Brazilian Yarn Style and My Lace Adventure




Have you heard anything about Brazilian yarns? I didn’t know anything about them before I got a fantastic kit of yarns from Circulo. The manufactor contacted me and asked to test their yarns and give my opinion. I was delighted by this proposal and the parcel has finally arrived to Brno. From Brazil!

Crocheted doily in wine and beige colors

I should say I am very conservative in what concerns yarns for my projects and designs. And I usually prefer to choose the same brands I have already tried because I can easily predict the result and I am always satisfied with it. I even used to have the only one hook! I could adjust the gauge for every yarn - from fingering to worsted. But I should also admit I was very intrigued to get the yarns from Brazil. I have never traveled to that part of the world and it was very exciting to see their products and their crochet style.

I mainly work with mix-wool and cotton yarn and I am on my way to design with cotton only. And I was very happy to find many samples of cotton yarn in a parcel from Brazil. I wanted to try all of the yarns at once, but before doing this I needed to order four additional hooks of different sizes. And that was also a new challenge for me as I’ve never worked with small hooks before… Ok, maybe I did… when I was a child. But I don’t remember it anyway.

Circulo yarns catalogue

Before giving you my (subjective) review of cotton line from Circulo here are some facts about this company which can be interesting for you:
  • Circulo Company of Brazil was established in 1938. And by now they have a long history and huge experience in developing and manufacturing yarns.
  • Circulo yarns meet the ISO 9002 Standard, they are safe for making infant's and children's products.
  • They are free from the use of lead, flalats, sulphur and Azo on the the dyeing process.
  • The future of Circulo is formalized in their mission: "To be a reference in fashion and decor and provide solutions that will stimulate creativity and provide satisfaction and beauty." And I can agree with it. Their web-pages look very trendy and fresh. I got a chance to look through their magazines and patterns and I really loved the dresses. Crocheted and modern!
I have been thinking of trying my skill in designing a doily and the yarn Anne from Circulo has finally given me this chance. It’s a fingering 100% Mercerised Soft Cotton yarn and I used 1.75mm hook to create my doily. I mixed beige and the color Marsala which was chosen as the color for the year 2015! What do you think?

Circulo yarn Anne

Fingering yarn Anne by Circulo

My doily turned out to be 55 cm (22 inches) large and I am thinking of writing a pattern down. I would like to use Barroco cotton yarn in natural color to make a rug.

Circulo yarns of Brazil - Barocco line

When I first saw these balls I became wordless for a few minutes. I was just standing and looking at them. I have never seen such big balls of yarn in all my life. And it was also great to know the yarn is pure cotton. I would like to draw your attention that each skein of Circulo yarn is individually wrapped so there is no chance it will be dusted in transit. I guess this is really important when you order yarn in light shades.

There are different lines of Barroco yarns and they also come in different yardages. The biggest balls are 700 g and 791 m. I couldn’t find the definition of weight but I guess it is a worsted yarn as 4-4.5mm hook is recommended. The yarn looks like a firm cord but it is very soft in real life. It is very pleasant and not hard at all to crochet with it. I was afraid my hand would hurt after a while but it didn’t. Just a pleasure! It is formed very well and the stitches look neat. I just can’t wait to try it on a large rug. I know for sure it will look great.

And here are two more examples from Barocco line: Barroco Decore and Barroco Soft. Both are very textured and soft mix cotton yarns. I think they will work great for knitted scarfs and cowls. But if you also check the links you will see how these yarns can be combined with "classical" and what great effects it can bring!

Design yarn Barocco by Circulo (Brazil)

Design yarn by Circulo

Circulo yarns - Barocco soft

The Brazilian trends in home décor are very interesting. For example such table runners are used very often. They are made of flower motifs joined together. The one you see in the picture is made of Duna - Sport 100% Mercerised soft cotton yarn.

Duna yarn by Circulo (Brazil)

Cotton Circulo yarns

But what I liked a lot is yarn Charme. I used it to design my Macaron Pin Cushion (by the way it’s free pattern is exclusively available to all subscribers of my blog). To my great regret this Sport weight cotton yarn is produced in only 10 shades. But on the other hand it can be well combined with cotton yarns of the same weight by other producers.

Crocheted pincushion made with cotton yarn Charme by Circulo

Circulo cotton yarns

And here is the thinnest cotton yarn I got. It’s called Clea. I haven’t tried it yet, because I don’t have an appropriate size of the hook. This is a thread weight yarn similar to #10 count crochet cotton and it comes in three different yardages: 125m (137 yards), 500m (547 yards), 1000m (1094 yards). The scale of shades is very wide and you can choose from solid colors and melange.

