Substitute blogger: Barbara Skoglund
I was one of those studious, front row kids who was always a
little sad when we got a substitute teacher. I felt like it was going to be a
wasted day in school. When we had subs we were usually ordered to read quietly
or watch a filmstrip. (I can’t be the only boomer who remembers film strips.)
The naughty kids loved substitutes because they were usually able to be
rebellious. What do substitute teachers have to do with crochet? Well, I’m
writing to share a great sub with you. The rebels who want to do their own
thing and the studious fiber artists will both love YarnSub. Yarnsub.com is a wonderful resource for all fiber
artists, crocheters, knitters, weavers, and all other yarn users.
YarnSub was designed to help fiber artists find alternate
yarns, yarns they can substitute in patterns. It does so much more than that.
First up is the primary use. You find a great pattern, but the yarn has been
discontinued. YarnSub to the rescue. For example, I loved ordering yarn from
Elann, then in 2021, after 28 years the owners retired. The website, the yarn,
and all the wonderful free patterns went away. I still have some of those
lovely patterns. I always wanted to make their Side to Side shawl. The pattern
calls for Elann Luna. Ravelry tells me it’s a DK yarn. YarnSub tells me much
more, including that Valley Yarns Southwick is a 95% match for Luna. Reading
line by line I learn through the description why this is a good match. The
texture, gauge, fiber content and other qualities are a very close match. I
learned that I need 1.1 balls for every one ball of Luna the pattern calls for.
If I’m not quite sure Southwick is what I want to use, I can read through a
list of several other suggested substitutes.
Spincycle’s Dream State is very popular right now. It is dyed
wool, worsted yarn that self-stripes into beautiful multicolored marls. It also
retails for $36.00 for a 70-gram skein. A YarnSub search for Dream State brings
up several solids that have the same gauge and fiber content. But what I really
want to find is a yarn with a comparable marled color look. So, for my second
search, I ask YarnSub for “self-striping marls,” the terms it uses to describe
Dream State. Up pops Berroco Median, the fibers are different from Dream State,
but the beautiful color patterning is similar. Retail price is $16 for twice
the yardage of Dream State. I keep looking. Red Heart Gemstone has beautiful
marls too and it’s 200 grams for $10. Gemstone is bulky, but since I’m looking
for a colored marl yarn and don’t have a specific project in mind, I need to
find a pattern that fits the yarn.
YarnSub not only lets you search by brand name and yarn
properties, it also filters for source of fiber (animal, animal-derived,
synthetic and plant) and price. It has great photos of the yarn and interesting
descriptions of the texture and different fiber qualities. The database has
over 10,000 yarns and you’ll find both high end yarns and house brand yarns
from all the big box stores.
I use the site all the time and just learned they have a
newsletter for yarn geeks like me. The site has links to new crochet and knit
books published between 2016 and 2024. There is also a treasure trove of
technical articles and past newsletters. Yarnsub.com is one substitute we can all admire!
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| March 23 meet up at Rosedale Center |
Substitute blogger: Barbara Skoglund
