[COLOR=“Purple”]I’ve decided to knit a simple top-down pullover sweater using black and two colours of grey so I went to Michael’s to buy some yarn. I came home with Wool-Ease by Lion Brand but in looking over the pattern, I see it says to use HEAVY Worsted Weight Yarn and I don’t think that’s what this is. It just says Worsted Weight.
IT’s lovely and soft and the colours are just what I want but I have no idea what the difference is between heavy worsted and just worsted yarn.
I found no yarns at Michael’s called heavy worsted. There was some yarn there called Bulky… is that the same as heavy worsted?
Also, the gauge on the yarn says it takes size 5mm - 18 sts by 24 rows while the pattern says to use size 6mm.
I wrote the pattern out from the computer but I don’t remember where I got it from. Perhaps I missed something in the translation?
Is my best bet to go back to the store and take what I bot back? There doesn’t seem to be anyone there to help a person like me when picking out yarn… or can I somehow use what I have with some sort of change?
I’d appreciate any help on this…
Thanks,
TEMA:thumbsup:
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The problem with Michael’s, Walmart, Hobby Lobby, etc. is that they don’t have a large selection of most craft stuff. They have so many different crafts in them that each department just gets the most popluar stuff. Because of this, they won’t have all the sizes of yarn, needles, etc. but they’ll have most. Do you have a yarn store in the area… at least fairly close? I’d google your area, yarn store, if I were you. Heavy worsted, though, should be between worsted and bulky. Bulky is pretty chunky and thicker than heavy worsted.
It should be fine, I’ve used WE worsted on 6 mm and it’s not too loose. Heavy worsted is also called aran weight and you can sub a worsted yarn for that. Bulky is much thick than heavy worsted, so I wouldn’t go for that. Go ahead and try it, I think you’ll probably match the gauge on the pattern with the 6mm/size 10s.
It doesn’t matter if you’re using the exact same yarn or needle size as the pattern says … just make sure that you’re getting the same gauge as the pattern indicates. Experiment with a few different needle sizes and you should have no problem getting gauge using your Wool Ease yarn. 
You can always adjust with either yarn weight, needle size or both. I’d say do a gauge swatch, then if it’s not right, try a different sized needle and do another gauge swatch. You can always do the gauge swatch, then rip it out and use that yarn for your project, so don’t cut the yarn when you do the swatch! Sorry I didn’t think of this before but you know… pre-breakfast and pain pills means my brain’s not here… >.<
[COLOR=“Purple”]Thank you!
How wonderful that you all replied and gave me such hope for the yarn I have bot.
I will do a swatch and find out for sure… and next time I will go to a yarn store instead.
Just felt, for this one, I didn’t want to spend too much money as, first of all, I’m not rich and secondly, I haven’t been back into knitting for a long time… 
(amazing what you forget…!)
I’m so grateful to you all… 
TEMA:knitting: [/COLOR]
There’s nothing wrong with using Woolease for a sweater, so you don’t need to apologize; it’s a decent yarn, and it’s machine washable. Not everyone can afford a sweater’s worth of yarn from the YS and some of those yarns have the same problems people complain about acrylics - pilling, etc - as well as having to be careful about felting or shrinking it.
[COLOR=“Purple”]In the end, I decided to keep what I had and to try it doubled.
For one thing the young lady there wasn’t really helpful. She’d never heard of heavy worsted weight and she said Aran was a colour not a weight of yarn…
In any case, I looked around at what they had and settled on some black yarn that was a bit thicker but wasn’t really soft… cheap yarn at $3.00 a ball… and there was not two colours of grey in the offing.
So I decided to keep my yarn, double it and see what happens. I don’t think I will run out because I bot extra to being with and if I do, I shall make do with other blacks and greys I have in my stash.
Actually, I decided to start with the black from my stash for the neck and work into the other black after that. The first black has little shots of coloured yarn thru it so it will look totally different and I see nothing wrong with that.
Stay tuned…
:knitting: :knitting: [/COLOR]
Well yes, aran is that off white color that aran sweaters are knit from; it’s more commonly used as a weight in the UK and Australia/NZ.
Knitting WE doubled is going to give you close to super bulky, so unless you want a really thick sweater don’t do that. I really think it will work on size 10 needles; if the gauge is a little small, maybe you can knit the next size up.
I started the knitting of the thing yesterday and I’m not using the new yarn I didn’t take back at all… not doubled, nothing.
I’m using this real nice black yarn with dots of colour thru it as a start for the neck… Now I’ve switched to a grey that I had on hand and seems very similar to the black.
I found the pattern. IT’s from Knitting for Dumbies on page 286.
The gauge says… gauge doesn’t matter… all I really need to do is to make sure that I increase my stitches til the sweater is large enough for my chest. I’m almost there now.
I’ve decided to use the yarn I have in my stash that looks to be similar in weight to the black that I started with.
The only thing I don’t like so far is the neck. The pattern calls for a cast on of 80 sts, making the neck a teensy bit too wide for my neck.
Perhaps I can block this out, I’m not sure.
At any rate, it doesn’t appear that the sweater will be black and greys… probably some blues will show up… :shrug:
Not worried… if I like this pattern, I still have 10 balls of these colours I can experiment with later.
Take care,
TEMA:thumbsup:
all I really need to do is to make sure that I increase my stitches til the sweater is large enough for my chest.
Yep, isn’t that wonderful! When you get to what you think the chest size should be, do try it on, put some of the sts on another needle or scrap yarn. That way you can decide if it’s too long to the underarm, too short, too small, too large, and adjust by taking out a few rows or adding more.
If the neck is large, it won’t ‘block’ smaller, that usually stretches or relaxes the sts. You could pick up sts around the neckline and knit a few rows in ribbing to make it smaller though.
I hate to say this but a lot of people at Michael’s and Hobby Lobby don’t seem to know a whole lot… or maybe they know crafts but not the ones you do. Yeah… omg, here especially… I swear NO ONE knits or sews… unless it’s a quilt… quilting is big here… Do test swatches. Doubling yarn and changing needle size both will change your gauge. If it’s off a little, try changing needle size!
Also, mixing up yarns can make it visually more interesting, so go ahead and try it out! Just make sure your gauge is correct on every single different yarn you use (aka: wool-ease will be one gauge test, another brand/type will be another test…)
I agree with Mokumegane (sp??) about the salespeople at JoAnn’s, Michaels & AC Moore. If I have a question in the yarn department, I will ask another shopper first, rather than a salesperson!! (unless it’s a general store question)
AND if another shopper looks like they have questions I ask them what they need help with and help them look!!! This has happened to me quite a lot recently. I have lots of fun.
I’ve become an “unofficial” part-time helper! (LOL)
knitcindy
Lol! Yeah, I know! What’s sad is sometimes, the people at Walmart know more than them! I know, though, they have the same hiring standards… they’re not looking for people with knowledge, really… they’re looking for people who can do the average store tasks, so they can pay them less for their time. This is even more true now with how the economy is!
Maybe we should all just stay here and support each other… to heck with those stores! lol