Look, I know you are out there – I see the stats. So talk to me, please?
I have a question: US “Sport Weight” – do I substitute DK or 4ply? Which is the closer? I am knitting mitts.
Thank you.
Let’s put some life in this blog. It has been too long. I feel ready to rejoin the chattering classes.
Found this site.
http://www.yarnstandards.com/weight.html
Don’t know if it’ll help. You know me, wraps per inch if that – or knit a tension square!
Pah! You know me… easy route and all that
Only wussies swatch 😉
And yes, I will be a wuss. But I’d like to know the best starting point and I failed to google an easy comparison chart between UK and US weights – though one must surely exist?
The answer is Sport weight. I know a lot of knitting books say DK is lighter in weight than Sport, but my experience (as a knitter for 40 years and a former yarn shop owner) is they are both pretty much the same.
Thank you, beadknitter – but I am afraid that still leaves me unenlightened. In the UK we have DK and 4ply as the nearest to Sport Weight but as I understand it, neither is the same – so I cannot get a direct equivalence (unless I spin some and in this case I am far too impatient)
I think DK is very close to Sport weight. Honestly it’s going to depend on how you come out with your gauge swatch. See if you can swatch DK and come out with the gauge they recommend on the pattern. Some of us would not come out with the recommended gauge with Sport, so it’s different with every knitter and from yarn to yarn depending on how it’s processed, how tight the twist is, and what the fiber content is. Best wishes for a successful project!
What yarn does it really call for? Do you need someone in the US to send you some Sport weight yarn? You can probably find someone on Ravelry with it available in their stash – try contacting them to see if they would sell it to you or make a trade! 🙂
Thank you very much, Laura. That is really helpful. Obviously I am going to have to swatch but I am an impatient soul and I thought that starting in the correct place would be the most efficient. Besides, I have a lot of 4 ply in need of destashing 🙂 and no DK in the house at all!
The dragon scale mitts call for alpaca, which they will not be getting. Blue Sky’s Sport Weight 100% Alpaca, in fact.
I’m tempted to send away to Elann, once I am sure that I have mastered the pattern – because alpaca mitts really do appeal. The Peruvian alpaca at $4.25 for 50g looks a bit of a steal to me, but the shipping hurts a bit.
I’m just terribly confused that every guide to yarns that I look at seems to play Sport in a slightly different position relative to DK to all the others.
I wish my spinning was good enough that I could produce a yarn to order!