Sunday, July 29, 2012

Fiber Mixology

I enjoy mixing fibers.  No, not in a Noro spins thirty thousand things (well, usually three or four) into one yarn way of mixing.  I enjoy mixing in the way that uses totally different yarns in one fabric.  Toss in playing with gauge and you either win or loose.

This mixology project is looking like a winner.  Both yarns are lace weight.  There is a color theme between them.   That is where the commonality ends.

This mix is Habu Linen and Just Our Yarn Aziza.  Pure linen next to pure Tencel®.  You might know that linen is made from the fibers of the flax plant.   Tencel® is the registered trade name for Lyocell, which is a biodegradable fabric made from wood pulp cellulose. 

A quick feel of the two yarns tells you that they should be totally different.  The linen is stiff and when it comes off the needles it looks wonky.  I always feel like a failure when the last stitch is bound off.  The Tencel® is soft and has a beautiful drape immediately.  What I'm thinking - hoping and praying - is that the linen's ability to touch water and develop drape and softness will ultimately match it quite closely to the other pulp based yarn. 

There are hours and hours of Olympics to watch in these next days and that provides hours and hours of time to make miles and miles of garter stitch.  Results, whether good or bad, to follow!


1 comment:

  1. Ooohh...those yarns look beautiful together. I'm with you on the mixology of yarns thing...I love to do that too. I haven't done it in a while. Maybe it's time for another yarn cocktail! ;-) Thanks for the lesson on Tencel. I had no idea what it was made of and hadn't taken the time to check into it. That's interesting. Can't wait to see your yarn cocktail project and read how it all works out. Cheers! :-)

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