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Welcome to the first blog post.
October 20, 2007
Welcome friends, to the first installment of Kay's Korner, the new blog for Rare Purls.
Lately, I have read several articles on yarn substitution, a task knitters must learn unless they are willing to limit their needle art to using the yarn given on a pattern. There are many reasons to substitute a different yarn for a project, yarn cost and availability probably being the most common. Also, one may want to change to a different fiber for comfort, to accommodate allergy, or to change the look of the finished project. Sometimes, I find myself trolling through my yarn stash and come across a bag of yummy yarn, just waiting for a great pattern. Rarely do I find a pattern specifying that yarn, but I always find a pattern where my find will substitute nicely.
The first step in substitution is to use yarns of like weights. The terms fingering, dk (double knitting,)sport weight, worsted weight, bulky, and super bulky are helpful in this step. These terms are merely rules of thumb, not precise measurements. By far, the best way to compare yarns for substitution is to compare the "wraps per inch" or "wpi" of the yarns. Although there are gizmos sold to measure this, you can make your own out of any dowel, from a pencil to an old knitting needle by placing two marks on the shaft, one inch apart. I like to make a groove to hold the first wrap of yarn. Remember, you can at times combine yarns, carrying 2 - 3 together to obtain a heavier weight yarn.
Next check the number of yards or meters per 50 grams. Once, I was in a local yarn shop when I overheard a sales woman advising a customer to substitute yarns gram for gram. I just had to speak up! Fifty grams of sport weight cotton, for example, will not contain the same number of yards as fifty grams of an acrylic/wool blend. So your second step is to calculate the number of yards required for the project. For example, if a sweater calls for (10) 50 gram balls of yarn that measure 75 yards per ball, you are going to need approximately 750 yards of the substitute yarn of the same weight.
Kay's needles this week are busy on Elsebeth Lavold's "Happy" from her Sunny Side Collection in book eleven. I am making it in the Hempathy version, a delightful yarn composed of hemp, cotton, and modal, a fiber that comes from trees. The stripes, which I made in colors golden, mild green, and sunflower, do look happy, although a friend thinks I am quite brave to be planning on wearing horizontal stripes with my figure. (I love an honest friend, but am not changing my mind about "Happy.")
Copyright 2007 Karen Mather