Substitution and Yarn Suggestions

[CrafyJp]

Hello everybody so I have recently bought some new vintage patterns and I was wondering if anyone had any yarn substitution and/or suggestions since I can not find the yarn anymore. The first one asks for Sirdar Double Knitting Wool, for this one the company is still around but I can not find double knitting wool nor do I know the weight for it so any good wool suggestions would be great. The other two patterns are more of a suggestion if anyone has a favorite aran weight yarn and a favorite DK weight yarn that would be great those two patterns just mention aran and DK and I am not familiar with those yarns only fingering so any suggestions will help! Thank You 

(I added photo references of each pattern I am talking about so first photo is for the sirdar wool and the other two are the suggestions of yarn thank you!)

 

[NCcountrygal]

double knitting = dk

Here's a link to Sirdar DK wool types available at yarn.com

Sirdar Yarn at WEBS | Yarn.com

[NCcountrygal]

All About Yarn Weights for Knitting (thesprucecrafts.com)

Standard Yarn Weight System | Welcome to the Craft Yarn Council

In clothing it's important to make a gauge swatch and find a yarn with similar gauge outcomes.  Using any fiber (natural, acrylic) and yarn weight won't work.  Lots of factors play a role.  ie stitch gauge, fiber, plied vs unplied

[NCcountrygal]

Useful site:  Yarn Substitution

[Granny Square]

^What everybody said about yarn substitution.  Just wondering - from the hairstyle & earrings I'm guessing that the first one (knitted vest) is a pattern from 1960 =/- a couple of years.  Does it give the finished sizes in inches, or just say small, medium, etc?  Women's sizing nomenclature has changed over the years, for vanity reasons (the size 'names' keep shrinking).  In other words a medium today could have been an extra large in 1960, also girdle-wearing was pretty common back then. 

If it doesn't give measurements, hopefully your pattern gives a gauge (x stitches to 4" for example); gauge swatches are always important of course but especially so for vintage patterns.  Check your gauge, and then check the # of stitches around the body at a critical spot (bust probably),  do the math and make sure this is going to fit you.

[CrafyJp]

14 hours ago, NCcountrygal said:

Useful site:  Yarn Substitution

 

14 hours ago, NCcountrygal said:

All About Yarn Weights for Knitting (thesprucecrafts.com)

Standard Yarn Weight System | Welcome to the Craft Yarn Council

In clothing it's important to make a gauge swatch and find a yarn with similar gauge outcomes.  Using any fiber (natural, acrylic) and yarn weight won't work.  Lots of factors play a role.  ie stitch gauge, fiber, plied vs unplied

 

14 hours ago, NCcountrygal said:

double knitting = dk

Here's a link to Sirdar DK wool types available at yarn.com

Sirdar Yarn at WEBS | Yarn.com

I just want to say thank you so much for responding also I feel really dumb not realizing double knitting is DK 🤦🏽‍♀️ but also again thank you and I will definitely save and look into the links you sent! And I've never done gauge i know I should be doing that so I will try for sure do it for these garments especially since they are older. Thanks again! 

[CrafyJp]

13 hours ago, Granny Square said:

^What everybody said about yarn substitution.  Just wondering - from the hairstyle & earrings I'm guessing that the first one (knitted vest) is a pattern from 1960 =/- a couple of years.  Does it give the finished sizes in inches, or just say small, medium, etc?  Women's sizing nomenclature has changed over the years, for vanity reasons (the size 'names' keep shrinking).  In other words a medium today could have been an extra large in 1960, also girdle-wearing was pretty common back then. 

If it doesn't give measurements, hopefully your pattern gives a gauge (x stitches to 4" for example); gauge swatches are always important of course but especially so for vintage patterns.  Check your gauge, and then check the # of stitches around the body at a critical spot (bust probably),  do the math and make sure this is going to fit you.

according to the etsy page where I got this from its from the 40s??? but I don't know for sure... but now that you mentioned it I didn't think about different sizing throughout the years. I was going to do the largest size anyways but the pattern says (and this is for the vest) and then I also added the gauge that the pattern asks for 

Edited April 3, 2022 by CrafyJp

[NCcountrygal]

FYI: On the yarn. com website that I linked above the Sirdar “heirloom yarn” (dk,sport) has a listed gauge 6 sts per 1 inch with size 6 needle.  Listed as a discontinued yarn.  If you choose that you’d need to get enough to complete project.  The rest are 5.5 sts per inch.  

[NCcountrygal]

6 hours ago, CrafyJp said:

 

 

I just want to say thank you so much for responding also I feel really dumb not realizing double knitting is DK 🤦🏽‍♀️ but also again thank you and I will definitely save and look into the links you sent! And I've never done gauge i know I should be doing that so I will try for sure do it for these garments especially since they are older. Thanks again! 

You are welcome.  Don’t feel dumb we all learn as we go  

[Granny Square]

Ah, glad it gave measurements and gauge so you should be good to go. 

A comment on the vest, since it has very little ease (it's very form-fitting)--'waist length' is something that most people probably don't pay attention to, but I learned about it eons ago when I learned to sew in the mid 1960s.  It is a measurement from your back neckline to the waist, and you can be average, long, or short waisted.  Back then dresses zipped up the back or buttoned down the front for the most part because they were form fitting, and if the back waist length was too long on the dress, it would bunch up at the hips; if too short, the hip shaping would start too high and probably look silly.

The vest is tight so you probably know you'll want to check the fit around you as you go, but just wanted to point out that getting the hip distance issue  that might not have occurred to you.