help required

Nov 5, 2006

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I bought a pattern on the market in Hudds, to make up for mother’s christmas (or birthday) present. I foolishly assumed it would be easy to buy the yarn I needed 🙁

So I need some help, either to locate a seller of twilleys freedom cotton dk so that I can make this, twilleys of stamford crochet shawl 9021, or some help telling me whether these yarns could be used instead, and if so, what shades. I’m leaning towards (3) Rose and (16) Vanilla, but I’m hopeless at this stuff and would really appreciate assistance!

Likewise, I got a King Cole DK pattern (2826) to make Big a sort of bolero cardigan thing, and then when I’ve looked inside it, it says balls of king cole pure baby dk, which unless I’m much mistaken is a different thing. Why do they have to make this stuff so complicated???? Wah….

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Comments

11 responses to “help required”

t-bird
5 November 2006
yes, any DK yarn should work, usual rider though, do a tension square first to check if it will come out significantly bigger or smaller. I rarely use the yarn specified in patterns if I can find anything cheaper of the same weight. Those colours look lovely, really must stop following links from your blog…. I have enough yarns already!!!
Hmmm, as for King Cole, usually the only difference between a baby yarn and a normal one is that the baby one should be softer (although you can’t count on that from my experience 🙁 ) A baby yarn would probably drape more softly but I wouldn’t let that stop you from getting something in a funkier colour personally! If you really want the softness of a baby yarn and you can afford it, go for Sirdar Snuggly – it’s wonderous and works up nicer than just about anything else in the world (but you pays for it too!!!)
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Jax
5 November 2006
coo, see what you mean about the prices – well over double the other dk stuff I’ve been looking at. Really really tempted to go up to the mill and have a dig through their yarn boxes, but I don’t think that would comply with Jan’s instructions to lie on the sofa and crochet for a week 😉
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Kath
5 November 2006
In my (very limited) experience, DK tends to knit up like other DK and I use whatever I like and can afford and just check that it’s knitting up OK on the first few rows. Not sure if that works for crochet too? The only problem can be that the pattern says how much yarn to buy by weight, and the same weight of DK can vary a bit in the actual total length of the yarn. I like using cotton and substitute it for whatever DK patterns suggest, it doesn’t tend to wash up as much as some of the acrylics.
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Kath
5 November 2006
Oh, and I like the colours you’ve picked, but I don’t have very good judgement on what’s “in” so don’t rely on me LOL.
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Jax
5 November 2006
Well, I tried part of the baby pure dk with some cheapo dk that I had lying around and it worked up slightly smaller than gauge and very stiff. So I think I’d better explore the baby dks a bit further.
Think I’m going to splurge on the cotton for mother anyway.
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rosie
5 November 2006
I think the yarns you’ve chosen would be fine for he crochet shawl, as they are also cotton, and it says it’s suitable for crochet, so it should be: I think some yarns would be too soft and splitty for crochet. Lovely colours.
Is the bolero knitted or crochet? the yarn on the pattern is 80% Courtelle[AKA acrylic] / 20% Nylon, (if my research is correct!). I wouldnt attempt to knit a pattern designed for wool in cotton yarn as cotton comes out wider and shorter, as it is less flexible so the loops are reluctant to stay loops iyswim! I think acrylic behaves in a similar way to wool, but is more floppy and lighter in weight. To get a similar result I think you need to use the same fibre or fibre mix. But I might be tempted to try a soft baby wool, like Jaeger baby merino, which is 100% wool and machine washable, as an equivalent to acrylic. But I would think that any acrylic or wool/acrylic mix yarn would work.
But I think with crochet, especially lacy stuff, you can get away with using a different yarn- it’s more free form.
Hope this was more help than TMI!
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Jax
5 November 2006
They are both crochet patterns – if they were knit I’d be planning them for Christmas 2007 😉
I am rather tempted to find something more wool based – the acrylics that I’ve used do seem to work up very stiff. Think I need to use a bigger hook than they advise though, as I was well off gauge with my test piece.
not tmi at all, useful info 🙂
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t-bird
6 November 2006
Jamed C Brett do some nice yarns fairly cheaply, I’m using one of their “baby DK” yarns now to do a cardi for Aprilia and it’s knitting up lovely. I’ve used their 4 ply for crochet and it’s been pretty good too (not up to Snuggly standards but not up to their price either….) Here’s where I got it from
http://www.cpu-enterprises.com/brett/dk-rainbow.htm
If the DK you used was too small and a bit stiff, could you try a tension square using a bigger hook? I usually end up with completely different hooks to get the right drape and size.
I’ll not tell Jan if you need some retail therapy….
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Jax
6 November 2006
Ooh, will take a look at those yarns, ta!
I’m going to resist the mill this week, I really do still feel completely wiped. But I might take a christmas shopping day very soon…
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t-bird
6 November 2006
I’d take a virtual trip to the mill and buy over the net (then go and browse and stroke the yarns lovingly another time when you are up to it!)
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dottyspots
2 December 2006
I wish I could drive and could get to the mill – serious yarn habit here 🙂 I’ve finally got my mitts on a balaclava pattern which I’m knitting up for Ned. I finished a ‘cat hat’ last night, but it’s a bit short, so think I’ll make a slightly bigger one (will post a pic when I get a mo’).
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