AN OVERLOOKED CROCHET THREAD

I love cotton carpet warp. Never heard of it? Well, you wouldn’t be the only crocheter whose never seen or heard of carpet warp. It comes in fibers other than cotton, but cotton is my favorite. It’s not easy to find unless you have access to a large store for weavers. As the name states, it’s the fiber used by weavers to thread the warp (longitudinal threads) of their loom. But, it’s fantastically useful for crocheters too – especially if you are one who wants to crochet potholders, rugs, or other stuff that you want to be durable and/or heat resistant.

The weight of cotton warp is similar to sport weight, making it very flexible to use. It can be doubled to create a chunky weight to make a hammock, for instance. While I wouldn’t recommend it for creating a sweater, it might work well for toddler pants or adult mittens that will see hard use.

It has a lot of body and holds stitches well. Also, it comes in a wonderful array of colors, making shopping for it a lot of fun. Carpet fiber is inexpensive enough that you can treat yourself to a few cones of it without making a huge investment. So, if you’re tired of the same old size 10 threads from your local big box store, explore the world of carpet warp. Here’s a link to a site that carries all the colors available (as far as I know) in cotton and carries the other fibers available also.

http://www.camillavalleyfarm.com/knit/rugwarp.htm#cotton

I have no connection to the site above and I’ve never bought anything from them, but I do like the picture of all the cotton warp colors available. I’m fortunate to have a local source for this stuff (the weaving dept).