Often customers come in with a pattern which they might have had for a long time, or choose a pattern from our selection, but want to use a different yarn to what it has been designed in and this is absolutely fine… but we do have some top tips when changing yarns:

1: Tension 

This is vitally important. Always check the tension square on the original yarn used and the one you want to use. They need to be the same for a successful knit. For example, below is a Sirdar Snuggle Pattern I want to use, but I don’t want to knit it in Snuggly, I would prefer to use WYS Bo Peep.

Now if we look at the ball bands on both these yarns you can see that they both use the same size needles and have a tension of 22sts to 28rows. This is perfect. I can swap between these two yarns.

2: Composition and Spin

Check the composition and spin of a yarn before you work with it. If the yarn is a regular spun yarn, then swapping to another regular yarn will be fine, but if the one the pattern was designed in, or the one you want to use is textured, or something like a chenille, that pattern might not work as effectively and you might be disappointed with the result.

3: Meterage 

Another vital thing to check or you could end up with not enough yarn!

Always check the meterage of the original yarn used and compare it to the yarn you would like to use.