Tuesday 4 March 2008

Choosing a yarn

i was in a yarn store today and almost bought the blue sky alpaca cotton for the shawl collar scarf, but i held off because i have another project promised first. but i wonder - could i use that cotton worsted for the black pearls scarf, which i'm dying to make for myself? the pattern calls for peace fleece worsted, so the weight ought to be about the same.

i know this is kind of a dopey question, but i'm always nervous about deviating from patterns, but since i can't wear wool, i often have to.

tomorrow i buy yarn for my first scarf, tilted squares!

3 comments:

Helen said...

Mine isn't an expert opinion, but it sounds like a safe idea to me. The beauty of scarves is that they might end up a bit narrower or a bit wider, but they still fit. I've knitted quite a few of the scarves now and hardly any of them have been from the prescribed yarn.

Lynne Barr said...

I love Blue Sky Cotton for it's softness and how wonderful it feels next to skin. But being 100% cotton, it doesn't have the bounce or 'elasticity' of wool. For that reason it might be less forgiving and possibly show changing from one needle to the next more. Since you can't wear wool though, you should give it a try... knitting is always full of surprises! Anyone out there who can recommend yarns that behave like wool, but aren't wool?!

sarah in brooklyn said...

thank you both, and lynne, thank you so much for this book. it's really inspiring.

i figure scarves are a good place to play with yarns - i bought an acrylic /wool blend for my tilted squares today for a somewhat woolphobic family member. we shall see!