Substituting aran for dk?

[Jimwenttothedarklands]

I'm knitting a "simple" (ha!) cable and lace shawl The pattern is for dk but I want to do it in my favourate wool which is aran. Although it's lace it is chunky lace, not delicate so I don't think aran will overwhelm it. The design of the shawl means I can reduce the number of repeats quite easily if it gets too big. My question is: how can I work out how much wool I need? Should I just buy the same amount as the pattern recommends in dk? Ta!

Is the pattern on ravelry? You may be able to advance search completed projects to be able to see whether others have used Aran and how much they used.

Obviously it will depend on your tension and the specific type of wool so you may need to do a swatch (BORING I KNOW) and check against the pattern gauge to judge how much you need to adjust

The key is to look at the yardage for the wool not the weight. If that is not given on the pattern you may need to research the wool suggested compared to your fancy stuff.

It's a shawl, it doesn't need to fit. Knit a swatch and see if you like how it looks and how the fabric drapes: it may feel too stiff as it's thicker than the designer intended. Obviously, use the needles specified for the yarn you're using , not the needles specified in the instructions.

100g of Aran won't go as far as 100g of DK, so buy extra. If possible buy it from a shop that will let you exchange any unused yarn.