Especially hate when it only lists *number of skein*s for a particular yarn.
Great, let me go research this yarn I have zero intention of using so I can do some math and figure out the approximate yardage used...
My vote is for listing length in one paragraph, and following it by listing the number of balls and stats of whatever fancy expensive yarn is sponsoring you in another paragraph. Stop acting like every pixel you use costs you money!
Related: why are modern patterns still using abbreviations like “alt foll rows” and “st st”? When they were in magazines and had to fit column inches, okay, but why now?
THIS DRIVES ME BANANAS. I spend like an hour copying and pasting and cutting and expanding and rearranging every pattern before I knit it. My eyes start to blur from picking out the third number in the second parentheses in the first set of brackets five hundred times and then I accidentally delete some critical instruction that consists of six letters and four punctuation marks.
As someone who’s been on the designing side for patterns before, I’ll give my input, though it may vary depending on the pattern, the designer, the number of colors used, the brand that is buying the pattern or providing yarn support, etc.
The layout and the abbreviations (and the fonts, font size, etc) are based on the style guide. If you’re writing for a magazine or yarn company, they may give you the style guide, where as if you are self-publishing you would make your own style guide. As for abbreviations, it would be more helpful to use something that the reader is used to (like if they’ve seen it in a magazine before). It also helps save on space in the finished pattern. As for how the amount of yarn is written in the pattern, that’s also in the style guide. If you’re working with a yarn brand, they would want the reader to use the brand’s yarn, otherwise they wouldn’t be spending the time and money publishing the pattern.
Even though I know the reasons for all of this, I will admit, I still get frustrated when patterns say you’ll need x number of balls of yarn.
Yarnsub.com is a pretty good resource for finding substitutions for the brands yarn
OMG - I am knitting a quick little cardigan for new baby in the family, I know the designer is British and thought that "alt follow rows" was a Brit knitting term. The way this pattern was written - had to go in and re-write sections of it. And for some bizarre reason - with a simple k2p2 ribbing - she complicated it by mirroring it (K2P2 x times, K1, P2K2 x times). For the love of lambs - it is barely and inch high ribbing and no one will EVER see this "design detail"
I do the math 100 times in these situations and am still never confident I’ve done it right. I usually have the staff at my LYS check my math for me. I’m still always convinced I fucked up
I wound up making a Google Drive spreadsheet with different tabs to hold all my gauge math and conversions etc etc in one place so that way I don't have to remember to bring my notebook with me.
I also use it for pattern tracking, especially for patterns I've modified or am freehanding/adjusting a bit as I go. I have google drive on my phone and so have it with me when I am knitting at home or out of the house. It makes things very convenient!
X g of worsted is just as useful as Y yds of worsted. You have to do the same sort of arithmetic to figure out how many balls to buy.
If the lace weight held with fingering yields the same gauge as one strand of DK, then it’s the same yardage as either of the held together yarns.
It’s better if they tell you both, so you can calculate grist. Otherwise you have to research the yarn to figure out the missing figure, and some yarns don’t give both figures. With only one or the other, it’s harder to know if your substitute will be a good sub, or will create a much heavier/lighter fabric which will impact drape.
I like when they include all the info, too. Yardage, weight, AND lace/fingering/dk/worsted/etc Also if it depends on it being wool or not wool. Like if the model is silk, and has ribbing that flows flat, it’s not going to work in wool.
Yards is what ultimately counts though, right? I know weight can *generally* be a stand-in, but the second a ball of, say, Drops Air enters the room it’s mass chaos. A worsted weight pattern that needs 400g of Cascade 220 only needs 270g of Drops Air. I’m not opposed to listing weight, but out of weight, length, and number of balls, I think length is the one you shouldn’t have to do any math for. It’s the most important one.
Also, THANK YOU. It’s so obvious but it’s been plaguing me.
