DK weight

[TeriAnne]

What does DK mean?  and would that be the same in cotton as well as acrylic? I am trying to substitute Drops Muskat yarn for something I can buy local. Would Peaches and Cream 100% cotton do the trick? I want to make the following pattern

 http://www.garnstudio.com/lang/us/pattern.php?id=123〈=us

 

I located the pattern from this website 

 http://primitivespirit.wordpress.com/2012/05/12/a-crochet-memory-gave-me-an-inspiration/#more-1805

 

In the primitivespirit blog she looks as though she used the 100%cotton

 

your thoughts?

 

TeriAnne

 

 

[nancybanta]

She used a cotton/linen blend yarn.

 

Where do you see that the yarn the pattern calls for is DK weight?

[magiccrochetfan]

Dk is between worsted and sport weight.

 

The Muskat in the pattern is DK http://www.nordicmart.com/shopexd.asp?id=222

Looks to me that the blogger used Cotlin by Knitpicks, which is dk http://www.knitpicks.com/yarns/CotLin_DK_Yarn__D5420162.html

 

Peaches and Cream is worsted and would be too heavy.

[TeriAnne]

Hmmmm...now I can't remember if I found DK in the pattern or the blogger. I don't see it in either now....I guess I was getting my pages confused. But anyway, I still don't understand what DK  actually means. Does it have to do with the ply or the blend of fibers? 

 

Looks like I will order from Knitpics for the cotton linen blend that the blogger used. 

 

Thanks

TeriAnne

[ReniC]

DK means Double Knitting and mostly a blend of acrylic and wool, usually used for baby layette pieces, socks, sweaters, etc.

The Craft Yarn Council of America has a standardized list of yarn weights and hook sizes related to weight size. It's a great go-to when you have yarn questions of any kind.

[Granny Square]

DK means double knitting, as in double the weight of common knitting yarn.  

 

It's sort of a ye olde term, back in the old days hand knitted items, esp. for clothing, were usually made with finer weight yarn than nowadays.  

 

It has nothing to do with the fiber or how many plies it has.  Actually ply(# of little strands spun together to make 1 completed strand of yarn)  has no real bearing on the weight of yarn; there's 6 ply fine doily cotton, and 1 ply super bulky yarns out there.  UK yarn weight systems use the word ply, but doesn't mean how many plies are wound into 1 strand of yarn.

[magiccrochetfan]

Hmmmm...now I can't remember if I found DK in the pattern or the blogger. I don't see it in either now....

 

On the pattern page it says the recommended yarn is Muskat, and you can click on "order now". when you do that it goes to a page of Muskat yarn, and if you click on one of the individual colors it goes to what I linked in my first post http://www.nordicmart.com/shopexd.asp?id=222 and the description there says it is DK.  there might be a simpler way to find that info, but I couldn't find the yarn weight on the pattern page.  

 

Like GrannySquare said, the yarn weight terms, including DK, do not tell us anything about the actual number of plies or constructionn of the yarn, they are only about the gauge the yarn will crochet or knit to.  ---And what is really important is the gauge you can crochet it to so for things that need to fit a certain way, or be a certain size, it is always good to swatch.  

 

To see a range of yarns in specific weights, you can look on sites of companies that sell yarns.  Annies is one example http://www.anniescatalog.com/yarn_and_thread/list.html?mode=list&offset=0&limit=41&cat_id=457&type_id=

Or Herrschners http://www.herrschners.com/department.aspx?id=11096    In those listings, some yarns that are carried in craft stores are included, such as Simply Soft Light or Bernat Softee Baby, so if you've seen some of these yarns you have an idea of how big DK yarn is.  

 

But remember that all of the wieght categories are ranges, so 2 DK yarns will not necessarily be exactly the same size.  And the fiber does make a difference.  

[TeriAnne]

Thank you all for such detailed information...I think the yarn that the blogger used ...the Cotton Linen blend from Knitpics is perfect after looking at all your information....Thank you so much!

[FlossiePotts]

It's sort of a ye olde term, back in the old days hand knitted items, esp. for clothing, were usually made with finer weight yarn than nowadays.

 

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My much older sister tells me that before WW2 and a bit beyond, only fine (what we call 4ply), wool was available for knitting and when DK came out, it was twice the thickness of the thickest wool available (no synthetics then) and everyone took up knitting again because it was twice as fast.

Some of the cardigans, knitted in fine wool, that we see on the English TV series about wartime UK are just lovely, though, aren't they?

[TeriAnne]

Flossie.... yes I believe that most hand crafted items of long ago were done with such precise care in the making. I love items that are fashioned after, as far back as Victorian times. I often see patterns of crocheted items even from the 1940's and '50's that are just made with more detail.and fiber that I don't believe you could buy today unless you spin.