hi all
my grandmother loves knitting and is trying to do some for the local Special Care Baby Unit but is really struggling to find patterns in 4 ply (as requested by the SCBU).
i have downloaded some from the 'net, but most are unsuitable.
she has several suitable DK patterns and was wondering if there is an (easy) way to convert them (she is 85).
thanks for your help
Chris
4 ply can mean anything depending on how it’s spun so can you elaborate?
http://www.craftyarncouncil.com/weight.html
Here’s a commentary on the ply issue.
http://www.purlbee.com/2-ply-4-ply-why-ply/
A 4 ply yarn may just mean one that’s got 4 strands. If you can point us to a website for the SCBU, maybe they’ve got a little mre information.
A lot of baby yarns though would be a ‘4ply’ or fingering weight and there’s lots of patterns for them. Maybe your grandma could use that yarn and suitable needles and make a larger size of the DK patterns (which would take more stitches but using the thinner yarn would make them smaller than if knit in dk weight.)
thanks for the replies 
all that is on the band round the ball of wool is …
Super soft baby 4 ply
100% acrylic
as for a website, i don’t think there is one.
bliss.org.uk is the main one in the uk, but the hospital doesn’t have its own.
Chris
i notice that the patterns on the Care wear site for hospital donations sometimes specify 4 ply. They have patterns for hats, booties, and blankets that might work for your grandmother. Remember too that some of these babies are really tiny so patterns for full term babies in 4 ply may work out just fine for preemies.
Gauge would be the next easiest way to determine what 4 ply means. That link I gave you shows the different gauges.