cotton yarn?

MaleKnitter · 02-10-2008, 03:14 AM

I have looked ALL OVER and I cannot seem to find a nice cotton yarn for a cabled sweater I intend to start this month. It seems like every big "quality" company only sells tiny balls of yarn. (50 grams!?!?! I don't like attaching yarn on every other row), but I want to use cotton because you can WASH IT. Acrylic can sometimes be a little difficult to wash. And you have to hand wash wool (or it will felt) and wool is too scratchy to wear very often.
The cotton yarn I am looking for shouldn't be that hard to find, it just needs to have a few characteristics:
1) Sport Weight
2) soft enough to wear ("peaches 'n' cream" is not soft enough)
3) needs good stitch definition (probably with a slight sheen)
4) 100 GRAMS OR MORE PER BALL
5) I want either sky blue or cranberry/maroon

does it sound THAT complicated? the only yarn I have found that even came close was Classic Elite's Provence yarn which comes in 100 gram Hanks but it was over $14 per hank... for that price, it should come in a center-pull ball AND have come cashmere in it.

I really want to get started on this sweater.
Thank you for your help

cristeen · 02-10-2008, 08:18 AM

Lion Brand Organic Cotton is unbelievably soft. But not cheap.

How about superwash wool? It's washable. Or bamboo, soy, corn. Knitpicks has some nice cottons and a cotton/linen blend that is supposed to be very nice, and their prices are really nice, too.

MaleKnitter · 02-10-2008, 08:22 AM

thank you for your suggestions, but Lion Brand Organic Cotton is Worsted weight, Knit picks only sell 50 gram balls and even though superwash wool is machine washable... it is still wool.
if anyone knows of any bamboo, soy, corn, etc. yarns that are as easy to take care of as cotton and are sport weight and come in 100grams or larger please let me know.

cristeen · 02-10-2008, 08:29 AM

You might want to look for a place that sells yarn by the pound off the spool. My LYS does this, I don't know where else you might find it, but I'm sure there's got to be someplace.

And yes, the superwash is still wool, but it is so silky soft, it doesn't feel anything like wool. I want to make a light pullover for myself to wear against my skin, it's so soft.

yuyay · 02-10-2008, 01:21 PM

How about this? I can't vouch for the feel, but it's in 100g skeins and they have several blues...

There are some other sport weight cottons there, but some of them are hand wash (not all cotton is machine washable just like not all wool is handwash). You can also have a look on Webs for other fibers you might like as well like bamboo or soy on this page.

GinnyG · 02-10-2008, 01:32 PM

[quote=yuyay;1060364]How about this? I can't vouch for the feel, but it's in 100g skeins and they have several blues...
/quote]

That is a baby weight yarn.

I have been discouraged by several people from using cotton for a cable sweater, they say it doesn't "fluff" out to fill the holes enough. Rowan has some very nice cottons but I think they only come in 50 gr balls.

knitncook · 02-10-2008, 01:42 PM

What about Knitpicks' Shine Sport. It's 60% cotton 40% modal? Or the CotLin which is 70% cotton and 30% Linen. It's a DK weight, but could probably be used for what you want with the right size needles. Debbie Bliss' Cotton DK is another option. I love her Cotton Cashmere, but it is hard to find now since it is discontinued :( Unfortunately, most of the other cotton yarns I know of are Worsted weight.

lia_matos · 02-10-2008, 01:42 PM

Is this one good?

knitgal · 02-10-2008, 02:16 PM

I am just going to put in another plug for superwash. Cotton for a whole sweater might be a little heavy, it won't keep it's shape, the colours often fade and the cables may not stretch properly.
There are a lot of really really soft wools, like merino that come in superwash.

suzeeq · 02-10-2008, 02:49 PM

Lion's cottonease is a cotton/acrylic blend, worsted, and has about 200 yds per skein. It holds up very well.