One of the challenges of writing a knitting pattern is that yarn manufacturers are constantly changing their collections - developing new yarns, discontinuing others and creating new colourways in existing yarns. It is impossible to keep up with these changes within the confines of a written pattern and so instead I've decided to write up some posts here on the blog with tips on choosing potential yarns for my little cotton rabbits patterns. The beauty of these notes being in a blog post here is that I can keep it updated as time goes on, so that if you check back in the future this post will hopefully reflect more accurately what yarns are available at that time.
For this post I'm going to focus on the yarns for the cotton 4ply/fingering weight yarns that I use for the clothes, there's already a post written about the yarns used for knitting the animal patterns here
Below I've compiled a list of my current favourite yarns for knitting the clothes in, along with descriptions of what in particular I like or dislike about them. For the most part I recommend 4 ply/fingering weight cotton yarns.
So, why cotton and why 4 ply/fingering weight?
There are a few reasons that the clothing is worked in a lighter weight yarn than that used for the animals.
- Firstly using a thinner yarn and smaller needles means that there are more stitches across a row to play with, meaning that designs can be more intricate and give a finer appearance than would be achieved by knitting the clothing in the same worsted weight yarn as the animals.
- Secondly, I like the contrast between the knitted fabric on the clothing and that of the animals - this is especially accentuated when the animal is worked in a fuzzy mohair blend yarn with the clothing in a smooth cotton. I particularly like using cotton yarn for colourwork patterns (using 2 or more colours) because with cotton yarns the stitch definition is crisp and the patterns look more defined.
Fingering weight (also known as 4ply) is a light weight yarn. Technically speaking it is designated as 'superfine 1' by the yarn standards from the Craft yarn council with 14 wraps per inch (meaning that if you wound it around say the handle of a wooden spoon so that there were no gaps between the strands there would be 14 wraps of yarn in an inch). In practice there is a great deal of variance between different yarns marketed as fingering weight and even different yarns from the same manufacturer vary surprisingly in thickness and knitted tension, let alone those between different manufacturers. FYI Ravelry has a really useful table with yarn weight comparisons.
A note on different cotton finishes:
Cotton yarns come in two different finishes:
1. A soft cotton which retains the natural properties of cotton. It behaves much more like a woollen yarn, with fibres which cause the stitches to bind together, resulting in a softer and more flexible knitted fabric. Many of these are produced from organic cotton (look out for organic certification)
2. Mercerised/mercerized cotton, which is a cotton yarn that has been treated under tension with caustic alkali (sodium hydroxide) and then neutalised in an acid bath in order to impart strength and lustre to the fibres. It tends to be a shiny, rigid yarn which is stiffer and more rope-like than natural cottons as any natural elasticity is removed. When knitted up the stitches stay distinct from eachother because of the lack of soft surface fibres.
Personally I am not a fan of mercerised yarn, it uses toxic chemicals in it's production process and I much prefer the knitted fabric that is created by natural soft and untreated cottons, preferably organically produced ones.
A note on comparing yarns:
Although there are industry standards for yarn weights in practice these are only a guide, and I'm sure that if you knit a lot you'll already have experienced anomalies. For instance Millamia naturally soft cotton that is mentioned below is classed as a 5ply/sportweight yarn and yet I find it thinner than most of the 4ply/fingering weight yarns. One way that I judge whether a yarn is likely to work is to compare the length of yarn per ball. Most of the yarns below come in 50gm balls so by comparing the yarn length per ball you can make an estimation of how thick or thin the yarn strand is (please note this only really works when comparing yarns of the same fibre - it would not work if you compare a cotton yarn with a woollen yarn).
