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 Yarns On Shannon Avenue 4 ply

weight
fingering
thickness
387 m per 100 g
put-up
50 g
fibre
100% Wool
care
superwash
in Australia
listed by 1 Australian shop we track

closest first

fingering · 400 m/100g · 50g · 100% Wool
  • nothing we can measure would feel different
fingering · 366 m/100g · 50g · 100% Wool
  • nothing we can measure would feel different
fingering · 385 m/100g · 100g · 100% Wool
  • sold in 100g put-ups, not 50g -- check how many balls the pattern needs
fingering · 370 m/100g · 50g · 70% Wool, 30% Nylon
  • nothing we can measure would feel different
fingering · 372 m/100g · 50g · 80% Merino, 20% Nylon
  • softer next to skin
fingering · 420 m/100g · 50g · 75% Wool, 25% Nylon
  • thinner: 420 m/100g against 387 -- expect a 9% difference in yardage needed
fingering · 420 m/100g · 50g · 75% Wool, 25% Nylon
  • thinner: 420 m/100g against 387 -- expect a 9% difference in yardage needed
fingering · 420 m/100g · 50g · 75% Wool, 25% Nylon
  • thinner: 420 m/100g against 387 -- expect a 9% difference in yardage needed
fingering · 400 m/100g · 25g · 75% Wool, 25% Nylon
  • sold in 25g put-ups, not 50g -- check how many balls the pattern needs
fingering · 400 m/100g · 50g · 100% Merino
  • softer next to skin
fingering · 383 m/100g · 30g · 75% Merino, 25% Nylon
  • softer next to skin
  • sold in 30g put-ups, not 50g -- check how many balls the pattern needs
fingering · 400 m/100g · 100g · 73% Wool, 25% Nylon, 2% Polyester
  • sold in 100g put-ups, not 50g -- 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.