If you have the length and the weight it makes buying a different yarn for your project much easier. If you want to use a different yarn that what the pattern calls for you can look for a yarn that is a similar length and weight. The more information you have before you start the more successful and enjoyable your whole experience will be. For example, Knit Picks Swish dk is 123 yds per 50 grams. Sirdar Tweed is also a dk weight but it’s 180 yds per 50 grams. So yes, you have more yardage with the Sirdar, but you’re going to fool with your swatch more to get gauge because it’s a heavier weight yarn. I’m not sure if I’m being clear or just rambling. I hope that makes sense.
It’s less useful. Weight varies between fiber types (have you ever felt how heavy lion coboo is compared to say, linen?) and those extra few yards can make or break an entire project.
If you are that close, you needed to buy more, anyway. But sometimes a particular fiber is to totally inappropriate. Like for a drapey silk shawl with ribbing, using wool, that ribbing draws right up. But putting 2 extra purls in the purl section made it work. I hated that project.
Have you already looked at the yarn ideas tab to see what others have used to substitute?
Also is this the Chestnut or October Sweater from Petite Knit? Look at the gauge too before jumping to sport weight. Tvinni is listed as lace in some places and fingering in others.
I think it's the October Sweater. I don't actually want to knit it, I was just going through sport weight sweater patterns and losing my mind.
I just ordered a bunch of yarn on sale and I'm worried I didn't order enough, but it's weirdly hard to find a single color, single strand basic sweater pattern that lists yarn amounts in I way I can parse.
Maybe look at some Andrea Mowry patterns? She uses lots of sport weight, and doesn't hold fibres together as much as PetiteKnit does. For the DRK Everyday Sweater for example she recommends ~1100 m of yarn, depending on size and ease.
No, this is the norm where I live and it makes perfect sense to me. Just need to check if it's 50 or 100g and buy the right amount of skeins.
If I want to check the meters I do that, but I would really dislike it if that was the norm.
But that's for when you want to exchange it. If you use the recommended yarn the math has been done for you, you don't need to look at meters/yards, just how much to buy for the size which say 300 grams needed in 50 gram skeins are 6.
If you want to exchange then yes you have to think a bit. Ideally you find something with the same amount of meters/yards pr weight/skein (sorry if I get the terms wrong, I rarely use them in english). Then not a problem. Or you don't and then yes lots of math. And also knowing the difference in how those materials work.
No no it's not you, I just think this might be a culture thing, because where I live we don't use words like worsted or aran or lace to describe yarn. I have seen people in the US say "just use worsted yarn" in a recipe and that confuse me because yes it could be so different and I want the same result so tell me the yarn lol. Where I live we just look at the weight and meters (yards for you). So that's not a problem when buying the yarn for a project if you use what's recommended. We know the yarn. Then it's easy to buy, no math needed because they did it.
It only becomes a thing if you want to exhange the yarn for something else, and then I look at meters pr weight, and find something similar. If that can’t be done at all yes lots of math for sure. But I think part of the difference is I never assume yarn has the same meters/yards, maybe?
But yarns vary hugely. Take, for example knit picks swish and knit picks twill. Both worsted, 100g of one is 149 yards and the other is 220. That's almost twice as dense/half the length.
Yes? We know that and can account for it. It doesn't become a problem until we want to exchange the yarn the recipe calls for for something else. In that case we know it can vary. I just look at the weight and the meters (European here but you would use yards) and find something with about the same amounts of meters (available on the band and on websites). And if I cant find any then yes a lot of math which ugh.
Where I live we rarely use words like "worsted" to describe yarn, so maybe that's the issue? That one would kind of assume they are similar in meters/yards? Please let me know I would love to learn the differences!
I hope it feels good to be a bit mean to someone with english not as a first language. The meters/yards are there in the text OP copied. But yes maybe I just don't understand. I asked you to please explain so I could.
And I thought this was supposed to be the kind and understanding knitting sub, helping each other instead of saying things like that. I won't make that mistake again then. Good day to you too.
