Hi. I've been making bathing suits from a cotton/acrylic called Schachenmayr Nomotta that is made in Romania. There is a website on the label: www.coatsgmbh.de

The other one is an acrylic/nylon ribbon type called Dynasty Yarn. There is no website for this one. I found them both at a wholesaler in my area and they seem to keep their shape better than 100% cotton.

I hope this helps.

I hope this isn't too late - my old college fiber class knowledge just kicked in. . .

Cotton is definitely a problem as it stretches when wet. Things I'd try:

1. Blended yarn, like Hatboxgirl suggested
2. Perhaps you could add a very thin elastic to the yarn as you're crocheting (I'm thinking cording). It would show, I think, but maybe you could work it in to the ties & straps without too much of an issue?
3. Depending on the design of the suite, you could do a bit of reinforcement with fabric in crucial places - a bit of swimsuit fabric sewn onto the right spots might help.
4. Ooo - new brainstorm! Consider buying swimsuit fabric, making into strips, & crocheting with that. Totally different aesthetic, but could be very funky!

Good Luck!

I recently completed a knitting project in elann Esprit which is a cotton/elastic yarn (web site is elann.com)

It knitted up really well and sprng back to the original shape after it had been pulled about, but there was no obvious signs of elastic in it. It comes in lots of lovely colours and wasn't too expensive even with postage to the uk.

Maybe this would be a suitable yarn to try?

Thanks for taking the time to reply to this. I will check out all your suggestions.

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