So here's a little comparison of the yarns below, with thickness based on length per 50 gm ball, and listed from thickest strand to thinnest:
Yarn and colours must-have 4ply: 125m
Sheepjes Catona: 126m
DMC Natura Just Cotton: 155m
BCGarn Alba: 160m
Drops Safran: 161m
Krea deluxe: 165m
Millamia naturally soft cotton: 165m
Scheepjes Cotton 8: 170m
Scheepjes Sunkissed: 170m
KPC Gossyp: 180m
My favourite 4ply/fingering weight yarns for Little Cotton rabbit animal patterns:
Note, I've linked to the Ravelry pages for each of these yarns, as that way you'll be able to see projects made from the yarns, what others think of the yarns and also links to local stockists. At the bottom of each yarn description I've also linked to the manufacturers own website (where there is an SSL secure website).
This yarn is my number one choice for knitting dresses and sweaters in. There's an array of beautiful subtle colours: softly muted pinks; warmly spiced mustards and misty chalky blues, along with some more vibrant, zingy shades too. The yarn is 100% organic cotton and ecologically produced with GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certification. It's a soft combed cotton, plied with a loose twist.
50gms: 160m (175 yds).
(unfortunately BC Garn's own website is currently not SSL secure so I'm not linking to it here)
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This soft cotton yarn is a new discovery for me and I've only been using it for a few months, but it's very quickly become a favourite. It's organic cotton, GOTS-certified and produced in Europe (sown, grown and harvested without use of chemical pesticides and artificial fertiliser) and comes in the most amazing array of pastel shades in very subtle tones.
50gms: 165m (180yds)
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This yarn is incredibly good value for money. Soft, S on S plied yarn which holds together well when worked with and it comes in a good usable range of colours. Actually designated 5ply, but is comparable to most of the yarns here designated as 4ply.
50gms; 161m (176 yds)
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A soft plied yarn, very good value and a great range of colours (mostly vibrant and bright shades). A little on the thin side.
50gms; 170m (186 yds)
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Exactly the same as Scheepjes cotton 8 above, expect the sunkissed range is a variegated yarn - nice for extra interest. A soft plied cotton, a little on the thin side
50gms; 170m (186 yds)
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Millamia naturally soft cotton
This yarn seems to be classified as 5ply/sport weight (which is slightly thicker than 4ply) but I've actually found it thinner than most of the other cotton yarns mentioned here (see note above about comparing yarns).
Plied with a tight twist it comes in a rather limited range of mostly pastel colours.
50gms; 165m (180 yds)
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Certified by the Organic Exchange, using cotton from certified organic cotton farms in China.
Soft cotton, plied and a little thinner than all others mentioned here and in a great range of colours
50gms: 180 m, (197 yds)
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A great range of lovely colours but it is a splitty yarn (in that the strands easily separate which can make it slightly hard to work with and result in spilt strands) and it's slippery, so the ball has a frustrating tendancy to unwind and get easily tangled. I find it easiest to knit this with blunt rather than pointed tip needles. All cotton yarn, S on S plied.
50gms; 155m (170 yds)
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Smooth mercerised cotton,
Although this yarn is classed as 4ply/fingering weight (on Love crafts) it's more like 5ply (Ravelry's classification) I find it quite thick, so you might find that it's knitted in this come out a little larger.
This yarn comes in an amazing array of colours. It's also very useful that there are 2 ball sizes as you can collect your favourite shades in the larger 50gm balls and use the small 20gm balls for colour highlights - it's easy to build up a large palette of colours without having to spend a fortune. Good value.
20gms: 25m (27yds)
50gms: 125m (137 yds)
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Scheepjes Catona / Scheepjes Catona Denim
Mercerised cotton yarn in a really great range of colours. It's classified as 4ply but is much more of a sport weight and is one of the thickest yarns mentioned here. I tend to use it for the dungarees and the shorts. It also comes in 10gm, 25gm and 100gm balls.
50gms: 126m (138 yds) / 124m (136yds)
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Other 4ply cotton yarn suggestions:
Plied soft cotton, 181m (198yds)
Certified organic cotton, soft and plied, 155m (170yds)