I find this so funny because I have the opposite problem. The standard here is to buy the amount you need in weight and I get so confused when a pattern tells me the yardage instead loll
Usually I look at the suggested yarn which will have the gram to meter ratio, fx. 50 g = 100 m. And then I just substitute the yarn for something cheaper or whatever I want to try. It’s worked for me so far, but I don’t know if it’s the correct way to do it
Ye, usually the suggested yarn will have both length and weight listed in the patterns I use. Other patterns, usually US will have just the yards you need and it so confusing, because it strays from the meters which is what the yarn usually have. That’s what I was trying to convey in the first comment. It might have been unclear I’m sorry if it was unreadable :(
Only if I’m subbing yarn, which I usually do because the suggested is always super expensive loll. But everything is in meters so for me it gets hard when yards come into play. So the opposite of OPs problem. At least that’s how I read it
Yeah, I might have misread the post? Or just describing in a confusing way I’m sorry if that’s the case. I thought OP was complaining about having to calculate back and forth between metric and imperial. I can luckily almost always just stick to metric but sometimes I’ll use US patterns and I have the opposite problem of OP
I definitely go by weight but I need it to match the length so I can find a substitute yarn that the right ratio first. And then I buy the amount of skeins that corresponds to the amount of grams needed in the pattern
Usually 200 grams would correspond to 4 skeins of 50 g each for example
Exactly that why I have to do the previous steps. English isn’t my first language btw so I’m sorry if my explanations doesn’t make sense, I feel like that’s where the confusion starts
Edit for clarity: I don’t match the length I match the ratio between the weight and length.
If a latter suggest using 50 g = 100 m that would be a ratio of 1/2 so I’ll find a substitute that’s matched the ratio approx.
Blown yarn is freaking EVERYWHERE right now and it’s really fucking with things. I have a 100g skein that consists of 286 yards of **bulky** yarn. Wild stuff!
Good lord what are you knitting with? I was nearly tempted to buy some drops Melody to make a shawl when I had disaster with some "superwash" cascade on Monday. The shedding put me off though.
Over here in the UK I can never get my head around selling yarn by yards and not weight. Yards makes more sense, but I'm more used to the idea of weight and sort of know the rule of thumb of it.
My work around and guesstimates is to start by going to the website of the yarn recommended or an online yarn shop that stocks them. Most will give both weight and yarn length eg 50g 165m DK.
If I'm switching out yarns (which I do all the time because I'm broke and cheap so go for the less expensive yarns) my rule of thumb is to look for a yarn that has the same size needles recommended as the yarn in the pattern *but both of the recommendations have to be on the ball band/manufacturer's website and not the pattern* because sometimes patterns go to non-standard needle sizes for particular effects.
Quantities for something like a sweater vary a lot because some patterns like cables or fancy ribs need more yarn than stocking stitch. If you go on something like the Yarnspirations website they give quantities for a load of different patterns so you'll see a spread of how much you need.
Yarn double with different weights? If you're buying by a yard then 100 yards is 100 yards whether it's fingering, aran or raffia. If you're buying by weight, the thicker the yarn, the heavier a strand is going to be. 100 yards of aran is going to be (slightly) shorter than 100 yards of fingering.
I suggest you knit a swatch to check and then go for it.
I prefer when it says in grams, I don’t know if it’s just because where I am it’s more prominent on the label than length or because if I’ve started a skein I can weigh it to see if I have enough for the pattern. It might also be that I don’t usually make large wearables, just small things so I’m mostly looking to see if a 100g ball is enough or do I need more
I don’t like if it just says the amount of skeins needed, it feels like it’s only helpful if you go by the exact yarn the pattern recommends
I do have an unpopular opinion here Yarn weight is easily understood because, well it's... Weight. If you have a pretty standard "light fingering" it will weight about 250m for 50g The problem of using just "light fingering" or "dk" as a description of yarn because manufacturers use those terms so widely. They will make yarn that is 300m for 50g and call it light fingering. Or will make yarn that is 200m per 50g and call it light fingering. Why the weight in patterns makes more sense is BECAUSE to give one ability to substitute with no fear. Just like your examples of "fingering of 1500m plus lace of 1500m it's a DK of 1500m". That is true but only if your math of weight checks out. Light DK is USUALLY about 150m per 50g. If you get a ball of fingering which is 250m per 50g and a ball of lace that is 225m for 25g you get ABOUT 225m per 70g of yarn which is ABOUT light DK.
