Substituting yarn

In this blog post, rather than ramble on about what I have been making, I thought that I would pass on a few pearls of wisdom concerning a practical aspect of knitting……yarn substitution. Inexperienced knitters may lack the confidence to use a yarn other than that recommended in a pattern, this is a shame because being able to use different yarns opens up all sorts of possibilities. How many times have you admired a pattern but wanted to knit it in cotton instead of wool, or in a colour that just is not available in the range suggested?  Perhaps you are keen to use a locally produced yarn, or you just couldn't resist that hand-dyed alpaca and silk yarn you saw at a fibre show. In my case, I have experienced ALL of those reasons! I also can't resist mixing yarns, perhaps a strand of lace weight with a 4 ply, or a strand of mohair with a sock yarn. The possibilities of yarn substitution are only limited by your imagination.

 Looking back, I don’t think that I have ever used the yarn suggested in a pattern and have learned, by trial and error, how to go about substituting yarn and still end up with a usable garment. At first I thought, like many new knitters, that if the pattern was written for a specific weight of yarn, such as DK, then all I had to do was choose another DK yarn and all would be hunky dory. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t. I soon realised that I needed to have a more organised approach and now I have a method that I am happy with. So, here we go, a little foray into yarn substitution.

The key to successful yarn substitution is swatching. I have met knitters who would rather chew off their right arm than knit a swatch and I must admit I was often so impatient to start on a garment that I severely resented the time spent on swatching. I am now a total convert, I actually  enjoy the process. It is worth it  for several reasons, all of which will save you time and energy  (and sanity) in the long run.

You can determine whether your garment will end up the size you want

     The yarn may look very similar in weight but your lovingly worked jumper may end up inches bigger or smaller.

      You can determine the best needle size to achieve the correct fabric 

      You don’t have to use the sizes stated in the pattern but you do need to give this some thought.

      You can examine the swatch fabric to make sure that it has the properties that you want

      Cotton behaves very differently to wool, it tends to stretch with wear  so you may want to consider whether this will affect the result that you are looking for. If the pattern involves Fair-Isle or delicate textural features you can make sure that your chosen yarn will do it justice.  A very fuzzy yarn may come in gorgeous colours  but sharp colour changes will be lost and the overall effect will be disappointing. If the garment is to be worn next to your skin it is important that the fabric feels comfortable. Does the swatch have the drape that you require? Is it too stiff, too open, too thick, too thin? Or, is it just right?

Just in case there are readers who have never swatched at all, in my next post I will guide you through the process, hopefully quite painlessly. 

Until then, cheerio.