A little background. I've been carrying Carrie's Creation Threads in cotton for a year or more, ever since Tracy Horner of Ink Circles started using them in her patterns. The colors are so rich, and the price is so right: $1 for an 8-yard skein of overdyed DMC floss. I got just the threads for both colorways of Tracy's "I Still Do" and then decided I needed them all. They are wonderful to work with, but as with all overdyes these days, they vary from dye lot to dye lot. Whatever. I've come to terms with this and always encourage people to get perhaps one more skein than they think they'll need to be sure they don't run out and can't match the dye lot. I don't mind exchanging an unused skein occasionally. Not that anyone has ever returned an unused skein of Carrie's floss.
In February, Carrie introduced her 6-strand silk floss. At $2 for an 8-yard skein. OMG! She had a prerelease batch of Epiphany available to work the Ink Circles "Cirque des Carreaux." So I got it, to see what it was like. The color was gorgeous, just as rich as the cotton version, and not much different colorwise. You never know with silk vs. cotton how close the match will be. I sold a few patterns kitted up with the Carrie's and Lakeside Linens Vintage Tarnished Silver and waited for the reviews. Well, of course no one has started the piece yet. It's in their queue, and we know what can happen with that.
Jump to March. I decided to go ahead and get the newest colors of the cottons along with their corresponding silks, so I could do my comparison. Carrie asked if I wanted a skein to try out, so I could actually talk intelligently about it with my stitchers. What a concept! So I set about finding a pattern that would only need one skein of floss to complete. I found just the pattern, Tracy's "Pot Luck." One small problem. It calls for two skeins. Eh. So I decided to do it over one. It would be a good test of how well a single strand of the silk would cover on a 32-count Belfast.
You be the judge.
I think it's pretty good, and those who have seen it in real life agree.
I was dubious at the outset. Would I really enjoy working with this thread? I have to admit that I was afraid it would be like another inexpensive silk available online, Vikki Clayton's, which are pretty but which I didn't particularly enjoy working with. Carrie's has been a joy so far. (I know, I haven't gotten all that much done, and I've been working on this for a couple or three weeks. Shut up! Just because I own a shop, it doesn't mean I have any time to stitch.) My biggest fear was a knotting and static problem. The static is a slight problem with the full skein, but when I'm stitching and working with the individual strands, it's not. Go figure. (When I touched the first batch, one skein instantly flew apart in a fabulous display. Perhaps it was just having a bad day.) Knotting has not been an issue either. I'm sold.
I'm really excited that the color difference between the cottons and the silks seems minimal, based on the eight or so colors I got in. There are one or two where the intensity varies, but I think it's safe to make the color selection from the cottons I have in the shop and order the corresponding silks. This will be my approach as I gradually increase the inventory. (Gradually increasing it gives me time to find someplace to display it in my small shop, a very big problem right now.)
What do you think?
A skein of the cotton is on top of the silk in this picture. These are the remaining silks, btw. I've already sold out a few of the colors that came in.
I still have yet to hear from anyone about how they like working with it.
In case you're wondering, this is what "Pot Luck" looks like:
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment