Bamboo, the new wonder plant?

I remember in the 90s and 00s it was aloe vera... everything had aloe vera in it... it was the new wonder plant. For me now that we're in the 10s it's bamboo, bamboo is in everything!

People eat it (so do animals), we build with it, we use it for paper, bamboo extracts are used in medicine and now we knit with it!

The sleeve on my yarn tells me that it's a bamboo and cotton mix (all I know is that its super soft!). I've seen bamboo socks for sale, and have even found a retailer that sells nothing but bamboo apparel.

So I've decided to find out a little bit more about this new wonder material.

SOFT
People are surprised by the feel of bamboo, all my softies are silky soft (makes it hard to knit with but worth it in the end). Imagine a strong silk... they feel like that! But Bamboo's soft silky feel comes with other benefits...

CLEAN
It's naturally anti-bacterial (well antimicrobial), preventing skin irritation or allergic reactions naturally.

COOL
Bamboo is cool, no really t's usually 3 degrees cooler than cotton, and removes moisture away from the body quicker than other fibres - leaving you feel cool and refreshed!

PLANET FRIENDLY
Bamboo is a grass, and some species can grow up to 4ft a day when mature! So it's easy to regenerate once it's been cut down for use, a bit like mowing a lawn rather than deforesting a large area!

So bamboo, the new wonder plant and the new yarn of choice for my knitted softies, squishies and mice!