I made two projects this month in cotton yarn to do a reality check. Since I have arthritis I tend to avoid difficult yarns that may cause me pain, and several crochet influencers say in their videos that crocheting with cotton yarn causes them significant discomfort. I haven't used cotton yarns regularly in years, so I thought I'd test that out. One dishcloth and one dog bowl mat later I can say cotton yarn is okay for me, and didn't cause me any pain.
I should note that everyone has their own preferences and dexterity issues. Cotton yarn isn't stretchy, and it does tend to be a stiffer type of fiber. This is what caused a bit of loopiness in my foundation row chain stitches (and I will have to work on practicing tighter stitches on the next cotton project.) It will never be my favorite yarn, but I'm glad to know I can use it without much problem.
Moral of the story: if you can, always test something for yourself versus blindly believing what others tell you. Sometimes it does not apply to you.
Here is how much of the dog bowl mat I was able to crochet with a single skein of Lily Sugar N' Cream yarn (I believe it was a super size skein.) Fortunately I had 25 grams of the same color in that destash lot I bought, so I was able to add that on and make the mat longer.
The mat was the same pattern as the dishcloth I made, just 48 rows tall and 64 stitches wide. All I had left of the remnant was that little ball there.
I decided to hand wash the cotton projects because I have been burned too many times by fibers that look color safe yet aren't. Sure enough, the variegated blue dog bowl mat shed some dye in the cold water. Remember that if you use Lily cotton yarns!
One final note, both the dishcloth and the mat took two days to line dry after handwashing, so keep that in mind when you choose cotton yarn -- it does not dry fast. :)
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