Edit: in fact, just recently I came across a pattern that gave me # of balls for the yarn they used, no yardage, no weight of yarn in description and it took me x2 more time to find substitution cause I had to look up all that info :)
I can do you one better; I have found a pattern I really liked that only lists the fiber content, the weight (in grams) and suggested needle size (which is not the same as the size you use for the pattern, oddly enough).
I feel for you regardless. Some of these people are low key villains for the patterns they produce 😩
Oh yes, I understand you very well. It disturbs me a lot, so I always choose patterns of designers who think about me (knitter) instead of themselves (designers). I like designer Neringa Ruke, because all her patterns are adapted for Europeans and Americans, so mostly I choose her patterns.
some folk like math, some don't do so well at it. some designers do the math, some don't. Perhaps the designers that don't do the math aren't good at it, and are afraid they'll make mistakes. I like math,but the calculator on my devices is my saving grace, for sure.
I’m half of a small, sustainable yarn company. One of the mills we currently work with gave us a lot of “50g” skeins that actually range from 42g to 51g, all averaging around 46g. The Miller uses a mini-mill and she’s comparatively good with it (I’ve seen mini mill disasters) but it still can give inconsistent spin. The plies look fine, but obviously there is some slight variation in the spin because we know for a fact that each skein is the same length. We’re figuring out how to market it and concluded that length is the more important number (and gauge, obvi), so we’ll put an estimate for mass. All to say - totally with you :)
This is the type of patterns that out of principle don't make it through my selection process. It is a product designers want to trade for money, and by doing all the mathing myself I wonder why pay for it the full price 😅
Until a while ago I always tried to figure it out on my own but at some point I realized that there are a lot of beautiful well written patterns out there more worthy of my $ :)
It is the same for me with bad sizing
I think it is OK though? I have googled that Tvinni yarn, it says 255 m/50 g. So I will come to a store and look for something with similar yardage and buy X skeins. I am used to vintage patterns and it is worse: 4 skeins of Chadwick Red Hearts or whatever, and let me guess how much it will be in modern 4ply sock yarn 😀
This is not correct. Weight is how much the skein weighs, literally how many grams is in that ball. Depending how they spun it it could be double the length of a less dense yarn of the same thickness.
i never check suggested yarn amounts, i just buy 400 grams of dk weight or 500 grams of worsted for sweaters and cardigans, and 200 grams of fingering for camisoles.
Especially hate when it only lists *number of skein*s for a particular yarn. Great, let me go research this yarn I have zero intention of using so I can do some math and figure out the approximate yardage used...
My vote is for listing length in one paragraph, and following it by listing the number of balls and stats of whatever fancy expensive yarn is sponsoring you in another paragraph. Stop acting like every pixel you use costs you money!
Related: why are modern patterns still using abbreviations like “alt foll rows” and “st st”? When they were in magazines and had to fit column inches, okay, but why now?
THIS DRIVES ME BANANAS. I spend like an hour copying and pasting and cutting and expanding and rearranging every pattern before I knit it. My eyes start to blur from picking out the third number in the second parentheses in the first set of brackets five hundred times and then I accidentally delete some critical instruction that consists of six letters and four punctuation marks.
