Monday, August 13, 2007

Ok, Let's talk yarn subs

I checked with Robin to see where she got her yarn from & she said handknitting.com. Then, I saw the price of this stuff. After I got up off the floor from falling out of my chair, I started looking for some subs. It's not like I've never spent $100 on yarn before, but I'm new at this fair-aisle stuff & I'm not spending $100 on an experimental sweater. So, I found out Knit Picks has this new DK merino superwash yarn called Swish, and they have very similar color choices (and total yarn cost is $46--that qualifies you for free shipping!), and breathed a sigh of relief! Has anyone else thought of subbing? If so, what are you going to use?

7 comments:

Robin said...

I would think the Knit Picks yarn would be absolutely fine! I thought about doing that too, but I was too lazy to pick out similar colors :)

Anonymous said...

Nothing against KnitPicks, but I don't know if you want to use a superwash yarn for a sweater that requires steeking. Superwash doesn't felt. I thought the deal with steeking was that the wool yarns cling to each other enough to hold after cutting. Not sure that's still the case with superwash.

Emily said...

I'm not part of the KAL (yet), but I just wanted to reply here! :D I would say too not to sub with superwash as normally steeking is not advised with superwash (the stitches don't cling to eachother and slide so steeking is a pain). But the original yarn is a superwash too (the Louët). I haven't seen the pattern yet (living in Belgium I'm always late in recieving my subscription) but I guess it's either no steeking or steeking with a sewing machine, as that's possible with superwash (and cotton) yarns.

Greets and happy knitting!

Robin said...

The original yarns used in the pattern are actually a superwash - this is fine as long as you use a stronger reinforcement for the steek - i.e., sewing machine. The Eunny Jang article that I referenced in the steeking post discusses this. Of course, a feltable fiber will stick together more throughout the knitting process (actually to the point where you do not need a sewn reinforcement, but for your own peace of mind).

rarabecca said...

Ok so you are totally not alone with the substituting! I actually did a bunch of yarn look ups and found Knit Picks to be perfect for this sweater. I can't wait to cast on

Anonymous said...

I haven't actually joined this knitalong, but I did purchase yarn from Elann. The Elann Devon yarn, a sportweight. They have a great color selection, and the price is right, $3.75 a skein. I'll be casting on as soon as the yarn arrives, probably sometime next week. I may think about joining the KAL, but I have enough trouble keeping up with my own blog :)

Robin said...

Melissa, I just checked out Devon and it looks like an excellent substitute. Thanks for posting about it! Just let me know if you decide you want to join the KAL!