Novice knitter here (again) - need help!

[Mommy2Ro]

Found suggestions from MNer's on last post so helpful, thought I'd throw this one out there.

Bought Quick Baby Knits by Debbie Bliss on recommendation, but am wondering if/how to figure out what/how much yarn to substitute for some of the patterns.

Specifically, pattern calls for 4 25g balls of Jaeger Cashmere. I would like to use cotton and am worried that I'll buy the wrong 'weight' so the tension will be all off or not get the right amount of yarn. I've been wracking my brain (and my mother's!) about this one.

Anyone have a good tips for figuring this out? Am dumbfounded.
Want to buy my yummy yarn and get to the fun part!

wouldn't know how to work it out sorry, but if I'm not sure about substituting yarn I ask in the shop where I'm buying it. Our local shop is run by a lady who knits non-stop herself and knows all about it, or I go to a big store in town where the assistants can confer. All my knitting has turned out ok so far! HTH

I think you have to look at the 'yardage' given on the yarn. So if the 4 x 25g of cashmere gives 400 (100 each) of yardage and 3 x 50g of the cotton gives you 450 yardage (150 each) then you will be fine.

I am not a knitter (can you tell?) but I have spent many a happy hour () calculating yardages with my knitting mother.

Bump this up and I'm sure Marina will correct me!

Actually, the most critical thing is the tension. I'm not familiar with Jaeger Cashmere, but it should say on the pattern something like, say, 23 stitches and 32 rows for a 10 cm square. You must get yarn that has the same measurements (or very close) to get a garment that ends up the same size. You can alter it to some extent by using different size needles, but not by much. If you can put the tension on here I can suggest some cotton alternatives. Then, as Gem13 says, you need to work out the yardage rather than just buying the same weight, especially as cotton will be a lot heavier than cashmere. The only word of caution I have is that you will end up with a very different "fabric" if you change from cashmere to cotton. I don't think that would matter unduly with babies' clothes, but if for example you were knitting an adult size jumper you would have to bear in mind that cotton is heavy and can really droop, which may not suit some styles. Hope that helps, and get back on here with the tension and I'll see what I can do

think you're going to have to knit a tension square and work it out from there (IIRC)