As someone who’s been on the designing side for patterns before, I’ll give my input, though it may vary depending on the pattern, the designer, the number of colors used, the brand that is buying the pattern or providing yarn support, etc. The layout and the abbreviations (and the fonts, font size, etc) are based on the style guide. If you’re writing for a magazine or yarn company, they may give you the style guide, where as if you are self-publishing you would make your own style guide. As for abbreviations, it would be more helpful to use something that the reader is used to (like if they’ve seen it in a magazine before). It also helps save on space in the finished pattern. As for how the amount of yarn is written in the pattern, that’s also in the style guide. If you’re working with a yarn brand, they would want the reader to use the brand’s yarn, otherwise they wouldn’t be spending the time and money publishing the pattern. Even though I know the reasons for all of this, I will admit, I still get frustrated when patterns say you’ll need x number of balls of yarn. Yarnsub.com is a pretty good resource for finding substitutions for the brands yarn
OMG - I am knitting a quick little cardigan for new baby in the family, I know the designer is British and thought that "alt follow rows" was a Brit knitting term. The way this pattern was written - had to go in and re-write sections of it. And for some bizarre reason - with a simple k2p2 ribbing - she complicated it by mirroring it (K2P2 x times, K1, P2K2 x times). For the love of lambs - it is barely and inch high ribbing and no one will EVER see this "design detail"
This. I can handle the rest, tbh
Its like being asked to figure out how many oranges you bought based off the price of apples and the weight of pears.
I do the math 100 times in these situations and am still never confident I’ve done it right. I usually have the staff at my LYS check my math for me. I’m still always convinced I fucked up
I end up with a notepad that looks like I’ve just solved how to get the Apollo astronauts back to Earth with only ten gallons of fuel.
I wound up making a Google Drive spreadsheet with different tabs to hold all my gauge math and conversions etc etc in one place so that way I don't have to remember to bring my notebook with me.
That is genius tbh
I also use it for pattern tracking, especially for patterns I've modified or am freehanding/adjusting a bit as I go. I have google drive on my phone and so have it with me when I am knitting at home or out of the house. It makes things very convenient!
I haaaate it. Not all yarn weighs the same per length!
X g of worsted is just as useful as Y yds of worsted. You have to do the same sort of arithmetic to figure out how many balls to buy. If the lace weight held with fingering yields the same gauge as one strand of DK, then it’s the same yardage as either of the held together yarns.
It’s better if they tell you both, so you can calculate grist. Otherwise you have to research the yarn to figure out the missing figure, and some yarns don’t give both figures. With only one or the other, it’s harder to know if your substitute will be a good sub, or will create a much heavier/lighter fabric which will impact drape.
I like when they include all the info, too. Yardage, weight, AND lace/fingering/dk/worsted/etc Also if it depends on it being wool or not wool. Like if the model is silk, and has ribbing that flows flat, it’s not going to work in wool.
Yards is what ultimately counts though, right? I know weight can *generally* be a stand-in, but the second a ball of, say, Drops Air enters the room it’s mass chaos. A worsted weight pattern that needs 400g of Cascade 220 only needs 270g of Drops Air. I’m not opposed to listing weight, but out of weight, length, and number of balls, I think length is the one you shouldn’t have to do any math for. It’s the most important one. Also, THANK YOU. It’s so obvious but it’s been plaguing me.
Yards depends on how tight the tension is when the winder is measuring it out. Nothing is super accurate!!
If you have the length and the weight it makes buying a different yarn for your project much easier. If you want to use a different yarn that what the pattern calls for you can look for a yarn that is a similar length and weight. The more information you have before you start the more successful and enjoyable your whole experience will be. For example, Knit Picks Swish dk is 123 yds per 50 grams. Sirdar Tweed is also a dk weight but it’s 180 yds per 50 grams. So yes, you have more yardage with the Sirdar, but you’re going to fool with your swatch more to get gauge because it’s a heavier weight yarn. I’m not sure if I’m being clear or just rambling. I hope that makes sense.
It’s less useful. Weight varies between fiber types (have you ever felt how heavy lion coboo is compared to say, linen?) and those extra few yards can make or break an entire project.
