Fashion Cotton Big

Probably the best thing about running an online yarn shop is testing out new yarn. I feel I have a duty to do so. You can't walk through the doors of The Hookery and squidge, stroke and squeeze yarn for yourself, so I absolutely have to write posts like these. Ah well...

There are a few new yarns in the shop this week, one of which is Fashion Cotton Big. It comes in a nice bright range of colours (with a couple of neutrals for balance) and it's a chunky cotton yarn. As soon as the nice man from Rico showed it to me, I wanted to get cracking with it. Rico have been very clever with this line. You can pretty much pick your colours at random and they'll work. Very clever indeed.

Anyway, the yarn. Chunky 100% cotton, for which you'll need a 7mm hook. It didn't disappoint. Smooth to use and not nearly as 'splitty' as I was expecting. In fact, if you're a beginner, you'd do well to start with a ball of this. I had a few goes at random stitches before settling on 'a thing' to make. Not only is it not very splitty, it holds up very well to being crocheted up and unravelled a few times. 

So what did I make? An old favourite, that's what...

004 Melon

004 Melon + 002 Lime

004 Melon + 002 Lime + 006 Turquoise

004 Melon + 002 Lime + 006 Turquoise + 001 White

This is half of a cushion cover. I have yet to decide whether to make the back  out of more granny squares, one big granny square, or something altogether different. It's a cushion that will live in the conservatory, and probably also see some action in the garden, so I like the tougher, thicker cotton for it. 

And if you think this reminds you of something I've made before, you're right! I didn't notice until I was a few squares in, but I've made virtually the same cushion before... It's not exactly the same pattern, but the colours! How did that happen?

When I'd finished the piece above, it struck me that this could be the perfect yarn for making storage baskets, so I moved down a hook size and set to work.

007 Medium Grey + 002 Lime + 004 Melon

Again, I wasn't disappointed. It's perfect. I'll be hooking up more of these. This one is in the sewing room now, and Sebastian has adopted it.

Apologies for the blurry picture - he wouldn't hold still.

I shall be writing up the pattern for these little baskets soon.