Cotton/Cria Blends

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It was not my intention to make 2 pairs of slivers that look & feel the same until you work them up, it just happened that way. So here is the way to tell them apart--I've used the Slate Cotton/Cria 80/20 blend and the Charcoal 100% cotton to illustrate.

The cloth I wove alternates the Slate and the Charcoal in the weft. A 20% blend of wool with cotton is supposed to behave like cotton and not felt when you agitate it in hot water. I did that to the piece shown, and true to the theory, you can't tell which is cotton and which has cria. Until you brush it, in which case you get the blankie effect and you just can't seem to unleash it. The 100% cotton does give a flannel, but it's not as yummy as the cria blend.

The tip of the sliver	Clamp the tip and pull the sliver away to leave a "beard" showing the length of the fibers	Result: Cotton/cria beard. Note the longer cria fibers.
Compare the Cotton/Cria on the left to the 100% cotton on the right.	You can see the longer cria fibers at the selvage.