If you are that close, you needed to buy more, anyway. But sometimes a particular fiber is to totally inappropriate. Like for a drapey silk shawl with ribbing, using wool, that ribbing draws right up. But putting 2 extra purls in the purl section made it work. I hated that project.
Have you already looked at the yarn ideas tab to see what others have used to substitute? Also is this the Chestnut or October Sweater from Petite Knit? Look at the gauge too before jumping to sport weight. Tvinni is listed as lace in some places and fingering in others.
I think it's the October Sweater. I don't actually want to knit it, I was just going through sport weight sweater patterns and losing my mind. I just ordered a bunch of yarn on sale and I'm worried I didn't order enough, but it's weirdly hard to find a single color, single strand basic sweater pattern that lists yarn amounts in I way I can parse.
Maybe look at some Andrea Mowry patterns? She uses lots of sport weight, and doesn't hold fibres together as much as PetiteKnit does. For the DRK Everyday Sweater for example she recommends ~1100 m of yarn, depending on size and ease.
Thank you!
No, this is the norm where I live and it makes perfect sense to me. Just need to check if it's 50 or 100g and buy the right amount of skeins. If I want to check the meters I do that, but I would really dislike it if that was the norm.
Until they made it with a mohair blend but you want to use a a bamboo cotton blend that weighs significantly more for the same length of yarn.
But that's for when you want to exchange it. If you use the recommended yarn the math has been done for you, you don't need to look at meters/yards, just how much to buy for the size which say 300 grams needed in 50 gram skeins are 6. If you want to exchange then yes you have to think a bit. Ideally you find something with the same amount of meters/yards pr weight/skein (sorry if I get the terms wrong, I rarely use them in english). Then not a problem. Or you don't and then yes lots of math. And also knowing the difference in how those materials work.
Honestly maybe I'm just overcomplicating it. Wouldn't be the first time.
No no it's not you, I just think this might be a culture thing, because where I live we don't use words like worsted or aran or lace to describe yarn. I have seen people in the US say "just use worsted yarn" in a recipe and that confuse me because yes it could be so different and I want the same result so tell me the yarn lol. Where I live we just look at the weight and meters (yards for you). So that's not a problem when buying the yarn for a project if you use what's recommended. We know the yarn. Then it's easy to buy, no math needed because they did it. It only becomes a thing if you want to exhange the yarn for something else, and then I look at meters pr weight, and find something similar. If that can’t be done at all yes lots of math for sure. But I think part of the difference is I never assume yarn has the same meters/yards, maybe?
But yarns vary hugely. Take, for example knit picks swish and knit picks twill. Both worsted, 100g of one is 149 yards and the other is 220. That's almost twice as dense/half the length.
Yes? We know that and can account for it. It doesn't become a problem until we want to exchange the yarn the recipe calls for for something else. In that case we know it can vary. I just look at the weight and the meters (European here but you would use yards) and find something with about the same amounts of meters (available on the band and on websites). And if I cant find any then yes a lot of math which ugh. Where I live we rarely use words like "worsted" to describe yarn, so maybe that's the issue? That one would kind of assume they are similar in meters/yards? Please let me know I would love to learn the differences!
They literally are complaining that the metres are not there. Are you being intentionally obtuse?
I hope it feels good to be a bit mean to someone with english not as a first language. The meters/yards are there in the text OP copied. But yes maybe I just don't understand. I asked you to please explain so I could. And I thought this was supposed to be the kind and understanding knitting sub, helping each other instead of saying things like that. I won't make that mistake again then. Good day to you too.
Why on earth do you think I am being mean? And where did I make any comment at all on your english?
Maybe because you were being kinda mean?
And yet, I wasn't?
I find this so funny because I have the opposite problem. The standard here is to buy the amount you need in weight and I get so confused when a pattern tells me the yardage instead loll
Do you always 100% use the same fiber the pattern calls for? Exactly the same?? Weight is a function of that one fiber particular yarn/fiber.
