I have worked with jute. Not exactly arts and crafts time stuff, but i made a ghillie suit with it one time.

Knowing how it feels to knit "rough" cotton makes me thing it would be abrasive over time.

Maybe find some very thin leather gloves or i bet even nitrile glove would work.

(Btw, Bad way to make a ghillie in case anyone was wondering. Instead use burlap strips and comb them out after attaching the strips to the netting on the back of the suit)