Knitting

Patterns, projects and techniques

Tips for Substituting Yarn

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how to substitue yarn in a knitting projectSome knitters are really paranoid about using yarn other than what’s called for in the pattern. I once read that a majority of knitters even use the exact same colors called for in a pattern, as if changing a design from red to blue would somehow mess it up.

There are some important things to keep in mind when substituting yarn in a knitting project, but it’s not really all that difficult to do.

The blogger behind By Number 19 is a crocheter who lives in Denmark, but her tips for yarn substitution work great for knitters as well. You need to consider the type, weight and quality of fiber used (is it meant to be fuzzy? smooth? drapey?), gauge of course and your own needs for the garment you’re wanting to make. Maybe you’re sensitive to wool or vegan so you need to substitute an animal fiber for something else, or you’re trying to use yarn from your stash and just don’t have any alpaca.

There’s a lot to think about, and a lot of it is solved by just picking some yarn and playing with it, especially if you’re using stash yarn and aren’t risking buying something that won’t work. There’s nothing like sitting down and swatching in the pattern stitch to let you know if you’re going to like the substitute yarn you’ve chosen.

Do you stick to the yarn called for in the pattern or do you use what you have on hand? I’d love to hear your thoughts and any stories about yarn substitution gone bad (or good).

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Comments

  1. As a newly knitter I have always stuck to the yarn in the pattern but I am wanting to make changes to some patterns I have saved away so I’m gonna go for it!

  3. Yarn substitution is something I had to learn early on. I get the majority of my yarn from thrift shops, and have yet to find that someone has donated exactly the 15 skeins of grey cashmere yarn called for in the pattern I’m eyeballing, to make a sweater for a large guy like me.

    Which leads me to another tip for substitution – don’t feel tied to using only one brand of yarn in a project. If Brand A , Brand X and Brand 7 each make a similar yarn, and each has one color you like, feel free to mix them as long as they knit up to match guage.

    By using the thrift shop yarn for larger projects I can afford a couple of special skeins from the LYS for smaller items.

Have you read?

Embellish Your Knit Dishcloth with Flowers

One great thing to knit when the weather is warm (or honestly any other time) is dishcloths and washcloths. They are fun and easy projects and a great way to play with new skills. Pretty washcloths make cleaning a tiny bit more fun, and they’re great to have on hand as a quick addition to a store-bought gift. 

The Daisy Delight Dishcloth from Yarnspirations is a fun one for using leftover bits of green in your cotton yarn stash. What looks like the bottom in the picture is actually the left side as you knit it, and each little color section is worked with its own ball of yarn, intarsia style. 

That’s a little fiddly for a washcloth, but the effect is cute, and it’s a simple way to learn the basics of intarsia knitting (as well as reading a chart) if you don’t already have those skills. 

One the knitting is done, you add the flowers with a bit of lazy daisy embroidery, which is really easy to do even if you’re not that into embroidery. You could also potentially add flowers in duplicate stitch if you’d rather. 

This may be the most work you’ve put into a dishcloth, but isn’t it adorable? It would be fun to use as a hand towel through the spring and summer, and if you already have some leftover green yarn from other projects it should be pretty easy to do. 

You could also take this same concept and make it different colors. All dark green stems with stars on top might be reminiscent of Christmas trees, or brown with daisy stitch on top in different colors could be trees in the fall. 

However you stitch it, this looks like a fun little project for knitters who are comfortable with intarsia and reading charts or who are ready to try those skills. 

You can grab the free pattern from Yarnspirations. 

[Photo: Yarnspirations]

Book Review – Dishcloths for Special Days [Knitting]

Book Review – Holiday Knit Dishcloths