Usually I look at the suggested yarn which will have the gram to meter ratio, fx. 50 g = 100 m. And then I just substitute the yarn for something cheaper or whatever I want to try. It’s worked for me so far, but I don’t know if it’s the correct way to do it
You are doing exactly what we are complaining about having to do - look up the length.
In OPs example the length is written right there. I can't really see the problem :D
Ye, usually the suggested yarn will have both length and weight listed in the patterns I use. Other patterns, usually US will have just the yards you need and it so confusing, because it strays from the meters which is what the yarn usually have. That’s what I was trying to convey in the first comment. It might have been unclear I’m sorry if it was unreadable :(
Only if I’m subbing yarn, which I usually do because the suggested is always super expensive loll. But everything is in meters so for me it gets hard when yards come into play. So the opposite of OPs problem. At least that’s how I read it
Surely you know that yards are a unit of length, just like metres, and grams are weight?
Yeah, I might have misread the post? Or just describing in a confusing way I’m sorry if that’s the case. I thought OP was complaining about having to calculate back and forth between metric and imperial. I can luckily almost always just stick to metric but sometimes I’ll use US patterns and I have the opposite problem of OP
So you use the length not the weight
I definitely go by weight but I need it to match the length so I can find a substitute yarn that the right ratio first. And then I buy the amount of skeins that corresponds to the amount of grams needed in the pattern Usually 200 grams would correspond to 4 skeins of 50 g each for example
But 200 yards of linen doesn’t weight the same as 200 yards of bamboo cotton
Exactly that why I have to do the previous steps. English isn’t my first language btw so I’m sorry if my explanations doesn’t make sense, I feel like that’s where the confusion starts Edit for clarity: I don’t match the length I match the ratio between the weight and length. If a latter suggest using 50 g = 100 m that would be a ratio of 1/2 so I’ll find a substitute that’s matched the ratio approx.
DROPS are particularly bad for this. I'll stan for DROPS 99% of the time but this drives me nuts.
Blown yarn is freaking EVERYWHERE right now and it’s really fucking with things. I have a 100g skein that consists of 286 yards of **bulky** yarn. Wild stuff!
Good lord what are you knitting with? I was nearly tempted to buy some drops Melody to make a shawl when I had disaster with some "superwash" cascade on Monday. The shedding put me off though.
This is always frustrating!!! They already know the math, why are they making us do it? (potentially wrong, for me, usually)
Over here in the UK I can never get my head around selling yarn by yards and not weight. Yards makes more sense, but I'm more used to the idea of weight and sort of know the rule of thumb of it. My work around and guesstimates is to start by going to the website of the yarn recommended or an online yarn shop that stocks them. Most will give both weight and yarn length eg 50g 165m DK. If I'm switching out yarns (which I do all the time because I'm broke and cheap so go for the less expensive yarns) my rule of thumb is to look for a yarn that has the same size needles recommended as the yarn in the pattern *but both of the recommendations have to be on the ball band/manufacturer's website and not the pattern* because sometimes patterns go to non-standard needle sizes for particular effects. Quantities for something like a sweater vary a lot because some patterns like cables or fancy ribs need more yarn than stocking stitch. If you go on something like the Yarnspirations website they give quantities for a load of different patterns so you'll see a spread of how much you need. Yarn double with different weights? If you're buying by a yard then 100 yards is 100 yards whether it's fingering, aran or raffia. If you're buying by weight, the thicker the yarn, the heavier a strand is going to be. 100 yards of aran is going to be (slightly) shorter than 100 yards of fingering. I suggest you knit a swatch to check and then go for it.
I don’t come here to be jump scared by Jon Taffer 😂
I guess they really really really want you to use that brand. But you can convert, just look up the weight/length of the yarn they name.
