We Love Rico Wool & Yarn

Over the last few months we have been working hard on our website.  The over all design has not changed much but we have been working on increasing our range including Steampunk Fabrics and Christmas Fabrics. We've also been changing how our wool and yarn is displayed in our virtual shop. Before each style of yarn was  categorized by manufacturer. However many people found having to go in and out of all the categories frustrating. Now all of the categories of yarn are on one page.

Knitting and crocheting  by hand is a fantastic way to spend the evening. You can chat, listen to the radio or audio books, watch TV and still have an amazing garment when you finish.
Many interesting effects can be achieved with Rico yarns and wools. So here's a rough guide to help you experiment over the cold Autumn  and Winter months as you knit on the sofa.

 Rico Baby Teddy Aran is a light and fluffy yarn perfect for projects for babies such as hats and fluffy cardigans.

Rico Big Moment is a soft and fluffy yarn. One of these giant balls makes a beautiful warm and soft scarf.

One of the balls would make a fantastic gift as all someone would need is a pair of knitting needles to go with it to complete a full knitting project!




Creative Can Can is an easy to knit scarf yarn. One 200g ball knits a long ruffled scarf.  Can Can yarn comes in solid colours as well as glittery colours and blended colours as well.  Again a fantastic early project or gift for someone keen to get crafting.

Rico Creative Cotton Aran. The crochet and craft yarn! Creative cotton aran is perfect for crocheting and knitting accessories and useful household things. Used to make cute animals and other stuffed toys.

Rico Creative Filz is a very strange but useful yarn. You can knit up a project quickly and then "felt" it by washing it in a machine. . This creates a sturdy fabric suitable for bags, hats and even slippers. You don't have to felt your project however.

Rico Creative Galaxy DK  is a double knit yarn with colour matched sequins attached along it's length  and self-stripping colours. This makes fantastic glimmering  shimmery hats and scarves.








Rico Creative Liesl.  The voluminous yarn with glitter effect. One 200g ball of creative liesl makes one beautiful scarf in brioche stitch. This yarn is especially easy to work with and is therefore perfect for beginners. The thin shiny thread gives the scarf an especially pretty glittery effect.







Rico Creative Loopy Pompon and Rico Creative Loopy Pompon Neon

A loopy yarn that also has small pompoms upon it. This makes a beautiful light weight scarf suitable for Autumn and Spring. I've also seen this worn as club wear when made in Neon!










Rico Creative Pompon Party and Rico Creative Pompon Print.
Pompon yarn can be used in lots of different ways: whether for knitting scarves and accessories or in crafting! When knitted into a scarf the pompoms swish about creating a beautiful sense of movement.
However the yarn can also be knitted to give a tight fabric of bobbles!




Rico Essentials Cotton DK.  A yarn made from 100% mercerised cotton. It is fine, smooth and has good definition. It is available in a wide range of shades all with a lustrous sheen. It knits to a standard double knit and would make an excellent replacement for more expensive cotton yarns.

Rico Essentials Merino is an ultra fine yarn renowned for being very easy to knit with. Suitable for both clothing and accessories.







Rico Fashion Fluffy.
The trendy faux-fur yarn fashion fluffy gets its name from its soft, fluffy feel. It is a yarn in in the trendy faux-fur look available in harmonious pastel tones and in great colour change patterns. One 100g ball makes a scarf.



Rico Fashion Métallisé has a long length and makes a very light knitted garment with a lovely metallic-effect.


And there you have it. A brief guide to our Rico Wools and Yarns. Even the most ardent sewing machine fanatic has to admit the knitting has it's advantages.  Remember the key to learning a new skill is to allow yourself to play. Many fantastic creations begin with simple "messing about".

I can be such a knitwitt at times

I have realized that one important part of our work at Fabric8 has been neglected on this blog. Knitting!. I don't knit, it's a sad fact. I did have a go at making a Tom Baker Doctor Who Scarf, but my girlfriend had to rescue it. I was lamenting this fact to the Manager of the Colchester branch, Tina. She kindly offered to share some of her knowledge and insights into the world of knitting with me. I am going to start  crocheting next week though. So I shall now hand you over to the most knowledgeable, Tina.

What yarn to use.

Many patterns specify a particular yarn. This is to increase that company's sales. However as long as you use the correct weight of yarn the project will turn out as required. Different yarns have different qualities that may determine what the finished look is going to be. 

Acrylic. This is cheap alternative. I personally would only use a basic acrylic for either young children's clothes as it is not advisable to give them someting with a high wool content due to the fibre lose that might
cause choking or for toys. The drawback of acrylic is once it is washed it is unlikely to retain its former state.

Wool/Acrylic mix. The addition of a little bit of wool prevents the stretching often seen in pure acrylic options. The last time I used this was on a new aran jumper for me.

High content wool mixes and pure wools. Debbie Bliss and other companies (mainly upper end of the knitting market) select these type of yarns). If looked after these can be worn as new (or nearly new) for over a decade. One such garment I knitting for my then fiance (now husband) is as new after 18 years. The high wool content allows the garment to retain its original shape after careful washing.

Silk/ Bamboo yarns Silk has this wonderful sheen that is unmistakable. it is lovely to work
with. Examples of Silk yarns currently availavle is called Grace by Designer yarns (it is the Louisa Harding branding) If you don't  like silk then try  Bamboo yarn such as Sirdar's Baby Bamboo or Debbie Bliss Prima ranges. A note of caution, if you are allergic to wool check the band on the Bamboo ranges
for wool content. There is one available without the addition of wool but only available to order.

Cotton/ Mercerized cotton for cool summer garments. Mercerized cotton have a slight sheen to them and a slight elasticity which will help hold the garment's shape. Currently working with this yarn on a cardigan. Yarn is by Rico called essentials cotton DK. this particular yarn is going a long way so more economically
than at first glance (£2.95/ 50g ball)

Chenille this gives a garment a velvety luxurious look to it. It is more difficult to achieve a steady tension so would only recommend for those knitters with a bit of experience.

So there you have it, a basic crash course in Wool, or Yarns. Later this week we will show you one or two useful tools to make knitting easier. With the weather being very bad and the feeling of winter months not being far  away it may be time to take up a hobby you can do whilst chatting or watching TV. The warm fuzzy socks or stylish tops and hats being  a fringe benefit to the joy of creating something while relaxing.