Sea Island from Carstarphen

The legendary cotton that produced Queen Victoria’s handkerchiefs, so light they could float in the air like a feather, is available for knitters exclusively through Patternworks. Authentic Sea Island Cotton is the luxurious cashmere of cotton. Its 50% longer staple length and its finer, more uniform texture and greater overall strength make it possible to spin an incredibly fine, lightweight yarn with great strength, silky luster and incredibly soft feel. It’s the perfect yarn for shawls, scarves and baby things. Even knitters who never before liked working with cotton have found this yarn a rare pleasure to knit with because it knits more like wool.

Historically Sea Island Cotton was a highly prized possession of the British textile industry creating luxury shirting fabrics and lace for the aristocracy. It is grown in Barbados from Gossypium Barbadense, better known as “the black seed,” a distinct strain of cotton. It requires a longer growing season than other cottons, with moderate temperature variation and greater rainfall, which limits its production to the Caribbean region. It is best harvested by hand, which further limits its supply.

The temptation by those who are able to access this rarity is to blend it with other cottons to get greater yields and maximize profit by masquerading under the aura of Sea Island Cotton.

Carstarphen is the only international brand that offers certified 100% Sea Island Cotton. The company monitors the fibers from the fields through ginning and spinning using a unique audit process. The alphanumeric certification hologram is your guarantee that the product is pure 100% Sea Island Cotton and not a blend with lesser cotton. “Esse quam videri,” says it all, (“to be rather than to seem!”)

Martin Carstarphen IV has nursed the development of this rare product with loving care. It was his belief that it should be available to knitters who would appreciate its incredible, unduplicated hand. Mr. Carstarphen contacted Patternworks, and together we developed a product that best suited the qualities of Sea Island Cotton and the needs and wants of knitters. The resulting product is a lace-weight yarn, put up on a 1300-yard cone, presented in a clear, reusable box. Each cone is labeled with the certification hologram. One cone, available in natural or white, contains enough Sea Island Cotton yarn to knit a triangular lace shawl.