Idontdoyarn

No, I'm good if it changes size (just not like 20" : ). A bit of difference in the texture wouldn't bother me either. My main worry is that I don't want it to assume a parallelogram shape or some other weird thing from it stretching out (at least too much).

Thanks for all of the help here! I'm getting in a little over my head with all of these yarn gauges, etc., but if I don't do it, I know my grandmother won't . Yes, I really like that too. I've spent somewhere around five months looking for a good pattern; I'm a rather picky person. Yes! Crocheted things are one of her favorite gifts for grandchildren (of which I am one of 33!). I think she has one of every hook size ever dreamed up, with quite a few duplicates. Finding the right size hook is no problem. That would work really well if I could figure out how much the alpaca will stretch. What I've read is go down a hook size and make the project undersized, and then it will stretch out to the proper size. What I don't know is how undersized the afghan will have to be made, that's what's stumping me.

Hello all, I'm the anomaly on this forum I'm sure. I don't knit, I don't crotchet (although I did make a nose muffler once, but that's a different story). However, I got my grandmother to make me an afghan. I picked out the Fields and Furrows afghan from Crochet 365 Knit Too, to be made out of Blue Skies Suri Merino, which is 60% Baby Alpaca, 40% Merino. It's supposed to knit up to 20-24 stitches per 4", while the original yarn was 20 per 4". The pattern calls for an h8 hook, but I'm not sure if that's the right size for the yarn, since I've heard that alpaca stretches and you need to go down a hook size. The pattern calls for 1900 yards of yarn, and I bought 2100 so I have some leeway with sizing. What size hook should I get my grandmother (normally an acrylic user) to use so the afghan remains in a recognizable shape? Thanks, Paul