What is Watercolours?
Watercolours is a three-ply pima cotton that is grown and produced in the United States.  Pima cotton is a long staple, extremely strong fiber.  It is mercerized, which makes it even stronger and gives it a characteristic sheen.  Watercolours is not a pearl cotton.  Pearl refers to the twist of yarn, not the type of fiber.

The three strands are twisted together, but are divisible.  They should be separated even if working with multiple plies so that you can control the smoothness of your stitching.  Watercolours has the same versatility as Persian wool and can be used for all forms of needlework including needlepoint, cross-stitch, tatting, hardanger, darning patterns, knitting, crochet and crewel.

What is Wildflowers?
Wildflowers is a single-strand cotton.  It is grown in the United States and is dyed in all the same colors as Watercolours.  It is between a #8 and #12 pearl cotton in weight, roughly the same as a flower thread.  While Watercolours looks similar to a pearl cotton and has a silky sheen, Wildflowers looks more like a fine wool and has a matte look when stitched.  It can be used successfully on a wide rate of fabrics and canvases.

Even though the same dye formulas are used on both Watercolours and Wildflowers, the two cottons vary enough that the same color on both threads may not look exactly alike.  Interesting effects can be achieved by using both threads in the same piece in the same color.  Hardanger embroidery lends itself particularly well to the use of both threads.

What is Waterlilies?
Waterlilies is a twelve-ply silk.  The silk comes from China, but is processed in Italy and dyed by Caron in the United States.  Its counterpart in solid colors is called Soie Cristale and is imported from Italy.  These solid colors are all available from the Caron Collection.  Waterlilies comes in 70 colors most of which correspond to colors in the Watercolours and Wildflowers lines. Waterlilies are generally softer and more muted than the cotton threads.  The strands are divisible and handle well, making it a perfect choice for embroidery on very fine fabrics as well as on more standard sizes of canvas and fabrics.

What is Impressions?
Impressions consists of 50% wool and 50% silk.  Like Wildflowers, it is a single strand thread, but is slightly thicker than Wildflowers.  It is exceptionally soft and smooth, but extremely strong - a very soothing fiber to stitch.  It is available in both solid and hand-dyed colors.  The solid colors are dyed in Italy and correspond to Soie Cristale colors.  Caron dyes the variegated colors, and they coordinate with Watercolors, Wildflowers, and Waterlilies.  Because of the different properties of wool and silk, even solid colors will give a slightly feathered appearance when stitched, adding depth and texture to your needlework without changing threads.

Mix and Match
For a subtle, but very exciting look, mix and match these four exciting fibers by Caron.  For instance, if you are working on a ground fabric that requires two-plies of thread in the needle, use two-plies from the same cut, then two-plies from the two different cuts, reversed strands, etc.  The mixed and reversed plies will have a more tweedy appearance, but if the matched and unmatched strands are used in balance throughout, the whole piece will look homogeneous.  Unless you wish to create a specific effect, avoid using all matched strands for one part of your work and then suddenly switch to all mixed strands.