COTTON BASICS

Properties

Cotton's absorbency makes it a good choice for towels.  The ease of laundering is another good reason to choose cotton for towels and household items.  Cotton is not very stretchy and that factor makes it a good choice for warp, especially for beginners.  It is also strong and resists abrasion from the reed and heddles.

Comfortable

Is It Cotton?

If you have a yarn and you are not certain it is cotton you can perform a burn test to determine the content.  Be careful and perform the burn test over a stainless steel sink where you can quickly extinguish the yarn if it burns too quickly.

It is cotton, if:

• it burns with a yellow flame
• it burns easily and has an afterglow
• the smell is like that of burning paper
• the burnt end of the yarn has a puffy, gray ash

Wrap yarn around a flat ruler or yarn gauge ensuring that the yarns lie next to each other (no spaces) without overlapping.  It is best to wrap at least one inch - two is better.  Count the number of yarns per inch.

For a weave that has the same number of warp ends and weft picks (a balanced 50:50 weave) you will need to divide the number of ends per inch in half.

Loose

Lace

Medium

Plain

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