Circulo yarns for crochet from Brazil

Circulo yarns from Brazil

I have a few ideas on how to use these yarns. And I've already prepared a small gift for you. I will not reveal the secret but you will see it in my next post. ;-)

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14 comments

  1. Love this post. Looks like you had a great time with your box of goodies!--Rita Z.

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    1. Yeah! It was great to get it. The yarn weights are not the ones I usually use. So it's also a challenge for me. To start designing with both thin and thick yarn.

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  2. I was lucky enough to live in Brazil for a year and that's where I really started to crochet!!! They have so many beautifull and quality yarns... You should see those yarns (cléa and Anne) all together in a display... Absolutly beautifull and impossible to resist! I caame back to Portugal with about 50 different balls of yarn and I am using them REALY slowly as I know it will be hard to get more. Also, they are really cheap! Enjoy your gift. 😊

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    1. I cannot imagine Clea and Anne together :) I think Clea is very thin yarn. I am not used to this weight and I should probably order one more hook to try it! (well, I will soon have all the sizes. And it feels a bit scary... :) But I will try it of course! Thank you!

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    2. Welcome to the club!!! From 0.9 mm to 7 mm I pretty much have all the sizes :D It may look that way but it's not really scary, it is FUN! Test different hook sizes with the same yarn and you are going to see different results.

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  3. Happy to see my beloved Duna sailing other seas! I knit a lot with Duna, it gives wonderful sweaters. I'm a big fan of Anne as well....Clea is a very popular yarn used for crocheted dresses here in Brazil, it't amazing how fast the crochet ladies can do wonders with Clea. Circulo has a vast collection of patterns with Clea and Anne in their website.
    Enjoy your present!!!!!

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  4. Another Brazilian here: I love Circulo cotton yarns. Clea and Anne are my favourites. Ah, two strands of Clea = 1 strand of Anne, so mixing and matching them give you a lot of possibilities.

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  5. I the doily, as I do all your designs. :)

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  6. Hi, I Very much interested to purchase some BarroCo cotton yarn but don't know where to bay them. Please help! Maybe u can tell me where to buy them I have looked ecrywhare. I am from New Zealand and they do not have a store or agents here. Thank U very much if u can help me findwhere to bay them.

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  7. Hi Tara! Unfortunately I don't sell any yarns myself and to be honest I don't know where to find Barocco in New Zealand. I think the best will be to contact Circulo directly and ask them about the purchase possibilities. http://www.circulo.com.br/en/contact

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  8. Hi there! I lived in Brasil for a while and recently learned how to crochet. Some of the tutorials I watch on YouTube are in portuguese. Id like to recreate some of them but I am hesitant because of the size threads we have vs what they have. Do you have a comparison chart by any chance?

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  9. I was surprised when I saw your "Barroco review". Circulo is really trying to go worldwide!!! Yes, we have MANY cotton yarns in Brazil. Anne and Clea are the most used ones but there are other companies that produce similar yarn here. Clea is wonderful for summer clothes, specially for children and babies. And for Barbie/Dolls clothes!
    Even though Circulo says you should use 1.25 hooks for Clea and 1.75 for Anne I like to use bigger hooks than the recommended size for all yarns we have here in Brazil when I don't want the work to be stiff, specially making clothes, it makes them softer. Specially when working with wool yarns here the recommended sizes make pieces too stiff.

    For Anne I have used 2.00/2.5 hooks, for Clea 1.75. Try hooks between them and see which one you like better. I don't remember the recommended size for Barroco but you can probably go up to 1.0 or even 1.5/2.00 mm more than the recommended hook. Barroco has different thickness so it depends which one you have.

    If you need any help or advice about Circulo threads/yarns you can contact me, I will help if I can.

    Circulo yarns are very good but they have a BIG problem: If you start to use them soon you are gonna find a knot, sometimes even more than one in a ball, and I HATE when I find one.

    Barroco is wonderful for Bags. Anne is too if you work with 2 threads for bags like your peacock bag or one for purses/small bags.

    And I would love to find a comparison chart for Brazilian Yarns/Threads! For us here it is hard to follow patterns without measurements.

    About the weight of yarn: If you check the label you are going to find a number called TEX, that's how they say in Brazil how thick the yarn is. And TEX means how much in grams 1000 m of the yarn weights. Does it help? I hope so.

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