That is the Question!
To Mercerize or Not To Mercerize?
How to Choose Your Cotton
Plant fibers, like cotton, are a favorite fiber in south Texas. It’s been a minute, but you may recall our March 4 newsletter, Cotton, How Do We Love Thee?, where we talked about cotton’s properties. This week, we’re going to build on this by discussing mercerized cotton (aka pearl cotton).
Plain ole cotton (sometimes referred to as non-mercerized cotton) has some great properties, including being absorbent, soft and cool to the touch, and moderately strong and durable. In the way, way back, an English chemist named John Mercer created a process where he applied caustic soda to cotton yarn or fabric under tension. This caused the fibers to swell, which improved strength, dye uptake and luster. It also caused the fiber to be more stable, reducing shrinkage in finished projects. Today, there are variations on Mercer’s process, but the idea remains the same.
On the shelf, you can often identify a mercerized cotton yarn or thread by its sheen and smoothness. Examples of this include Scheepjes Catona, several yarns by Circulo (Amigurumi, Anne, Clea and Whoopee), Caron Watercolours and DMC Pearl Cotton 5. Plain cottons will appear slightly fuzzy, softer and matte. These unmercerized yarns include Appalachian Baby US Organic Cotton, Berroco Pima Soft, Circulo InLove, Queensland Coastal Cotton and Universal Cotton Supreme Waves. Both types of cotton are useful in a variety of projects. Before choosing mercerized or plain cotton, consider things like usage, color, and texture. If you need help choosing between the two, ask one of us!
Want to know more about mercerization? We’ve posted more info & links on our home page!
-Caryn and the Yarnivore Crew
P.S. Join us for Friday Night Cravings, this Friday, August 9!
Upcoming Classes
Click the title to learn more and to register.
Space is limited & sign-ups close a week before class begins, so sign up now! Class fees due at time of registration. You can find all available classes on our Calendar.
Beginning Knitting with Denise! Learn the basics, including about yarn & knitting needle sizes, how to cast on, knit, purl, & bind off. When you've mastered these stitches, you'll be ready to start your first project. Class is two 2-hour sessions.
Come knit with Wendy! This is for knitters of any skill level with any kind of project! Learn with others in a friendly, supportive environment! Each class is one 2-hour session.
My First Socks: Knit Basic Socks from the Cuff Down - Masks Required
Knit basic socks from the cuff down! Learn about the parts of a sock and the skills needed to make a perfectly fitted sock from cuff to toe. Class is three 2-hour sessions.
Sunday, August 11, 25, & September 8, 2pm - 4 seats available
Bring your projects and questions; Suzy will answer your questions and will break down the principles involved so that everyone can learn! Class is one 2-hour session.
Tuesday, August 13, 12 pm - 4 seats available
Beginning Crochet with Moses
Get started crocheting with Moses! You'll learn the four basic crochet stitches (chain, single crochet, half double crochet, double crochet) and the skills to do them well. Class is two 2-hour sessions.
Saturday, September 7 & 14, 1pm - 4 seats available
Queensland's Coastal Cotton Ocean Mist yarn is a delightful addition to our cotton options! Made from 100% cotton, this yarn has a soft and breathable texture, perfect for creating comfortable garments and accessories.
Ocean Mist is a worsted (#4) weight cotton yarn. Each 100-gram pull-skein contains 185 yards. This yarn is machine washable, but we recommend you lay it flat to dry. Yarnivore has 11 colors of Ocean Mist and 35 colors
of Coastal Cotton solids!
11-7 Wednesday-Friday
11-5 Saturday & 12-5 Sunday
Friday Night Cravings (Friday August 9, 5pm) is a great way feed your need for yarn and share your love for the stitching community! Bring any craft you like and sit and stitch with us.
Zorn Junction Trunk Show, Saturday September 28, 11a-4p. This south Texas dyer specializes in boutique batches of unique colors! Come see her before she heads north again!
The Best Little Yarn Crawl in Texas, October 11 - 20, 2024. We'll announce when Passports are available for purchase. Early birds will get a Crawl bag!
Private Lessons
Learn 1x1 or in small groups with your choice of project or technique! One-on-one (one student, one teacher) Personal lessons are $25/hour & group private lessons are $15/person per hour. Visit us in-store or call 210-979-8255 to schedule.
Working with cotton can be frustrating for two reasons. First, its low elasticity feels very different in your hands when compared to wool or synthetic fibers. If you’re new to cotton, you’ll get used to this quickly, but you’ll want to practice your stitching before committing to a fabulous or fancy project. This is because cotton fibers are less forgiving of irregular tension, bringing us to the second concern.
For some crocheters or knitters, this uneven tension will be obvious. If this is true for you, try switching to a hook or needle with more friction. Higher friction means that the hook or needles grip your yarn better, creating more uniform tension. Bamboo (e.g., ChiaoGoo or SeeKnit) has more friction than wood (e.g., Dreamz or Lykke) and wood has more friction than steel (e.g., Addi, ChiaoGoo, Clover Amour or Hiyahiya).
Do you have a tip idea? We're happy to share it, just reply to this newsletter!
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If you have a question for one of our teachers, you can email us at yarnivoresa@gmail.com.