I recently received a skein of yarn from Prism Yarns called Tencel Tape. Tencel is the more eco-friendly cousin to Rayon. It’s made from cellulose, in this case wood pulp, like rayon, but the chemical processing is a “closed circut” meaning they clean and reuse all the chemicals involved instead of dumping them into the environment.
I’ve been intrigued by tencel yarns for some time, but it’s hard to find 100% tencel, and those that are out there are mostly lace weight. (Just our yarns has some lovely laceweight tencel). Prism is a hand-dying company and they are famous for their novelty yarn “Stuff.” I was pleasantly surprised to see this more subdued yarn come out of their dyepots.
The yarn is a knitted construction–tencel thread is machine knit into a tube and subsequently hand-dyed by the folks at Prism Yarns. Like Rayon, Tencel has drape and sheen and softness, this tape construction is a bit on the bulky side. I used a 6mm hook to get an appropriate gauge when crocheting it.
One of the nice things about the yarn is the color saturation. My photos don’t do it justice. The colors are truly beautiful. Prism offers the yarn in 64 variegated colorways and 66 “sandwashed” solids.
When I swatched, I first tried a 5mm hook and the result was way too dense:
I then switched to a 6mm hook and the swatch was much nicer.
It also makes a very pretty solid fabric:
It can be very hard sometimes to crochet with variegated yarns because everything ends up looking like “camouflage.” Tencel Tape seems like it was dyed with crocheters in mind because the short repeats of color mean you don’t end up with splotches and strange color pooling.
I’m enjoying working on this v-stitch swatch that I think I’ll turn it into a little scarf à la Kim’s Model Citizen.
Related posts:
I agree that it’s difficult to crochet with variegated yarns–obviously not physically difficult, but the colors don’t pool like they would if they were knit. They often turn muddy. Similarly, we crocheters don’t always benefit from self-striping yarns since crochet stitches require a bit more yarn than knitted ones, and the series of loops on top of loops shortens the stripe lengths and can stack oddly.
The Tencel Tape, however, looks like little puddles of color, but without a huge mess. I think it looks best in the first 6mm shot. The solid swatch seems on the edge of muddy.
My go-to crochet stitch for variegated yarn is usually the granite stitch. The little spikes every other stitch break up the pooling colors. Also, this stitch makes the swatch flatter and not so bunchy. LOVE the tape!
I have always been afraid of tape yarns and this post has left me more secure about how they might look when crocheted.
Thanks so much! It is so nice!
My grandmother used to work on things like these, and I remember how she made me a very beautiful quilted cap.. actually I'm still keeping it with me, reading entries like this one makes me remember good old things..
It very difficult, but it can also worth the lost time by selling it for a high price on the market. Such items usually sell good. If you have the talent please try it and make a buck out of it.
________________________________
Dirty South MixTapes
I'm looking for prism tencel tape in Tapestry. I've looked everywhere! Any suggestions on where I can find it? Thanks!