Emu Quickerknit Wool Equivalent

[sufiona]

Am knitting baby shawl using Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. Vintage pattern says 18 Balls. Presume balls are 20g. Therefore I need 360 g of wool. DB wool comes in 50g balls - I can't believe I'll only need 8 balls (ie 400g) - the last baby shawl I knitted (from a DB pattern which I don't have any more :(,
I think it took about 15-16.

Please can anyone advise? Many thanks.

sounds good hope u ,manage to make it

Can you find out what length a ball of the original yarn was? That will be more relevant than the weight, I think. Am assuming the DB yarn is knitting to the same tension.

Do you know what the finished dimensions of the shawl are meant to be? Could do a yarn calculation based on that.

Why would the original balls be 20g? 1oz is 28.35g - meaning you will probably need 510g, a bit more than you originally calculated. However, SwanneeKazoo is right, you really need to know the length of each ball of the original yarn - wool is heavier than natural fibres etc.. If it is square it should be reasonably easy to estimate the finished size and final weight based on the bit you have done already.

Oops - meant wool is heavier than manmade fibres!

Thanks!

Thanks so much to all for your replies, and helpful tips. Much of the 'older' wools were in 20g balls (tho some in ounces) that's why I assumed 20g. I can't find out the length of the old yarn ball, however, the blanket is 45 inches square. I'll probably take a chance and hope for the best - when I've finished it I'll try to remember to post. Thanks again!

Not sure if I can add links but found a great site which gives me the answer- however, wouldn't have got there without the above replies. Thanks muchly!

Apologies - I have just checked and there is some Emu quickerknit for sale on eBay in 20g balls. All my vintage quickerknit patterns are pre-decimal, so I jumped to the wrong conclusion!

Oh please don't worry PurpleFrog - grateful for any advice!

In case this helps: I checked a swatch of a sport weight merino yarn I use that is very similar to Baby Cashmerino (same yardage per ball, knits to same tension).

A 6in by 6 inch square weighs 15g in stocking stitch. So that's 36 sq in.

The 45 by 45 inch shawl has 2025 sq in.

2025 divided by 36 is 56.25.

56.25 x 15g is 844g.

Oh. That would be 17 balls of Baby Cashmerino. That's a lot, but close to what you anticipated. Unless my arithmetic has gone wrong - anyone?

Didn't quickerknit used to be slightly thicker than double knitting? Seem to remember something that had a name a bit like that double quick knit?

We, dm and I, never bothered with it - just stuck to double knitting and 8's and 10's.

Thanks again everyone - all going well so far!