The Papa
yarn substitutes · what to use when you cannot get the one the pattern says

This is a starting point, not a promise.Knit a swatch before you commit the whole sweater.

Substitutes for Bellissimo Calais

weight
lace
thickness
640 m per 100 g
put-up
25 g
fibre
50% Alpaca, 25% Wool, 15% Silk, 10% Cashmere
in Australia
listed by 1 Australian shop we track

closest first

lace · 600 m/100g · 25g · 63% Alpaca, 26% Silk, 11% Yak
  • nothing we can measure would feel different
lace · 600 m/100g · 25g · 74% Suri Alpaca, 26% Silk
  • much fuzzier, with more halo
  • less springy -- it will grow and not bounce back
  • drapier, hanging softer
  • shinier
lace · 600 m/100g · 25g · 74% Suri Alpaca, 26% Silk
  • much fuzzier, with more halo
  • less springy -- it will grow and not bounce back
  • drapier, hanging softer
  • shinier
lace · 600 m/100g · 25g · 74% Suri Alpaca, 26% Silk
  • much fuzzier, with more halo
  • less springy -- it will grow and not bounce back
  • drapier, hanging softer
  • shinier
lace · 600 m/100g · 25g · 100% Cashmere
  • less hard-wearing
  • more matte
  • softer next to skin
lace · 680 m/100g · 50g · 90% Merino, 10% Silk
  • springier
  • stiffer, holding its shape more
  • more matte
  • sold in 50g put-ups, not 25g -- check how many balls the pattern needs
lace · 600 m/100g · 50g · 74% Suri Alpaca, 26% Silk
  • much fuzzier, with more halo
  • less springy -- it will grow and not bounce back
  • drapier, hanging softer
  • shinier
  • sold in 50g put-ups, not 25g -- check how many balls the pattern needs
lace · 600 m/100g · 50g · 74% Suri Alpaca, 26% Silk
  • much fuzzier, with more halo
  • less springy -- it will grow and not bounce back
  • drapier, hanging softer
  • shinier
  • sold in 50g put-ups, not 25g -- check how many balls the pattern needs
lace · 600 m/100g · 50g · 74% Suri Alpaca, 26% Silk
  • much fuzzier, with more halo
  • less springy -- it will grow and not bounce back
  • drapier, hanging softer
  • shinier
  • sold in 50g put-ups, not 25g -- check how many balls the pattern needs
lace · 600 m/100g · 50g · 74% Suri Alpaca, 26% Silk
  • much fuzzier, with more halo
  • less springy -- it will grow and not bounce back
  • drapier, hanging softer
  • shinier
  • sold in 50g put-ups, not 25g -- check how many balls the pattern needs
lace · 600 m/100g · 50g · 75% Suri Alpaca, 25% Silk
  • much fuzzier, with more halo
  • less springy -- it will grow and not bounce back
  • drapier, hanging softer
  • shinier
  • sold in 50g put-ups, not 25g -- check how many balls the pattern needs
lace · 630 m/100g · 50g · 100% Cotton
  • cooler
  • crisper, with less halo
  • less springy -- it will grow and not bounce back
  • more hard-wearing
  • more matte
  • sold in 50g put-ups, not 25g -- check how many balls the pattern needs

how this was worked out

Thickness comes from metreage per 100 g, which is a measurement. Fibre behaviour - warmth, halo, springiness, drape - is scored per fibre and blended by proportion, so a merino and a Bluefaced Leicester read as near neighbours while a merino and a cotton do not, even at the same gauge. Where a record is thin, the match is discounted rather than quietly flattered, and the gap is named above.

Yardage is always rounded up. If we ever sell you the yarn and the number is short, the extra skein is on us, from your dye lot.