I first ran across Habu Textiles at the Quilt Festival in Houston last year. Habu imports Japanese yarns, which are unlike any yarns I have found in the US or England.
Habu will be at booth #1753 in the International Quilt Festival in Rosemont this month. If you’re close, it’s well worth going just to see their booth, and the great bonus is that you will get to see the quilt exhibits, too! My TextileFusion Cherry-Picking Vest is in the Small Wonders exhibit. Yay!
Here’s what I bought to experiment with:
Starting with the red, and moving clockwise:
- Red: 100% linen shosenshi paper with viscose sizing.
- Dark gray: 100% bamboo and oh, so soft and smooth and cool to the touch.
- Beige: 1/10 paper moiré, 50% linen and 50% ny core. I’m guessing ny means nylon. The core is spun very firmly and very thin, and it has tiny strips of linen paper spun into it. Close-up below.
- Light blue: ladder tape yarn, 70% silk and 30% cotton. Close-up below.
- Variegated with black thread wrap: tsumugi silk combination, 100% silk. The yarn feels like it has a rectangular cross section. Close-up below.
- Shiny stuff on the spool: fine silver wire.
- Blue with white flecks: 100% polyester eyelash yarn, and the eyelashes have little white flecks on them. Looks to me like some kind of sea life in miniature. Close-up below.
Read more about Habu Textiles here.