Thanks Ashley for the really great story! And on that note, we'd like to formally announce the winners of the 2013 Beans for Brains Scholarship! Many of you know that we give out 5 scholarships each year-- one each to 4 designated regions of the US and 1 to a local (Reno/Tahoe) student as a way to give back to our own community. Here are the 5 winners of this year's awards:

Western Region: Jessica Harris

Jessica Harris

Jessica is getting her Bachelors at University of Denver in Environmental Studies. She has been an advocate for environmentally friendly anything for as long as she can remember.  Her closet is a combination of anything natural from wool to silk, organic cotton, flax and hemp. In fact, her project that she submitted for the scholarship was a hand beaded hemp and silk charmeuse cocktail dress that she designed, drafted the pattern, and sewed herself. Jessica is a huge DIY'er and loves that the Beans for Brain scholarship exists to support creative students. She told us: "I am so thankful that for the opportunity that [Jimmy Beans Wool] has given to me in order to pursue my dreams. I will continue to work hard and make them proud to have chosen me as a scholarship winner. I am very excited for the future!" Jessica's future goals are certainly worth being excited for too! She plans to apply to law school to become an Environmental and Animal Rights Attorney. Congrats Jessica!


Midwest Region: Madison Stuhlreyer

Madison Stuhlreyer

Madison is majoring in Biology and is Pre-Med at Ohio State University. For her project she sewed a set of mythological themed oversized dolls. She created the patterns for all body pieces, outfits and parts for “My First Medusa and Mercury” dolls herself. Madison is a knitter as well as a sewist. Currently, she is in the honors program at The Ohio State University. In five years, she plans to be in her second year of medical school at either The Ohio State University or the University of Cincinnati. Madison is also recipient of the Ohio STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) scholarship which provides an opportunity for her to share her excitement about the sciences with Columbus-area youth. So cool! Congrats Madison!



Southern Region: Omar Johnson

Omar Johnson

Omar attends Columbia University and is studying negotiation and conflict management. Omar taught himself to knit and crochet as a way to relax while he was deployed overseas with the US Air Force. He's received several medals and is currently ranked as a Captain. His project was a crochet baby blanket that he recently made for his newborn niece. About his chosen career path, Omar writes, "I am currently getting my Masters in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution. I will graduate in May 2014. Once I graduate, I plan to use this degree to become a better officer in the military and a better citizen in my community. This program has taught me the essentials of peacemaking and peace-building, which is vital within our communities and important for me to understand as I seek to serve our country." Way to go Omar! Thank you for your service and being an inspiration in your efforts!


Northeast Region: Cassie Lowell

Cassie Lowell

Cassie is attending Harvard College and is majoring in Bio-engineering. She plans to continue on to graduate school and pursue her ABET certification in engineering. Cassie is an athlete who plays Field Hockey and Swims. In her free time, she loves to sew. For her project she created a "historically accurate" Ariel dress from Disney's The Little Mermaid drafted from her own pattern and complete with hand stitched gold seashell appliques and pearl beading. She really loves historical costuming and most of her projects include some kind of historical element. Of her future goals, Cassie writes, "Solving real world problems in a way that helps people is a dream come true for me. With the right combination of passion, innovation, and collaboration, anything is possible."





Reno/Tahoe: Farah Rashdan

Farah Rashdan

Farah attends the University of Nevada, Reno and is majoring in Human Development and Family Studies. She plans to get her Master's Degree in Social Work. She is actively involved in many on campus organizations and volunteers locally as well. Farah crocheted her project using yarn that was given to her by friends and family. Of her future plans, she writes, "I want to get my Master's in Social Work so that I am able to help those that have gone through human trafficking. I would also like to volunteer abroad in countries like Thailand, which has a massive population with many young females who are affected by human trafficking. I am a firm believer of my life being my 'Magnum Opus;' it will be my greatest work, so I must challenge myself and overcome my own obstacles in my own life.”



So these are the five winners of the 2013 Beans For Brains Scholarship! Congrats to all of you and thank you to everyone who submitted an application! We hope all of you will apply again next year!

I'd also like to take a moment to thank our Sponsors for the Beans For Brains Scholarship! Without them, we wouldn't be able to continue to help crafty college students achieve their life goals! The 2013 Sponsors were:

-Skacel/Addi
-Chicken Boots
-Bar Maids
-Koigu
-Knitter's Pride
-Lorna's Laces
-Red Heart
-Westminster Fibers
-Universal Yarn
-Tahki Stacy Charles
-Alsatian Soaps
-Berroco Yarns
-Classic Elite Yarns
-Knitting Pure and Simple
-Namaste
-Unicorn Books
-Blue Sky Alpacas
-Cascade Yarns
-Lantern Moon
-Yarn Pop-Brown Sheep Yarn Co.
-Plymouth Yarns
-Javori Designs
-Kollage Yarns

For a more information about the Scholarship and a list of past winners, please see the Beans For Brains Scholarship page on our website. 

I hope you all have a great weekend and as always, happy crafting!

