debbie bliss wool/cotton has been discontinued and I need it for a pattern - What could I substitute?

[BellaBear]

Hello, I am quite new to this knitting lark and so far I have managed to make three baby hats and a little baby cardigan [proud!].

I tried to make the bootees from the debbie bliss book 'baby knits for beginners' and it says to use debbie bliss wool/cotton. So I went to John Lewis and the assistant said that 'wool/cotton' meant you could either use wool or cotton so I bought cotton, and knitted to the pattern and it is far too big! I have since worked out what tension means...

Anyway, I have tried to buy wool/cotton online but it appears to have been discontinued, what would work instead? It has a tension of 28 sts 46 rows to 10cm.

Thank you very much for reading this,
BellaBear

You just want something else that knits up to the same tension. I know nothing about yarn brands, but I would think you'd want a wool/cotton blend again. What size needles does this yarn take?

Well, the pattern says 2.75mm

to be honest, I only went for Debbie Bliss because the pattern is DB, and I'm not quite confident enough to experiment!

That sounds like something in a 4ply to me, maybe a bit smaller.

Jaeger Siena Cotton 4 Ply comes at 28sts x 38 rows per 10cm square, using 2.75 - 3mm needles. Does the pattern give row counts, or measurements, to tell you how many rows to knit?

okay, thank you NotQuiteCockney, I will have a look around

x post

it tells you how many rows, rather than how long in cm to knit for, if that is what you mean?

Which would make it roughly four-ply.
I think you were unusually badly advised at John Lewis BellaBear, as both wool and cotton can come in yarn weights of between four ply (fine) and aran (not so fine).
You can check on the yarn ball-band what the recommended needle size range is. If you go back to the shop, check in the four-ply ranges. I think both Rowan and Debbie Bliss currently do a nice light four ply baby yarn in natural fibres - most other brands tend to go for acrylic

I bet those bootees were rather...large?

x-posted. Agree with NQC that Siena would be perfect

Ok, so things may come out a bit longer than you want, then. You might want to do a good tension square, and then modify the number of rows knitted, suitably.

have googled that and it looks lovely, might attempt to buy online...

Yes, I usually get good advice at JL, so was odd.

the bootees would be too big for my nephew who is nearly one. They were meant for 3-6 months! (I'm becoming the mad lady with loads of baby clothes and no baby (yet))

Aaargh, not sure I am brave enough to modify anything. My cardigan is all funny because I didn't pick up enough stitches on the front band so the last buttonhoe is too high up and therefore the neckhole is tiny, so I decided I would follow the next pattern to the letter. Grrr....

BB, if you need help modifying patterns, come on here and talk it through with us. There are lots of knitters here. I don't understand bootie patterns (hats are my speciality) but I'm sure Marina or tamum or someone else would help.

Do the tension square, and see where you are, and then you can see what changes, if any, you need to make.

here's a link to the debbiebliss site, it states tension square :- 10cm / 4 inches = 25 sts / 34 rows.

This may help???

here

Ah, but that's on 3.25s, not 2.75s.

I do think the row/stitch ratio that BB quotes in her first post is kinda wonky-sounding, isn't it? Ok, in garter stitch, you get twice as many rows as stitches, but stocking stitch is narrower. Wait, is the tension square (and the pattern) worked in garter stitch?

Thanks NotQuiteCOckney, will do when I sort out my yarn, thank you - I made some hats from a sirdar pattern which taught me ribbing and skpo and I've been giving then to my pregnant friends, they are really cool, so I might come back to you when I feel more adventurous! Thanks for the welcome

FLIER - thanks, that's interesting, it isn't the same tension as in the pattern!

I'd so far ignored the instructions for doing a tension square, it wasn't really important for the hats and I seemed to get away with it for the cardigan, but for bootees it really seems to matter!

Thanks for everyone's help

no, moss stich! Oh duuurrrr me!

Ah, right, moss stitch is shaped more like garter stitch, as you'd expect.

This is my knitting blog, but I've not been updating it recently . I've done some really good hats, and gave them away, without taking pictures. Well, I have to do another one soon, will try to photograph that one.

oooooo i like. I made my first two hats with a pompom and then my third with a sort of 'acorn stick' if that makes any sense. hats are cool.

Acorn stick = some icord sticking out the top? I mostly finish hats that way, I don't really like pompoms, and my first (and only) attempt is on the blog, and looks like a furball.

no it doesn't, it looks cool.

Rowan do a lovely Wool/Cotton which is a bit like 4 ply. It knits up really beautifully.

I would suggest the Rowan, too I think the reason it's got a tighter tension and smaller needles is probably to give the bootees a slightly stiffer fabric than normal. I would try and find something that knits to the same as the Debbie Bliss wool/cotton normally, and then do it on smaller needles. Maybe the Rowan Wool Cotton on 3mm, something like that?

okay, thanks for all your suggestions, I will get back to you after doing a tension square,
thanks again !

Tamum and Littlefish obviously know what yarn's out there, better than I do.