Yarn Substitution Made Easy*

By Carol Sulcoski

175 pages

You probably think you know everything you need to know about yarn. Why do you need another book?

Well, Yarn Substitution Made Easy* will tell you about all the things you didn’t know (but wished you did) about yarn, gauge, twist, fiber and a host of others.

It’s seriously a book that will have a prominent place on my bookshelf for years to come. It’s part reference and part entertainment, it’s both smart and funny and it’s chock-full of things you wish you knew (but once you get the book, you will)

Sections

The book is divided into 3 sections:

Part I: Yarn Fundamentals

Part II: The Substitution Process

Part III: Patterns for Practicing

I’ll go into each one a bit more below.

Part I: Yarn Fundamentals

This section could be aptly named “Everything you ever wanted to know or never knew you needed to know about yarn” – but since that’s too long, we’ll go with Yarn Fundamentals.

Carol covers stitch definition, elasticity and drape and then she goes into a variety of types of fibers.

First, she talks about your initial choice – animal, vegetable or mineral. She covers a variety of fibers – wool (no surprise), wool variants (I never even knew there was a Vicuña or a Guanaco), cotton, linen, acrylic and tons (TONS) more.

Then, she talks about the different construction types – singles, plies and more.

Once we read about that, she covers visual effects – solids, multis and more.

Part II: The Substitution Process

We start off with a smart question – Why Substitute? It’s good to ask this so you know what you’re trying to do.

Are you looking to Substitute because of cost? Or because you want to use up something from your stash? Or maybe it’s because you couldn’t easily get the original yarn (plus a ton of others). And she even includes a picture of swatches from different weight of yarn, but done up at the same gauge. I love it because it shows you that you can use other weights of yarn in the substitution, but you need to factor in the differences (and sometimes, you’ll love the effects, and other times – not so much).

Carol outlines that there is a TON more to factor into this than just gauge. While gauge is important, it’s really just the beginning of choosing a good substitute.

Once we’ve identified why we’re substituting – and also, what we need to factor into things – Carol goes into the next chapter – Selecting the Perfect Substitute Yarn. She talks about shopping for a good yarn, calculating the needed number of skeins (it’s super-easy math – I promise). And she even gives a great little card to fill out. She gives you all the important things and even includes a section for Notes so you can add anything else you want.

Part III: Patterns for Practicing

She includes a variety of patterns in this section – different weights, a variety of types and a bunch of others.

Make sure you look through this section

Even if you’re not interested in the designs, make sure you read this section. Carol gives a ton of education in this section too!

She goes through considering other yarns and even pictures small samples of each of them. This was great for me because it was another way to talk about the Pros and Cons and things to think about with a yarn.

Who is this Book Good For?

Substituting Yarn

Well, this one’s a gimme.

Buying a Yarn for Your Stash

This one might not seem obvious, but it’s a great reason too. Take a look at your stash. Do you have any holes that you want to fill? Maybe you went on a bender and bought all the singles but you’re missing a nicely-plied, evenly-balanced yarn (and it’s good for the type of patterns you’re drawn to making). Now you know.

Lovers of fiber

Even if you don’t have an immediate need, this is a great reference book to have on your shelf. I suspect you’ll refer to sections a lot more than you’d ever think. And in the process, you’ll become a smarter crafter and a smarter shopper.

Gifting a Yarn

It could be helpful so you avoid buying a yarn when there’s NO WAY the recipient would use. I put myself in the situation of trying to buy something I know nothing about, and parts of this book could really be helpful if you’re in this situation when it comes to yarn. I’d suggest you read Part I (although I’m sure you’ll get helpful info in any of the chapters).

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