Plant Sales Live on JuliaRedman.com

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Vegan Silk - Yarn Review and Pattern

This is "Vegan Silk", a scarf I recently crocheted with Bernat Bamboo yarn, one of their new "natural blends" line. The high percentage of bamboo fiber makes it a very dense yarn, giving only 63 yards for 2.1oz bulky weight. Compare this to Lion Brand's new yarn, Nature's Choice Organic Cotton, of actually less wraps per inch but 103 yards for 3oz, yielding more yards per oz.


Exact fiber content is 86% Bamboo, 12% Acrylic, 2% Polyester, which sorts out to the structure aspects of the yarn (shown above). So, the bamboo would be that fuzz on the right, with the acrylic on the left and the polyester in the middle. The acrylic serves as the core of the yarn, with the bamboo 'core spun' around it. Then the polyester thread is laid down as a binder and shaper on the outside.

The handling of the yarn is divine. It is very silky smooth in texture, and was easy to crochet. I have not knitted it, but due to the density I doubt that would split much in knitting. However, I'm not sure how well it will wear. In general, this type of construction is soft and nice to work with initially but tends to fuzz out a lot in areas of heavy abrasion. Ever knitted a sweater with Lion Brand's Homespun? Soft and warm, but really really fuzzy where you lean on the counter or carry things against you frequently. Fortunately scarves don't generally get a lot of abrasion.

Additional features of this yarn include a certification by the Forest Stewardship Council (www.fsc.org, cert. no. SW-COC-002192) stating the materials come from "mixed sources [of] ...well-managed forests, controlled sources and recycled wood or fiber." This adds to the appeal of the texture with a bit of 'good for the environment' karma.

The cheapest source I've found for this yarn is AC Moore, where I recently got it on a 25% off sale at $3 per ball. This is good since you'll need 6 balls for the scarf... Most internet sources I've seen are selling it at $5 per ball. If you see something better, please leave a comment!

Now. To the pattern!!


Materials:
3 balls each Bernat Bamboo in Wicker and Linen.
US J/10 (6mm) crochet hook
Gauge ~2.3 dc per inch

1. With wicker, Ch 184 loosely.
2. Dc in 4th chain from hook and each ch across (181sts).
3. Switch to linen. Ch1, turn. Sc in first st, *skip next st, sc in second st, between second and third stitches make bobble (#yo; insert hook, yo and pull up loop# three times, yo and pull through 6 loops, yo and pull through last 2 loops)* repeat between * across to last 2 sts, dc in last st.
4. Ch 1, turn. Repeat row 3.
5. Switch to wicker. Ch 3 (=first dc). Dc across.
6.
Ch 3 (=first dc). Dc across.
7-9. Repeat rows 3-5.
10. Weave in ends and add fringe. I used 16 inch strands to give long fringe.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love the scarf. I am going to try making it. Thanks for the pattern.

Ohiocrochetlady said...

I am making the scarf in a different yarn. I am trying to use up my endless yarn stash. I ran out of one color. So it will be awhile until I get to store for the rest. I will send you a picture when done.

Lea said...

I'm working on my third scarf in this pattern. Thanks for such an easy , super quick pattern! It's simply beautiful :)

Julia said...

Fantastic! Glad you enjoy it!

bek said...

I am a little confused by the instructions in #3. It says to "sc in 1st st, skip next st, sc in 2nd st" .... but if you skip the 2nd st, then how can you sc in the 2nd st? I tried a sample to see what I could get to work, and here's what I tried instead: sc in 1st st, skip 2nd st, sc in 3rd st, then made bobble in 2nd st (the one that was skipped). It looked good, although I'm not sure it's what was intended in the pattern. I'm going to try making the scarf and see what happens.

Julia said...

Bek, In your quote, you are missing the "*". To clarify, you start the row with one sc. Then, you begin the repeats which consist of skip one stitch, then in the next available stitch create a sc, then between that stitch and its neighbor, you make the bobble. Relative to the 'star' or start of the repeat, the sc is made into the second stitch.

So, based on what you wrote, you got the intent for placement of the sc, but I think you placed your bobble differently. Not sure though.

Be that as it may, making your scarf exactly like mine isn't really necessary, as long as you're happy with your results. If you like what you've figured out, then I think you should go for it!

have fun!