An upcoming project and a question
Hi all! This is my first post to this KAL but I have been lurking in the shadows for a while now, being very impressed with all the beautiful projects you guys are making. I received the book a couple of days ago and am now waiting for the yarn for my first project, the Perfect Periwinkle Vest, to arrive. I can't wait to get started!
In the meantime, I have a question for you all. I would really like to do the Tweedy suit in the back of the book but I think that the bulky/chunky yarn would make it too warm. Has anyone out there tried their hand at this project? Any luck/unluck with substituting thinner/another yarn for the one called for? And how do you think that a thinner yarn (say, dk) would affect the drape and shape of the garments? Redoing the patterns for a different gauge doesn't frighten me as much as knitting a garment that will look totally different from how I want it to look like! Any comments, suggestions and advice are more than welcome!
I think that the cardigan could pretty easily be adjusted to a different weight. I've never made a skirt before, so I don't know if making one in a finer gauge would work.
Posted by: Erin | August 07, 2007 at 03:42 PM
Re. substituting yarns in patterns, here is a very handy on-line tool that I have used with success:
http://www.thedietdiary.com/knittingfiend/OrderForms/conversion%20pages/ConversionPage.html .
There is also a "manual" calculation method in one of the SnB books but I managed to mess it up. The "calculator" above operates on the same principle.
If your concern is warmth rather than bulkiness, why not try a similar gauge cotton? I just used Lana Gatto Summer for the Spicy Fitted T (see my post from yesterday). I wore it yesterday - temperature was 30something C and I still felt "cool" ;)
If you wanted a lighter weight, I would suggest something like linen or a cotton/wool blend which is more likely to hold its shape.
If you have unlimited funds, go for Rowan Calmer or Rowan All Seasons Cotton... two lovely cotton/acrylic blends which are lightweight but have good "memory". www.cucumberpatch.co.uk had some on sale some time back and maybe they still do...
Good luck!
Posted by: Kristina | August 08, 2007 at 06:15 AM
Thanks for your comments, ladies. I checked out the Rowan blends you mentioned, Kristina, they are lovely. I think that now I have some ideas to work with I'll go get a ball of a few candidate yarns and knit up swatches to see how it comes out. I'll keep you posted!
Posted by: Herdis | August 08, 2007 at 09:53 AM
Welcome to the KAL! Another idea might be a hemp yarn, like LanaKnits Hemp for Knitting.
I was worried about the bulk of a chunky yarn on the skirt so I may be checking out Kristina's great link to the sweater conversion calculator as well!
Posted by: robin | August 08, 2007 at 03:49 PM
Hmmm... hemp sounds interesting. I saw on the LanaKnits website that the only worsted weight pure hemp they have is natural/undyed. Any idea how hemp responds to DIY dying?
Posted by: Herdis | August 08, 2007 at 07:12 PM
I don't know about how it would take dye - I've only used their DK weight (allhemp6) but they knit that at 4 stitches to the inch for Eiffel, another pattern of theirs that I knit. Seems like they knit that "DK weight" yarn at a lot of different gauges and needle sizes though for different effects. Like their skirt (the lovely lace skirt) is knitted at 6 stitches to the inch, but it's also the allhemp6 again.
Posted by: robin | August 10, 2007 at 10:46 AM
Wow, sounds like a pretty versatile yarn. I already ordered a few skeins of allhemp6 and allhemp12, I'm going to experiment with knitting with two threads of different colors and thicknesses. I'll keep you all posted on what happens!
Posted by: Herdis | August 10, 2007 at 12:10 PM
Hi there, I'm using GGH Goa (50% cotton, 50% acrylic) it's really soft and easy to work with. I was able to get gage using 10's. The yarn is not too bulky at all.
Posted by: Monique | November 21, 2007 at 01:36 PM
Hi there, I'm using GGH Goa (50% cotton, 50% acrylic) it's really soft and easy to work with. I was able to get gage using 10's. The yarn is not too bulky at all.
Posted by: Monique | November 21, 2007 at 01:37 PM
Hi there, I'm using GGH Goa (50% cotton, 50% acrylic) it's really soft and easy to work with. I was able to get gage using 10's. The yarn is not too bulky at all.
Posted by: Monique | November 21, 2007 at 01:37 PM
Hi there, I'm using GGH Goa (50% cotton, 50% acrylic) it's really soft and easy to work with. I was able to get gage using 10's. The yarn is not too bulky at all.
Posted by: Monique | November 21, 2007 at 01:37 PM
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