A while ago, I wrote a post about finding vintage patterns online for free. I thought I would do a follow up to that post and explain how to find a substitution for a discontinued or unavailable yarn. It does take a bit of legwork and some math but it does get easier the more you do it.
In order to make this less complicated to explain, I’m going to use an example pattern to walk you through my method. I am going to use the pattern “Round or Turtle Neck Pullover Pattern #s-108” originally published in Spool Cotton #198, Knit for Victory. You can see the pattern here (x)
First, what information does the pattern tell you? Well quite a lot actually. For this pattern we’ll need a gauge of 5.5 sts per inch and 7 rows per inch, requiring 1 pair of No. 3 (about a 3.25mm, US 10) and No. 5 (about a 3.75mm, US 9) needles. It is graded for up to a 46 inch chest. It also suggested Chadwick’s Red Heart knitting worsted in 1 oz balls.
Since this is a vintage pattern, we’ll need to get some basic information about Chadwick’s real quick. With a quick google we find a Ravelry listing for this yarn which tells us it is 100% wool, four ply and is discontinued. Ravelry lists the suggested needle size as US 8.
According to the Ravelry wraps per inch (wpi) information, this yarn has about 9 which puts it squarely in a DK weight (8-11 wpi) yarn. I know, I know the label says it is worsted but is shaping up to be a DK, vintage wool is notorious for being smaller than modern yarns. So we know we could be working for a DK weight yarn to make this easy.
So I personally like the Berroco vintage line and they have a DK weight yarn available. It is 100 g/290 yds/265 m and has 5.5 sts per inch. It is an acrylic, wool and nylon blend so if you don’t like that feel free to find another yarn, this will be the one I use for my example.
As we gathered from the ravelry site the vintage yarn we are subbing comes in one ounce (roughly 29 grams). So if we are making a size 46 which will cover a 46 inch bust for men. The pattern says we need 25 balls – 25 ounces. Since we’ve got to guess based on the ravelry page that would be about 725 grams (29 grams x 25 balls).
So for the vintage we would need 8 hanks of the Berroco vintage DK (100 grams / 725 grams rounded up). If possible make a gauge swatch before buying all the yarn (the stores near me with this yarn retail it for 9.50 USD). If needed, size the needles up or down to reach it.
