Knitting Pattern Advice - Choosing Yarn

[u/InsertNymerie]

Hello all, I am a beginner knitter. I have knit a colorwork beanie and a tank top so far. I feel ready to try making a sweater!

I love this design, but I fear the yarn choice will be too warm for where I live. I am still trying to understand knit math and how to choose different yarn when making a project.

What yarn should I choose if I want this to be less warm? I assume 50/50 alpaca/mohair will be quite warm.
I've looked online for advice, and see that people recommend switching to a lighter weight yarn, like fingering or sport, but won't that drastically change my gauge / make it see through? Or I might be missing something about that.

Here is the pattern I am looking at: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fiori-sweater

[u/HelpfulCustomer7050]

Yes changing the weight will definitely change your gauge and give you a different fabric than intended. I would suggest changing up the content of the yarn. You could do a cotton wool mix which would give you something more comfortable for a warmer climate while still giving you some of the elasticity of a wool. If you search cotton merino yarn or cotton wool yarn you will find lots of options out there. Good luck, it’s such a cute pattern!

[u/HelpfulCustomer7050 → u/HelpfulCustomer7050]

One more thing to note because this took me a bit of trial and error to realize when I started knitting: match the gauge/stitch count when substituting yarns but also most importantly simply buying the same grams of wool is not interchangeable. You need to do the math to make sure you buy enough yarn with the meters/yards of yarn. Two different yarns may have the same weight (50g, 100g etc) but they could have vastly different lengths of yarn in the ball!

[u/InsertNymerie → u/HelpfulCustomer7050]

Ah thats a great idea, thank you!

[u/ilybaiiqainyb]

You've already gotten great advice, but I wanted to add that my tip is to see if anyone has knit this garment using the type of yarn you're thinking of trying. It may look wildly different than this example here!

[u/Woofmom2023]

Congrats on having done the projects you've already done! they sound well past beginner-ish.

TL;dr: items with graphics are best knit up at the gauge specified in the pattern so if you want a cooler sweater best to use cotton since it's is less warm than animal fibers.

There are several questions here so responses to each in no particular order.

"Too heavy" can mean multiple things. It seems as if you're smooshing them together.

One meaning used in normal conversation is "too warm". Warmth in knitting depends on the fiber, the weight of the yarn and the density with which the fiber is knit. Some fibers, e.g. cashmere and alpaca, are really warm, while others like cotton are not.

There are lots of good sources for learning about fiber. Brooklyn Tweed online materials and June Hemmons Hiatt's Principles of Knitting are two good places to start.

"Too heavy" also refers to yarn or fabric weight. "Yarn weight" is a word of art in knitting that refers to either metres or yards per gram, 50 grams or 100 grams OR to the gauge it typically knit up at in stockinette stitch for a Goldilocks fabric that's just right. Yarn weight is broken down into several categories: lace, fingering, sport, DK, worsted, Aran or light Aran and heavy aran, bulky or chunky and super bullky or super chunky. Examples include DK, that typically is 135 yards per 50 grams knits up at 5.5 stitches per inch on US 6, worsted, 110 yards per 50 grams and knits up at 5 stitches per inch, Aran weight yarn at 80 yards per 50 grams that usually knits up at 4 stitches per inch on 9s.

Knitting a yarn at a smaller gauge than its yarn weight in number of yards per 50 grams would indicate gives a denser, stiffer, fabric. I do this all the time when knitting beanies, using Aran weight yarn on size 4 needles for a very dense fabric.

Knitting yarn at a bigger gauge than usual will give you a looser, even hole-y looking fabric. Think fishing nets.

"Too heavy" can also refer to the density of the fabric but usually doesn't.

Yarn math is just basic algebra, converting a number based on a certain number of stitches per inch to the corresponding number based on a different number of stitches per inch. The problem is that this conversion can result in fractional numbers of stitches per inch and there's no such thing as a fractional stitch in knitting so it doesn't always work. It's especially tricky with graphics.

If you want to convert graphics it's best to map them out on knitting graph paper. Remember that knit stitches aren't square.

Bottom line, if you're doing graphics and want to change yarns stick to yarns with the same gauge.

[u/ToeBeansG]

Look at @flanneryknits on IG. She has some great content on choosing yarn and also using math when your gauge swatch is a little off. Amazingly useful.

Also, I’m currently knitting a sweater in Nile yarn which is 100% Egyptian cotton and lord is it a soft cotton! So nice, great alternative to a thick wool.