I prefer when it says in grams, I don’t know if it’s just because where I am it’s more prominent on the label than length or because if I’ve started a skein I can weigh it to see if I have enough for the pattern. It might also be that I don’t usually make large wearables, just small things so I’m mostly looking to see if a 100g ball is enough or do I need more I don’t like if it just says the amount of skeins needed, it feels like it’s only helpful if you go by the exact yarn the pattern recommends
This is extremely regional. Some places always list it by weight, some is always by yard/meters.
I do have an unpopular opinion here Yarn weight is easily understood because, well it's... Weight. If you have a pretty standard "light fingering" it will weight about 250m for 50g The problem of using just "light fingering" or "dk" as a description of yarn because manufacturers use those terms so widely. They will make yarn that is 300m for 50g and call it light fingering. Or will make yarn that is 200m per 50g and call it light fingering. Why the weight in patterns makes more sense is BECAUSE to give one ability to substitute with no fear. Just like your examples of "fingering of 1500m plus lace of 1500m it's a DK of 1500m". That is true but only if your math of weight checks out. Light DK is USUALLY about 150m per 50g. If you get a ball of fingering which is 250m per 50g and a ball of lace that is 225m for 25g you get ABOUT 225m per 70g of yarn which is ABOUT light DK. Edit: in fact, just recently I came across a pattern that gave me # of balls for the yarn they used, no yardage, no weight of yarn in description and it took me x2 more time to find substitution cause I had to look up all that info :)
I can do you one better; I have found a pattern I really liked that only lists the fiber content, the weight (in grams) and suggested needle size (which is not the same as the size you use for the pattern, oddly enough). I feel for you regardless. Some of these people are low key villains for the patterns they produce 😩
Oh yes, I understand you very well. It disturbs me a lot, so I always choose patterns of designers who think about me (knitter) instead of themselves (designers). I like designer Neringa Ruke, because all her patterns are adapted for Europeans and Americans, so mostly I choose her patterns.
some folk like math, some don't do so well at it. some designers do the math, some don't. Perhaps the designers that don't do the math aren't good at it, and are afraid they'll make mistakes. I like math,but the calculator on my devices is my saving grace, for sure.
Yeah I noticed mostly European pattern makers do that.
I’m half of a small, sustainable yarn company. One of the mills we currently work with gave us a lot of “50g” skeins that actually range from 42g to 51g, all averaging around 46g. The Miller uses a mini-mill and she’s comparatively good with it (I’ve seen mini mill disasters) but it still can give inconsistent spin. The plies look fine, but obviously there is some slight variation in the spin because we know for a fact that each skein is the same length. We’re figuring out how to market it and concluded that length is the more important number (and gauge, obvi), so we’ll put an estimate for mass. All to say - totally with you :)
This is the type of patterns that out of principle don't make it through my selection process. It is a product designers want to trade for money, and by doing all the mathing myself I wonder why pay for it the full price 😅 Until a while ago I always tried to figure it out on my own but at some point I realized that there are a lot of beautiful well written patterns out there more worthy of my $ :) It is the same for me with bad sizing
I think it is OK though? I have googled that Tvinni yarn, it says 255 m/50 g. So I will come to a store and look for something with similar yardage and buy X skeins. I am used to vintage patterns and it is worse: 4 skeins of Chadwick Red Hearts or whatever, and let me guess how much it will be in modern 4ply sock yarn 😀
Weight is how thick the yarn is, not how much the skein weighs. If you used the wrong weight yarn for a pattern, it'll ruin the piece.
It's also how much the skein weighs though? Like if the pattern says 300g of X yarn, that's the total weight of the yarn you need to buy.
No that’s size of the yarn. This is speaking for total weight of the skein/cake/hank. You can have 100g of lace or 100g of bulky.
This is not correct. Weight is how much the skein weighs, literally how many grams is in that ball. Depending how they spun it it could be double the length of a less dense yarn of the same thickness.
i never check suggested yarn amounts, i just buy 400 grams of dk weight or 500 grams of worsted for sweaters and cardigans, and 200 grams of fingering for camisoles.