Using Specialist yarns in crochet projects

I like to treat these yarns as specialist basically anything that has significant different elements from plain yarn such as:

• Boucle
• Yarn textured with a slub
• With a metallic strip running through the yarn
• Any yarn with sequins added
• Faux Fur
• Recycled T shirt yarn
• Twine
• Mohair

If theory you can use different yarns together as long as they are the same weight, but combining e.g boucle with plain yarn in crochet projects will not only create a completely different look but can affect the tension of your project. Using specialist yarns either on their own or in combination is easier in more flexible projects such as scarves, cushions and throws. Combining and using specialist yarns becomes more difficult if you are making garments when size and tension is crucial. 

Specialist yarns are usually more expensive so it makes sense to use them for the borders and trims on scarves and cushions. This works well with boucle yarns and yarns with slubs. You can also use these yarns as the main motif of a throw and use a plain yarn for joining and this works well in baby blankets. It makes sense that whatever you are making try a sample first

Use textured yarns for stripes in scarves and cushions. You can do this with boucle, faux fur, sequined and metallic yarns.

Metallic yarns can be tricky to work particularly if they have sequins through the yarn, they work beautifully for crochet evening bags as the main yarn or as a trim.

Twine is the ideal yarn for crochet baskets and I love to combine them with recycled T shirt yarns.

Some of my favourites

• Sirdar Crofter
• Sirdar Alpine
• Sirdar Soukie with sequins
• Nutscene have a fantastic selection of jute twine and string, fluorescent to subtle colours and everything in between
• Wool and the Gang have a small but quality selection of recycled t shirt yarns
• Rico Essentials mohair is a lovely combination yarn

Planning a Summer Crochet cushion or Pillow

Summer cushions make lovely crochet projects and I love to crochet them sitting in my garden on warm sunny days. Handmade summer cushions are perfect for garden furniture, garden rooms and conservatories.

Make your summer cushion as simple or as complicated as you like. Even the simplest designs look stunning with the right choice and right combination of colours. Granny squares always make a lovely cushion or simple rows of dc’s (sc) with a few rows of popcorn stitches stitched with pops of colour look gorgeous. It’s often the colours you choose that make a design original to you and make it a stand out piece of work. 

The shape of your cushion also influences design and not every cushion or pillow has to be square. I love bolster cushions and they work really well for garden furniture and garden benches. Round cushions look very pretty and oblong shaped cushions also work well, but one of my favourite cushion styles is square oversized, they have real impact.

When it comes to yarns summer cushions work perfectly in cotton and cotton blend yarns and one of my all time favourites is Scheepjes Cotton fun. You can read a review of this yarn here. It comes in a whole range of beautiful colours from subtle to bright, giving you a fantastic choice for your summer cushion.

When it comes to colour for my summer cushions I love soft cream and whites with pops of colour or very bright throughout with clashing colours such as orange with bright pink, lime with blue. Somehow they look good on garden furniture on warm summer days.

Your summer cushion might be made with motifs or rows of crochet and you can make groups of smaller motifs stitched together to make a larger motif. see an example of this here. The simplest way to make a cushion is to create a rectangle whether this is made up of motifs or stitched row by row. When you have made your rectangle of crochet simple fold over to make an envelope style cushion and if you want to make it even simpler crochet together on the right side with a contrasting yarn.

Summer cushions don’t have to be for your garden furniture they make lovely housewarming gifts and cheery gifts for someone who is not well.

Find comfy crochet cushion patterns here.....