Math for Knitters – Substituting Yarns

Knowing what the “put up” of a yarn is will help you when you’re substituting one yarn for another in any given pattern. In this video, I explain “put up”, and demonstrate how to do the yardage math for yarn substitution.

The screenshots shown in the video are from Ravelry, an excellent resource for knitters and crocheters. You can get an account for free here.

Information on things you’ll see in this video:

The sweater I’m wearing is a tutorial coming next week, October 22!

The needle I used as a pointer is Knitter’s Pride Bamboo.

The nail polish I’m wearing is by Julep, color “Malala”.

11 comments on “Math for Knitters – Substituting Yarns

  1. One of the things I remember learning in (one of your ‘wonderful’ videos’ is the fact that you do not have a stash ! I find that amazing and very wise. I think all of the yarn I have stashed away is just one more thing that clutters my mind — therefore less knitting time – more yarn (hmmmm) – but more stress ! Your statement really made an impression on me AND I thank you !! :0)

  2. I too look forward to your weekly video series, but for some reason–this week won’t load properly. I will keep trying though since this is a topic I need to understand for my next project.

  3. I just tried using Internet Explorer browser and it loaded correctly, Chrome is not working with the video–Just in case someone else having similar problem.

    Your videos are great!

  4. Great video that I used tonight to shift the suggested yarn for a pattern to a desired yarn I picked up locally. Is there a math equation that calculates multiple strands to make a certain equivalent weight/dimension? For example how many strands of fingering yarn would equal and “gauge out” at a worsted weight/dimension? Does that even make sense?

  5. Julie – to figure out a yardage amount for something like that, you really have to knit a swatch and measure both the stitches per inch and the yardage used. You can use a kitchen scale to measure the weight of the yarn ball before and after knitting the swatch, and figure out the yards used from that number. Good luck!

    S t a c i

  6. I clicked on the icon to get a free Ravello account and got “error-404”. Thought you would want to know.

    Thank you for the math for yarn substitution video.

  7. How much yarn do I purchase for the raglan sweater? I will be using the woolease number 4 thanks so much making the large size

  8. Judy – you can sign up for email updates from my website by clicking the little envelope icon in the left panel (in the section with all of the social media buttons). Enter your email address when prompted, and you will receive an email every time a new video is added.

    S t a c i

  9. Gracious! I had never heard of PUT UP and now I know! Doing many smaller projects, this never mattered too much, but now that I have embraced sweater knitting, I realize that I can’t simply buy or use one-to-one “things” (hanks, balls, skeins) of yarn given to me for these projects! I started working on prepping for the Skeino Spring Bloom Cardi and realized I needed *14* of my Egyptian Cotton I had in lieu of the 3 skeins from Skeino…and I had *13* !!!!! So I am being creative with using another color for the rib bands. I hope it turns out well. I am trying to use up yarn I have before buying more or doing complete kits, which is always a safer way to go. THANK YOU STACI for this amazing tip/trick to get your project done well! What would we do without you!! Please don’t ever RETIRE!!!!! <3

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