Mix It Up!
Let’s talk about mixing up yarns for a pattern! Every pattern has a suggested yarn, sometimes even suggested choices of yarns. How comfortable are you with choosing a different yarn?
At the root of all yarn choices is getting the correct gauge called for in the pattern; one that produces a fabric that you like and will be suitable for your project.
You can go about choosing two yarns for a project in two ways: you can choose the yarns you want to hold together, make a swatch, figure out the gauge, and look for projects on Ravelry with that gauge OR you can look for yarns that, when held together, create a close approximation to the weight called for in the pattern.
Gift Wrap Sweater, designed by Carina Spencer
For example, I wanted to use up some left-over yarn for a baby sweater. I knit a swatch using a couple of different needle sizes, chose the fabric I liked the best, and then went to Ravelry to find a sweater that met my criteria. It’s pretty fun to do it that way because your gauge swatch is already done!
gauge swatch using fingering weight from Hue Loco and Sandnes Garn bulky Borstet Alpakka
Patterns and knitting information can be confusing. For instance, the suggested yarn for a Morning Walk Hat is two strands of fingering weight Woolfolk Tynd held together. The pattern indicates that Tynd held double equals a DK weight. If you didn’t want to buy two skeins of yarn, you could substitute one skein of DK. However, the common rule of thumb is that two fingerings held together is a worsted weight. What does one do? If you know the designer, you can trust in them. One can also swatch!
A Morning Walk Hat, designed by Ann Patterson, using fingering weight from Six and Seven Fiber and a lace weight Suri from My Sister Knits. Note to self: keep labels!!
Just because the pattern suggests a certain yarn doesn’t mean you have to use it. Staying with the Morning Walk hat, if you wanted to use two other fingering weight yarns, go for it! You could make it with a DK held with a skein of mohair or Suri, also.
Diana held sport weight Opus from Walcot Yarns with discontinued Shibui Silk Cloud. Fortunately we now have Ito Sensai which is a perfect substitute!
Let’s go on to a sweater that Diana made. The Classic, a free pattern from Espace Tricot, calls for a fingering weight held with a lace weight. Diana used a sport weight held with a lace weight. She swatched and found that she got gauge with the same needles the pattern suggested!
Tromso Hat
One more example, our sample of Joji Locatelli’s Tromso Hat. She used a bulky yarn, ours is made with aran weight Cascade Yarns Woolpaka held with fingering weight Kaos Organic Brushed Alpaca.
Combining two yarns opens up a whole new world of possibilities! We’re happy to help you figure out what would be good for your pattern!
If you’re confused about gauge, we have a Wednesday Skill Session on Nov. 1st from noon to 1:00 all about gauge. Check out our other Wednesday topics, too!
Happy knitting,
