Beginning To Knit Series | Part 1
Don’t Throw Away Your Ball Bands!
Ball bands are little straps of card that wrap around your new skeins of yarn. They look so innocent, but they actually hold all the information you need for a successful knitting project, which is why I tell new knitters who can easily overlook them; “Don’t throw away your ball bands!”. If you want to swap the yarn that your pattern designer has suggested to one that you prefer, these little bits of card will help you choose the perfect yarn for your project, so let’s take a closer look at how to match your ball band with your pattern.
In your pattern, the designer will advise that you need a certain amount of stitches over four inches/10 cm, as well as the fibre content, yarn weight, and needle size, (all of which we will be covering in this “Beginning To Knit Series” here on the blog). The joy of ball bands is that they are created in a way that gives you the same advice as your designer, so all you have to do is match them up!
Keep To The Same Yarn Weight
Most ball band will tell you the weight of the yarn, and you need to match this to your pattern. Although you may love the colour of a chunky yarn in the shop, it will not be a substitute for the DK weight yarn that the designer wants you to use. Looking at the ball band will help you narrow down the weight of yarn that you need to use, which is the first step for a successful yarn substitution.
Meterage Over Weight
You will see on your ball band that there are a certain amount of meters, or yards, in the skein. This allows you to work out how many balls of yarn you need for your size, as well as a gauge swatch. For example, if my DK pattern calls for 1400 meters, and the Baa Ram Ewe Eden DK that I want to knit with is 204 meters to a skein, I can do a simple equation of 1400 / 204 = 6.8 and that means I need 7 skeins of yarn to complete my sweater project. (It may sound obvious, but always match the meterage/yardage you will need, and not the number of skeins the designer has written!)
In the shop, I do not try to match the weight of yarn in a pattern, as no two wools are the same weight. The mills produce different yarns from many fibres, and so simply matching 50g of one merino supplier to another 50g of merino from a different source is not going to give you a successful substitution option.
Stitch Gauge
You will see a grid on our ball band with 10cm/4inches, a row count, and a number of stitches. On Baa Ram Ewe Woodnote DK, the grid tells us that it is 24 stitches to 30 rows on a 4mm needle. If this is near to your pattern estimate (within a couple of stitches), it is the right yarn for a subtle substitution. The only thing you may need to be aware of is your own personal style of knitting, which is why your size of knitting needles matter.
Size Of Needles
Your ball band will also give you a suggested needle size. For the Eden DK, Baa Ram Ewe has used a 4mm needle to achieve 23 stitches per inch. In reality, your knitting may be tighter or looser than theirs, so you may find that you want to go up to a 4.5mm, or down to a 3.75mm needle. If the pattern says 4mm for a DK yarn, and your yarn is a DK weight with a 4mm recommendation, you should be good to go!
Fibre Content
Your ball band will tell you what the yarn is made of. Eden DK is 70% organic British Wool, and 30% alpaca (for some serious squish factor!). This information is really important for a successful yarn swap, because if your designer has written a pattern in cotton, wool, silk, linen or tencel, they will have used it to give a specific drape and finished style. It is much better to stick to their advice if you would like a finished project that you are really happy with.
Washing Instructions
There will be symbols to let you know how to care for your project when you come to wash it. Put simply, I recommend all knits to be washed in cool water with a yarn specific detergent like Yarn Food. However, if you do want to have the freedom to pop it in the washing machine, I would advise using a cotton or a superwash wool (on a very cool wool cycle only and NO tumble dryer)!
What’s A Dye Lot?
The dye lot for the colourway that you have chosen is a very important bit of information. If you run out of yarn, you will want to get more skeins with the same dye lot number so that the colours match. The number refers to the dye bath they were all sharing in the mill, which means they will all be the same tone and hew. If you don’t match the numbers and the colours on your original ball band, you are in danger of having a change of colour half way through your knitting.
Keeping The Bands
I like to keep one ball band in my knitting notebook for reference. Some colours I love and want to use again, and some yarns I love and want to try new colours. There are also times when I forget the yarn content and need a quick and easy reference so that I can care for them well. It’s fun to look back at them next to the swatches and remember the projects that I have enjoyed! If you prefer a digital version, you can log everything down on your Ravelry so you can access it easily when you are out and about in your local knitting store!
It’s all too easy to throw these little bits in the recycling bin, but once you know why they are there, and the knowledge they hold, you will see them in a whole new light.
Until next time, happy knitting!
Sarah x