New Yarn Report - Zpagetti - and New Shop!

Well, July was a complete wash-out for blogging, as that was the Month of The Move... Even with our best efforts to sell down our stock before we shifted, I still had two vanloads of wool (not to mention another seven vanloads of my personal stuff, plus a removalist's truck when I just couldn't face loading up the van any more). Blogging was not a priority!

But now we are in, and we have some new yarn to report on, a very exciting new yarn called Zpagetti. In their own words, Zpagetti is:

"a unique yarn made from the offcuts of new fashion garments. It consists of strips of high quality cotton and is ideal for easy and quick crocheting and knitting".

And what does that mean? It means that Zpagetti is a long ribbon of T-shirt-like material, which can be crocheted (or knitted) with large hooks or needles (12mm or larger).

Gwen (the owner of Zpagetti) kindly gave us a sample cone and hook so that we could test Zpagetti out before committing to stock it. I used the sample to crochet up the free Ventimiglia bag pattern from the Zpagetti web site.

At first, I wasn't convinced - the Zpagetti was crocheting up into quite a stiff fabric and I wasn't sure if the hook was too small. However, once I'd finished the base of the bag, I could see that the firm fabric that I got crocheting Zpagetti on the 12mm hook was exactly what I needed - the bag held its shape well and was tight enough that I wasn't likely to be shedding keys, pens and other stuff through the holes in the crochet!

If you're used to crocheting with wool, you'll find Zpagetti takes getting used to at first - it's not like working with a chunky yarn (which is relatively soft and drapy compared to Zpagetti). However, after a couple of rounds you get the hang of it, and you'll find it's a brilliant yarn for quick gifts and projects. I managed to finish off the bag in a bit over an hour (including two serious ripping out sessions when I realised I'd miscounted the decreases and the handles while straining to hear the announcements at Southern Cross!).

The yarn is supported with a great range of free patterns on the Zpagetti website. Most of the patterns are for accessories and homewares - Zpagetti crochets into a relatively stiff fabric, which is not really suitable for clothing.

Bonus for crocheters - all the free patterns are for crochet! (Although - hint, hint - CCCK may have some free Zpagetti knitting patterns available to give away with Zpagetti purchases in the not too distant future!).

Have a look at their Inspiration page for more details, or come to our introductory Zpagetti workshop on October 16th - the workshop is being run by Gwen, so it's a great opportunity to hear about Zpagetti from the source!