Twinkle Soft Chunky substitution lab

• Posted by Kamicha on October 16th, 2007 filed in Uncategorized

With a new Twinkle book arriving February I guess that it is time to glimpse over my Twinkle projects and experiments in substituting Twinkle Handknits Soft Chunky. I managed to get four skeins of the actual stuff, so I have a good reference point. Although the yarn is now in form of Groovy Sweater and I threw away the three inches of leftover yarn… But comparisons are still possible!

First of all I have to say that Soft Chunky is really worth its name. It is probably softest 100% wool yarn I ever touched. And it’s chunky. Seriously that. But there is quite amazing loftiness in this yarn, it does not produce platelike garments. And the colour palette is great, very appealing to knitter with scandinavian complexion, too. The negatives: the yarn piles (not the worst I have seen - come on, this is very loosely spun single ply yarn, what’d you excpect) and sheds hair. And it is hard to get - if someone knows a retailer in Europe, please inform!

I have to say that one thing I never worry is horizontal gauge. If it is off, I just adjust the pattern while I knit along. But please notice that you have to take this in account, too - especially if the garment has something exciting going on lengthwise.

Kauhavan Kangasaitta sells nice chunky weight wool yarn called Melli. It has two solid shades (unbleached and wine red) and some variegated ones. I used this for Magic Shawl. Horizontal gauge is one stitch off. Does not sound bad, but when gauge is 6,25 stitches for 10 cm, this will produce some problems with fitted garments. However, substitution worked just fine with this pattern! I could use this yarn for fitted garments, too, but probably pick a size larger than otherwise. I wouldn’t use this yarn straight against the skin. But Tuxedo Jacket, Rockefeller, Marilyn, Karate… …why not!

And here are some images, a swatch and the yarn. The structure of the yarn is very similar to soft chunky, slightly more felted, coarser (but not itchy) and not so bulky.

Difference in gauge can be easily seen when comparing the knitted surfaces (sorry about the lost focus in this image). Not too bad to handle.

Rowan Big Wool is mentioned as substitute and I made Karate Sweater from it. Big Wool is very soft, but has two plies and it is considerably lighter than Soft Chunky. Actually the yardage is about the same in 100 g Big Wool and 200 g SC. But Big Wool is very lofty and produces pretty nice surface even with 15 mm needles. The different structure and lightness gives naturally some characteristics for the finished objects. I really can understand if someone actually prefers the slightly less bulky outcome with this yarn!

In closeup you can see, how close the gauge actually is. Both ribbings are made with 12 mm needles, but the edge of gray Karate Sweater is bound off quite tightly. Difference could be remarkable in stokinette stitch with 15 mm needles, but unfortunately I don’t have a swatch to compare. The stitch pattern in Karate Sweater is very forgiving and strechy - and it is very easy to add some rows in this pattern, if the horizontal gauge is off.

I used also Garnstudio Eskimo as substitute when knitting Balthazar vest (post is in Finnish only, but contains images). It is considerably lighter but structurally similar yarn to SC. And I love the colours! When knitted in large needles it produces very drapey and stretchy garment, but fills the surface surprisingly well. When knitted with 10 mm needles you get gauge equivalent to Twinkle summer knits, so if you want a wintery version , this is an option.

But I decided to double this yarn and experiment for even more Twinkleish garments - and look, it worked!

The gauge is very close to the original. I guess that I’m going to test this on that Vogue Knitting fall 2007 Twinkle jacket.