hanks of 1.75oz/50g with 108 yds/100m. It is a light weight and has nice drape on larger hooks.

Consider it for your next summer weather project, and don’t worry about this cotton reminding you of a dish rag.

Welcome the Designs for Fall

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ScannedImageMy secret confession….time has completely gotten away from me. Okay, that is probably not a secret, and I am sure that I am not alone. However in the drought stricken California it has brought fall on a little earlier then expected; I am already harvesting peaches from my little trees, my neighbors are already harvesting grapes to begin the “crush” and create wine, none of this usually ever happens before September, so I am probably thinking it is later in the year then it is.

Autumn Leaves Placemat_CW2015OctI am pulling out the dehydrator and beginning to get my canning supplies together to put up fruit from this early season. My little farm is awaiting new arrivals as I have a broody chicken, a hen that is sitting on eggs, and I should soon be seeing new little chicks. However, even with all this rural lifestyle events I have some fun things happening in crochet.

Since autumn us so prevalent on my mind lately I am happy to share the release one of my latest designs in Crochet World Magazine. The October 2015 issue features my Autumn Leaves Place Mat. This place mat is created in utilizing 5 join as you go motifs, which are shaped to resemble leaves, created in Cotton Classic Lite from Tahki Yarns. I find that I use place mats in my home more then I would have thought; this is mostly due to the fact that I actually picked out and purchased my dining room table, but the wood is a little softer than I realized and is can scratch and mar without much effort. So this place mat is just big enough to fit a plate and silverware while adding a fun and festive feel to my meal table. Even though the design is worked in fall colors, I think a nice gold or orange would be nice, even a striking brown, but I could also reinvent this design for spring and work some up in beautiful shade of green.

Crochet World_Oct2015I hope that winter does not delve in to quickly (although I wouldn’t mind some rain), so that I can savor a little of this time of change.