Knitting with cottonCotton doesn't have near the resiliency that wool does; that is, there is no stretch or "give" to the fiber. You may feel like you're struggling with keeping an even tension. That's because the fiber is unforgiving, and a stitch made loosely stays that way. Against all contrary advice from knitting books, I find myself tugging after each stitch in order to tighten it up. I've come to firmly believe in this method and think that the experts who advised to never pull or tug on the yarn must have been knitting with wool.
Having knit probably 100 cotton sweaters, I don't care how tightly you knit the ribbing...after a few wearings, it will start to stretch out. I've tried about every ribbing in the book, and it always stretches. If it's a long, tunic style sweater I've never minded that. However, a sweater that comes to the hips just looks poorly made if the ribbing doesn't stay tight. Elastic thread has been a life saver for these stretched out sweaters and it comes in a rainbow of colors to match about any yarn. Any method where you weave it in and out of the ribbing for about three rows works fine. Beware of pulling too tight on the elastic though or you'll end up with ribbing half the size of the sweater; a slight tug is all that's needed to pull in the ribbing.
Cotton also takes dye very well which is great for bright, vibrant colors. However, it also bleeds profusely. Beware of mixing colors within a sweater. White, cream or yellow will easily pick up the black, blue or green upon washing. Try to stick with colors that are of the same hue and you'll be fine.
Barbara Breiter
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