Kristen

Today, in our ongoing discussion about fibers and substituting yarns I'm going to talk about cotton.

When I'm helping customers choose just the right yarn I sometimes feel like we don't have many cotton yarns. But while preparing for today's post I listed out all of our 100% cotton yarns. WOW! We do have a lot!  Not counting those that we have on sale, we have 32 - 100% cotton yarns and 51 cotton blends! This was a great exercise for me to freshen my memory of what we've carried for awhile and to learn about the new yarns we just received this season. Because we do have so many, today, I will only be discussing 100% cotton yarns and save the blends for my next post.

As most people already know, cotton is a plant fiber. It's the fluff that surrounds the cotton plant's seeds and helps the plant to disburse the seeds. Cotton is a member same plant family that includes okra, cocoa and hibiscus and is native to the tropical regions around the world. The cotton plant was domesticated independently in both the old world and the new world. According to the archeological record, the use of cotton in textiles goes back at least 7000 years.

Cotton is the most common textile fiber we can find our daily lives. I would say it's probably very difficult to find an environment where there is not at least one cotton item present. Your jeans, bedsheets, towels and under garments are most likely all made from cotton. Jeans, towels and most sheets are made from fabrics of woven cotton or cotton blends. T-shirts, sweatshirts, socks, and many under garments are typically made of knitted cotton or cotton blend fabrics.

Cotton's properties as a fiber are: a comfortable and soft hand (feel), it's absorbent, retains color well, is machine washable or dry cleanable, has a staple length of 1/2 inch to 2 1/2 inches, and drapes well. Like linen, cotton is damaged by acids but is resistant to alkali. Prolonged exposure to sunlight weakens the fibers and it is susceptible to mold, mildew and damage by silverfish. Cotton burns readily and is damaged by prolonged exposure to temperatures over 150 degrees Fahrenheit.

Because cotton fibers are relatively short compared to many other fibers, a lot of twist is needed to make a stable yarn, thread, twine or rope. The typical construction is many very thin plies twisted together in different numbers to create different thicknesses. More plies equal a stronger yarn or thread. Some yarns like Blue Sky Alpaca Worsted Cotton and Tahki Rosa have fewer, thicker plies that give a wonderfully soft feel, great for baby blankets but at a sacrifice of durability when handled as roughly as say a pair of blue jeans. These yarns are also more likely to shed fibers because there is less twist to hold the fibers together.

Mercerization is a treatment  used on cotton and hemp fabrics and threads which gives them more luster, strength, affinity for dye, and resistance to mildew. On the other hand it increases the fabric's affinity for gathering lint. During the mercerization process the fabric or thread is held under tension to keep the fibers from shrinking, then treated with an alkali (lye), neutralized with an acid and finally passed through a gas flame to remove any stray fibers. Hard to believe after all that it's stronger than before, but it is! I love the shine and brilliant colors of mercerized cottons! I love the colors so much that I'm even using them to choose paint colors for a home decorating project I'm planning.



When choosing alternate yarns for patterns, it is possible to sometimes substitute cotton for other fibers but you must consider the yarn structure to make sure it performs similarly to the yarn the garment was originally designed to use. In general, cotton will have more drape and less elasticity than wool, breaths well, absorbs moisture well and will not retain as much heat as protein fibers. Cotton does dry slowly which makes it good for staying cool on hot summer days but not so good for keeping your feet warm in cold weather. Cotton is also unlikely to stimulate allergic reactions for most people.

Some of my very favorite cotton yarns that I recommend often are:

Mercerized, drapey & shiny:

I love these yarns for children's clothes, shells, light cardigans, summery shawls, bags, purses, skirts and dresses. Washcloths made from mercerized cotton will feel a bit more scrubby and hold up better as dishcloths than softer cottons.

• Tahki Cotton Classic and Cotton Classic Lite
• Cascade Ultra Pima and Ultra Pima Fine
• Plymouth Cleo
• Mouzakis Super 10 Cotton
• Classic Elite Yarns Provence

Soft, drapy with a soft sheen:

These are great for children's clothes, soft washcloths, baby items, hats, summer tops & tanks, and scarves.

• Rowan Handknit Cotton
• Blue Sky Alpaca Worsted Cotton
• Classic Elite Mesa
• Be Sweet Bambino & Bambino Taffy

Interesting textures & ribbons:

These are fun for clothes of all sorts - pullovers, dresses, cardigans, tops, tanks, shells, bags, hats, and baby items.

• Tahki Ripple
• Berroco Karma
• Cascade Luna
• Classic Elite Yarn Seedling & Sprout

Great sources for more information about cotton can be found here:

Wikipedia
The Knitter's Book of Yarn by Clara Parkes
Alabama Chanin

And don't forget to check out all of our cotton woven fabric too! They make great liners and coordinates for your yarn projects!

I hope you are finding these discussions about different fibers helpful.  If there is anything I'm not covering or you would like me to discuss in more detail please let me know!  As always you can email your questions about knitting, fibers, crochet, weaving, and spinning to me at askTerry (at) jimmybeanswool (dot) com.

Terry