Knitting: a guide to replace the thread
Ever found a pattern you love, but couldn’t find the suggested yarn? What if you’re just not in love with any of the colors offered? Or are you allergic to the alpaca recommended by the pattern maker? Or the thread they used is too expensive! Situations like these aren’t uncommon, and they’re certainly no reason for you to throw your hands up in the air and feed your new favorite pattern to the shredder!
Replacing threads can be a fun and exciting experience, as long as you adhere to a few simple rules:
INDICATOR. It is absolutely necessary to find a thread whose natural stitch gauge is similar to that recommended by the pattern. In other words, if the pattern indicates that the gauge is 8 sts/4 inches over the stockinette st, you’ll want to find a thread that also shows that stitch gauge on the label. We’ve tried to help this process by grouping all of our threads by gauge, so you can at least narrow down your options. For example, when looking at Rowan Big Wool’s page, you’ll see a link in the top right hand corner that says “See Other (1.5 – 2.5 pts/in) Super Bulky Yarn.” Clicking on this link takes you to a list of threads with similar gauges… The difficulty with this step arises when the indicated pattern gauge is measured at a point other than the stockinette stitch (a lace or rib stitch, For example). In this situation, it is imperative that you find out what the ‘natural gauge’ of the thread used in the pattern is. When I say “natural gauge”, I mean the gauge indicated on the yarn label. That’s the number you need to make a comparison.
CURTAINS. Finding a thread with a similar drape is essential to make the garment flow as intended. For example, you probably don’t want to knit a heavy fisherman’s sweater with cotton or ribbon, as they tend to give much more than animal fibers.
GARDENING. Almost every type of thread has a different amount of footage. That said, we can’t just buy 10 skeins of Rowan Wool Cotton if your pattern calls for 10 skeins of Karabella Boise. Each has a natural gauge of 5.5 pts/inch, but the Boise is 40 yards more than the Wool Cotton. Here’s how to figure out how much wool cotton you’d need for the Boise pattern. The pattern calls for 10 Boise balls, which is 163 yards. So, you will need a total of 10 x 163 = 1630 yards. Now if you want to use Rowan Wool Cotton (which has 124 yards per skein), you will need 1630/124 = 13.14 skeins. It is always wise to round up, so you should buy 14 skeins of Rowan Wool Cotton.
CREATIVITY. You can double a thin yarn to create a thicker one… or combine a couple of fun yarns. Just don’t forget rule #1 and be sure to measure your gauge… and be careful when it comes to buying enough yardage. If the pattern calls for 1,000 yards of the original thread and you decide to fold something thinner, you’ll need 2,000 yards of that thinner thread.
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