Sarah writes: “since the weather for wool is winding down, I was wondering what your thoughts were on making the cardi in a cotton or cotton blend? I don’t have any experience knitting with cotton and have
no idea how a substitution like this might work…”
Oh, YEAH! Cotton and the Ribby are old friends! The original Bulky Gauge Ribby 
was made out of a now discontinued yarn by Adriafil called *NAVY* which was 60%Cotton/40%Microfiber. This was made in 2002 and has held up VERY well. In fact, I’m wearing it to work this morning…
And because the sun is shining and the forsythia are blooming (!), another Cotton/Microfiber Ribby is on the make – VIVA Spring!
I looked high and low for a cotton blend I wanted to use for this outing. My favorite Cot/M yarn, All Seasons, was too chubby. Enter GGH *Samoa* which has the goodness of the blending, the matte finish I love so much and really wonderful colors. Problem – can’t find Samoa anywhere…
Enter Supercrafty.com, a USA source, which I found through valiant search engineering and VOILA! Samoa galore! Voila! On the ChicKnits Springtime Needles we have:
YUM! Since my other Spring sweater is the center part of b.Lime,
I thought I’d make this the Rind!
Kim writes: “I just started my Ribby Cardi last night and I was wondering if it would be a bad idea to make the back fully ribbed, but make the front with the flat pannel.”
No Probs, Kim! You can mix and match your ribbing to your hearts content. (Just remember that ribbed portions will be more fitted and clingy and the plain portions expanded.)
My Cot/M Ribby is going to have a 3×1 ribbed center panels with plain sides on both the sleeves and body pieces. I am also going to put a button band on this one instead of a zipper to reduce bulk and make a more *air conditioned* garment. I’ll keep track of the mods HERE…
Cotton Ribby Cardi
Design: ChicKnits
Color: #42 Soft Kelly Green
Gauge: 19sts/24 rows over 4″
Needles: #5 & #6
Yarn: ggh *Samoa*
fromThis Just In: Woot! SuperCrafty writes and says if you purchase at least a bag (10 balls) of Samoa from them and mention “ChicKnits” when you pay, SuperCrafty will give you free shipping on it and any other items you buy with that purchase…
Hi from a hand/machine knitter( Non blogging)
Love your new ribbie.GGH Samoa is one of the best kept secrets( Bali, Goa make the best cotton,polyacryl blend trio) NAVY to GGH.
Thank you very much for your blog, witty, funny , instructional and inspirational.
Back to lurking in the not so warm England
Cheerio
What a great color! That will be so nice for spring and summer.
OK, this is going to sound like a really dumb question, but having just purchased your pattern for this wonderful sweater..I am confused…(not a difficult task).
Is the Ribby Cardy pictured in the pattern the “Plain Panel Version”?? or the Ribbed Version…? I guess I am not sure to which “Panel” you are referring…
Hey cool, Supercrafty is run by one of my local Stich-N-Bitch pals. Love that Six Degrees of Separation thang…
After making the plain panel Ribby Cardi in the Peruvian Highland Wool, I made another one out of Lion Brand Cotton-Ease that I had in the stash, and it turned out great (except it’s lacking its zipper, but I’ve been wearing it anyway!). Instead of ribbing the entire sleeves, I only did the ribbing on the outer portion so they’re not as snug, and it’s really cute.
hi there,
i finished one ribby in peruvian wool also. i’m just waiting for my zipper. i also have sugar plum in cotton ease to make another. thanks for sharing the ebay site with us.
Hi, new knitter here, not a blogger yet… E-bay site for yarn! I learn something new everyday from your site. I love the colors of the GGH Samoa! Is crazy to buy yarn in the hopes that someday you’ll be able to actually knit a sweater? I live in FL and it seems like the perfect weight for year round sweaters. I also live in a town with only one yarn shop! And not a very big one at that! So thanks for the internet tip.
I made my ribby with a ribbed back and plain panel front – it turned out great and someday soon I hope to actually send you a picture. I used Takhi Donegal Tweed, my fave worsted wool. One of my coworkers asked “Hey, is that from J.Crew?”
Samoa Rocks!
The Ribby pictured on the catalog page is a plain panel version…
To see some fully ribbed versions be sure to visit the Gallery Ribby – link on right side of main blog page…
great link! We all need more yarn! Love the cotton ribby. I am shamed that I have finished knitting my peruvian wool ribby weeks ago and still haven’t sewn her up. I’ve been too busy moving house, and playing with my new knitting machine! Somehow I have a feeling that all the hand knitting I’ve done is going to help immensely in understanding it. Then, definitely sew up winter ribby!
I’m anxious to see how you finish the ggh samoa cardigan. Will you be posting instructions on the button band you’re planning on using rather than a zipper? That appeals to me since I don’t have a good source for buying zippers.
Yes!~
I’ll be going through some things about knitting with cotton and also show how I’m doing the buttonband…