Summer is here, and that means it’s cotton yarn season! With the arrival of a handful of new yarns and the return of some classics, Knit Picks now has more than 12 different cotton yarn families, and each is unique. To help you decide which is right for your next knitting project, we knit swatches in each yarn with a cable, a stockinette section, and a lace section and wrote up what makes each yarn unique.
Animation
Fiber Content: 100% Mercerized Cotton
Weight(s) Available: DK
Care: Machine Wash Gentle Cold / Tumble Dry Low
Best Projects: Toys, decor, accessories
What Makes It Special: Animation is packaged in a curated selection of mini skeins, providing a selection of coordinating colors to use as a palette, like a pack of colored pencils or a paint palette, and it also comes in 50g balls for larger sections of color. Each pack provides a nice selection of colors to use together, but the yarn line as a whole creates a cohesive palette. Animation is 100% mercerized cotton, which means the cotton has been treated to have a smoother surface, allowing it to take in more dye and have a slight sheen. It’s just as sturdy as untreated cotton, but it does absorb less moisture.
Billow
Fiber Content: 100% Pima Cotton
Weight(s) Available: Bulky
Care: Hand Wash Cold / Lay Flat to Dry
Best Projects: Garments, accessories
What Makes It Special: Billow’s thick-and-thin texture is the first thing you’ll notice about it! It adds interest to plain stitch patterns by creating texture of its own, and it also disguises tension issues for newer knitters. Once you have it in your hands, you’ll notice the second thing that makes Billow special. It’s incredibly soft! The thicker portions are loosely spun, which lets you feel the full soft surface of fibers, but it also makes it more delicate when compared to other cotton yarns. Think of it like the cashmere of our cotton yarns and expect some pilling if it’s not treated gently.
Comfy
Fiber Content: 75% Pima Cotton / 25% Acrylic
Weight(s) Available: Fingering, Sport, Worsted, Bulky
Care: Machine Wash Gentle Cold / Tumble Dry Low
Best Projects: Garments, accessories, home goods, kids’ knits, gifts, toys
What Makes It Special: Acrylic adds elasticity to this cotton blend yarn, making Comfy a great choice for almost any project, and it’s particularly nice for garments because it won’t stretch out of shape like a pure cotton might. It’s our work-horse cotton-blend, and like you might expect, it comes in a wide selection of weights and colors, so it’s very easy to find the perfect Comfy for your project.
CotLin
Fiber Content: 70% Tanguis Cotton / 30% Linen
Weight(s) Available: DK
Care: Machine Wash Gentle Cold / Tumble Dry Low
Best Projects: Garments, accessories, washcloths, home goods, kids’ knits, gifts
What Makes It Special: Blending linen with cotton allows for extra vibrant colors without sacrificing absorbency. Garments knit in CotLin are a delight to wear in the summer, and washcloths made with it feel decadent. As linen is repeatedly washed and worn, it only gets softer and softer, so it ages well, and the cotton content helps make it soft from the start!
Dishie
Fiber Content: 100% Cotton
Weight(s) Available: Worsted
Care: Machine Wash Gentle Cold / Tumble Dry Low
Best Projects: Dishcloths, home goods
What Makes It Special: Affordable and sturdy, Dishie is a stash staple! Dishcloths knit with it can handle scrubbing dishes and going through the washing without pilling or fading, and it’s the ultimate yarn for rough-and-tumble projects. Is it the softest cotton? Nah, but it’s one of our strongest cottons! Sometimes strength matters more than softness, and when that’s the case, Dishie is here for you.
Lindy Chain
Fiber Content: 70% Linen, 30% Pima Cotton
Weight(s) Available: Fingering
Care: Hand Wash Cold / Lay Flat to Dry
Best Projects: Garments, accessories, home goods
What Makes It Special: Lindy Chain features a chainette construction. Two fine plies are twisted together and then chained like a crochet chain to create this yarn. This gives it a unique texture and incorporates air to the yarn to create a thicker-feeling yarn without adding more heft to your handknits. Much like CotLin, Lindy Chain will simply soften with wear over time thanks to the linen content.
Memento
Fiber Content: 100% Pima Cotton
Weight(s) Available: DK
Care: Machine Wash Gentle Cold / Tumble Dry Low
Best Projects: Garments, accessories, washcloths, home goods, kids’ knits, gifts, toys
What Makes It Special: Memento is a many-plied yarn, with z-twisted, two-ply strands s-twisted together for a total of 24 plies. This combination of two different twist directions creates distinctive vertical lines within stockinette for added interest, and Memento’s high number of plies makes a very round yarn with great bounce and stitch definition.
Samia
Fiber Content: 80% Cupro, 20% Mulberry Silk
Weight(s) Available: Fingering
Care: Hand Wash Cold / Lay Flat to Dry
Best Projects: Garments, accessories
What Makes It Special: Unlike all of the other cottons featured in this list, Samia is made with Cupro, which is a type of rayon made using cotton waste. It creates a soft, slick yarn that drapes beautifully, is breathable, takes on saturated colors, has a distinctive sheen, and features some elasticity. Blending silk with the cupro adds both strength and decadence to make a truly luxurious summer yarn.
Shine
Fiber Content: 60% Pima Cotton, 40% Modal
Weight(s) Available: Sport, Worsted
Care: Machine Wash Gentle Cold / Tumble Dry Low
Best Projects: Garments, accessories, washcloths, home goods, kids’ knits, gifts, toys
What Makes It Special: Shine features a blend of cotton and Modal, a type of rayon made from beech wood fiber. Modal drapes well, is very soft, provides Shine’s shine, and has some elasticity. Because Shine gets its saturated color and sheen from Modal and the cotton is not mercerized, it retains its ability to absorb moisture, so it can be used to make extra soft washcloths in addition to garments, blankets, and toys.
Simply Cotton
Fiber Content: 100% Organic Cotton
Weight(s) Available: Fingering, Worsted
Care: Machine Wash Gentle Cold / Tumble Dry Low
Best Projects: Garments, accessories, washcloths, home goods, kids’ knits, gifts, toys
What Makes It Special: If you’re looking for 100% organic, natural cotton that’s next-to-skin soft, this is yarn for you! Simply Cotton comes natural and undyed, and because it’s a single fiber instead of a blend, it’s easy to dye at home. It’s a great yarn to play with if you’re hoping to create garments with your hand dyed yarn.
Vividie
Fiber Content: 100% Mercerized Cotton
Weight(s) Available: Worsted
Care: Machine Wash Gentle Cold / Tumble Dry Low
Best Projects: Garments, accessories
What Makes It Special: Vividie is a mercerized cotton created with adult garments and accessories in mind. Mercerized cotton has been treated to have a smoother surface, giving it a distinctive sheen and rich color. The sophisticated color selection makes it easy to create a capsule wardrobe of handknits, and it creates beautiful lace and cables.
Woolen Cotton
Fiber Content: 50% Merino Wool, 50% Pima Cotton
Weight(s) Available: DK
Care: Hand Wash Cold / Lay Flat to Dry
Best Projects: Garments, accessories, home goods
What Makes It Special: Woolen Cotton is perfect to wear year-round thanks to a combination of the best attributes of both wool and cotton. Both fibers used are incredibly soft, and cotton contributes breathability while wool keeps things loft and elastic. It’s not too hot or too cool to wear, allowing garments made from it to be versatile layers.
