"Soft feather" Nature Cotton yarn

[mahat]

( for hobby craft) 100% cotton.. has anyone heard of this or used it before?

 

Its very soft to touch and it says it can be washed and ironed..

Any suggestions of what I can used this for? I mean substitute this for another yarn in a project?

[magiccrochetfan]

Hi and welcome to the Ville:hook

 

Cotton yarn is good for summer tops, dishcloths or washcloths (a good way to try out different stitch patterns), placemats, purses or totebags.....

 

It is probably easiest to find some patterns you like and then narrow those down to ones that call for similar yarn. A good crochet pattern should tell you the gauge that is required for the pattern. You can make a swatch with your Nature Cotton and see if you can achieve that gauge. if so you should be able to use it successfully in the pattern. to check your gauge, make a swatch about 6" x 6" and measure your stitches in the center. the pattern should give the number of stitches and rows in an area, such as 4" x 4" , or per inch----or centimeters. the pattern will tell you the stitches you should make your swatch in.

 

You can use the wraps per inch method to figure out what category your yarn fits into http://www.woolfestival.com/articles/WPI.htm

 

Does the yarn have a knitting gauge on it? if so you can use that to compare to other yarns to find something with similar gauge. knitting gauge is common on yarn labels, and some labels do include crochet gauge.

 

the yarn weight system is here http://www.craftyarncouncil.com/weight.html this is standard in the US, and will give you a range for each yarn weight.

 

you can look up different weights of yarn in Yarndex http://www.yarndex.com/ or on sites like Yarnmarket http://www.yarnmarket.com/

[mahat]

The links are very informative. Thank you

I have another question and its probably a stupid one.. but bear with me please.

Now I would love to use the cotton yarn for this baby swimsuit I would like to make:

http://www.free-crochet.com/list.html?parent_cat_id=&usage=babychil&criteria=

Its the 8th pattern " Baby sunsuit"

Now I have tested the guage and if I use a 5mm hook with the cotton yarn I can make the size for 3-6 months which is what I want.

So my question is: would it look fine in the end.. since the recommended hooks for this yarn are 2.5-3.5?? Would it be too much of an open design and if yes then would it look bad? I need the experience of ppl on this board to help me out here .

[magiccrochetfan]

in the photo the stitch looks pretty open to me. it's a little fun outfit that is not supposed to be warm or anything, so I think open fabric would be fine. do you think the stitches in your swatch look good?

 

One consideration with baby items that have to be laundered, especially if this is for a gift---can the yarn be laundered in a way that will be convenient? care symbols here (3 pages) http://visual.merriam-webster.com/clothing-articles/clothing/fabric-care-symbols_1.php

[mahat]

It looks fine to me.. very open but since its a sun suit.. it shouldnt matter right? . It says its washable. Thanx for another good link.. I am really glad I found this forum

[magiccrochetfan]

Don't forget to check the drying method also, you don't want to shrink it by putting it in a clothes dryer, or stretch it by hanging to dry, if those aren't the recommended methods