Projects
Cotton Is for Babies—and Knitters
I have been knitting with cotton yarns for a long time. For years, my face flushed bright red whenever I wore wool, even the finest, softest merino. So while I continued to knit wool for other people, all the knits for me were in cotton or linen—mainly cotton.
Don’t feel sorry for me! Those years in the wilderness without wool were not hard because I love wearing cotton knits, and I love knitting with cotton.
But my plant-based knitting lifestyle had one sad little trombone: the limited availability of cotton yarns in the marketplace. I had found a few that I really loved: Rowan Handknit Cotton is my favorite by a country mile. I still love it and knit with it all the time, but I also wish for more variety in cotton yarns.
So last spring, when Ann, Allison, and I bounded onto the H + H Americas trade show floor, I homed in like a laser beam on the beautiful Kinua Yarns booth. Their cottons—oh my! Organically grown, spun, and hand dyed with natural pigments in Peru! I wanted to bury my face in them, but mostly, I wanted to knit them. We took home a blanket’s worth and started scheming immediately.
We already knew the perfect project for Kinua’s gently glowing colors: the Kinua Blanket of Joy Bundle.
The Blanket of Joy is relaxation knitting at its finest. Panels of stockinette and reverse stockinette switch back and forth in an intuitive, undulating rhythm. Neat garter-stitch borders are knitted in as you go. When you bind off, you have a blanket!
Easy can also be exciting. Striping your way through all 12 shades of Kinua Cotton, you can’t wait to get to the next color.
For this year’s MDK Holiday Shop, we’ve put together a kit, the Kinua Blanket of Joy Bundle. It includes a download link for the PDF pattern for the Blanket of Joy, in a new version that was written specifically for this baby-sized blanket in Kinua cotton.
But wait there’s more! A joyful project needs a tidy container, for storage and portable knitting, and for joyful presentation. Every Kinua Blanket of Joy Bundle includes an MDK-exclusive, sturdy muslin tote bag. Think of it as a Bag of Yarn that on its way to becoming a Bag of Blanket.
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This is gorgeous yarn! I don’t need to make a baby blanket for anyone, though, so I sure do hope you’ll eventually offer this as one of your regular yarns, not just in a kit. Some of the colors would be perfect for summer tops!
Do you sell this cotton separately. I would like to try and make my grandson a sweater or vest and if so any kits or patterns with this cotton?
Hi Jan,
We’re starting with this kit, so no open stock at the moment.
We do carry my go-to cotton for kid knits, Rowan Handknit Cotton:
https://www.moderndailyknitting.com/shop/rowan-handknit-cotton/
It’s the GOAT lol!
I would like this yarn separately as well, to make something for myself. I hope you will make it available.
I want to knit this stunning baby blanket!
I use a different pattern for baby blankets and would love to try it in this yarn. I hope you will offer it separately
I love this size for a small throw that’s perfect for naps, so if no baby, no problem!
Cotton: What does the back look like? How do you get your ends to stay put? How do you weave your ends? What instructions do you give the young mother on washing and drying the blanket? Thanks.
Cotton: What does the back look like? —very much like the front, the pattern is virtually reversible, alternating stockinette and reverse stockinette.
How do you get your ends to stay put?—I weave them in and snip the tail to 1/2 inch. When it’s wet-blocked, the tiny tail fluffs a little so it stays in. Been making cotton blankets for, whoa, thirty years or so and this works for me.
How do you weave your ends? —just the regular way, I kind of duplicate stitch them into the purl bumps on the wrong side.
What instructions do you give the young mother on washing and drying the blanket?—It’s machine washable, cold, and I recommend the hand wash or gentle cycle, and machine dryable. If she wants it to stay as nice as possible for as long as possible, air dry flat.
I wish I loved knitting with cotton, but, alas. NO. Never get a good tension resulting in poor consistency and the end result always looks sloppy.
What size is the blanket?
Thanks for asking—I’ll add this info to the product listing. The finished dimensions are 36″ x 56″ (92 cm x 143 cm).
Lovely! It’s going on my Christmas list!
How does this yarn wash up? The colors look lovely. I actually will be a grandmother for the first time in February and want to make a blanket for my new granddaughter. I’ve been wondering what kind of yarn is best for kids’ stuff. I really didn’t want to use acrylic. My daughter and son-in-law live in Berlin so warmth is important. They have a small washer and have to hang up their clothes to dry. Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks.
Scroll up for my advice on washing it. (Wash cold in handwash or gentle cycle, dry flat.)
Natural dyed fibers will lose a little dye in the first wash, and you’re right that the indigo will come off on your hands and wooden needles as you knit, although it’s not very dark indigo. After the first wash that excess dye is gone. Color catchers are recommended but not required. (Having said that, I always use them on multi-color projects, cotton or wool, hand- or commercially-dyed. They’re so easy and they pick up any dye that gets into the water. I find that if I throw a color catcher into a load of regular laundry, they always come out with a bit of dye on them!)
It’s all a bit of a trade-off. I think natural dyes are wonderful for a baby for so many reasons, but then even when I was a new mom I washed the few things that were special with a bit of care. If you think it will get machine laundered in hot water with the bath towels, this may not be the blanket!
A good question, Bobbi, as the kit’s description says some of the yarn is dyed with indigo. That dye tends to run (you might say fade) in the wash.
What a lovely blanket. Those soft colors really sing when they are side by side.
I was the same with wool reactions, until happily discovering I could wear wool socks. And I had one special cotton sweater – not a handknit, but very simple and lovely – that I wore for years. Long gone now. It was almost my uniform for my first job in plant research: a tunic-y, cotton, sage-colored rollneck, over jeans or riding breeches. Now you’ve made me wonder if my hands would hold up to knitting a cotton tunic!
quick question..
what do you think about magic knot joins? so no ends to sew in?
thanks