How to Know What Your Yarn Wants to Be

It’s fair to say that, as knitters, we all love yarn, however, pairing the right yarn with the right design can be tricky. A beautiful yarn will not always produce a beautiful outcome if the design isn’t appropriate for it.

In Sweater Design School, I teach my students to design first and then select the yarn, however, if you have some yarn in your stash that is just begging to be designed with, or you spotted some in your LYS that sparks inspiration, it’s important that you design something that will do the yarn justice.

In this blog post, I’ll teach you how to work out what your yarn wants to be by analysing the ball band, the skein and the swatch. Let’s jump in!

Image description: Graphic saying “How to Know What Your Yarn Wants to Be” on top of a close-up image of several hanks of single yarn in jewel tones

Ball Band

We will start by looking at the ball band, where you will find several important pieces of information that should directly influence what you design with this yarn.

Fibre Content

Whilst some knitters are fibre-savvy enough to accurately work out what the fibre content of their yarn is just by touching it, most of us need the ball band to tell us this information.

Wool is an animal fibre that is an excellent thermoregulator. For this reason, it is an ideal fibre for all seasons. Wool also holds its shape beautifully, so it can withstand heavy blocking, such as that needed for lace knits.

Depending on how course the fibre is, you might want to consider how close to the skin your design might be worn. Fine wools, such as Merino, are typically more comfortable to wear directly next to the skin than something more rustic, for example, a Jacob wool. Courser yarns are better suited to outerwear, so knitters can wear a layer underneath it.

Wool often has a good amount of grip to it, particularly if it is woollen-spun, so it works wonderfully when used in stranded colourwork.

Other animal fibres that you might encounter are silk, cashmere, alpaca and mohair.

Silk is ideal for warm weather designs as it is cool, soft and lustrous. It has very little elasticity and a heavy drape. This makes it perfect for flowing knits, such as shawls or waterfall cardigans, but unsuitable for more structured sweaters or items such as hats that should stretch to fit the head.

Alpaca is another luxurious fibre that is soft to the touch with lots of heavy drape. This can be lovely in items such as scarves and shawls but can also cause a sweater to stretch out of shape, so for sweater designs, a blend of alpaca and wool would be better suited. Alpaca is also very warm, so it is best used in cold weather designs.

Cashmere is one of the softest, most luxurious animal fibres to knit with, however, it’s not particularly strong. Designing a pair of pure cashmere socks wouldn’t be a sensible idea, as they’d wear through very quickly. 

It is also an expensive fibre, so if you want to try and keep your design affordable to the average knitter, it is better suited to smaller designs such as mitts or hats rather than large sweaters or blankets.

Sometimes, cashmere has a lot of halo too, so it can be inappropriate to use in designs with lots of stitch texture. Otherwise, the texture is likely to get hidden.

Image description: 3 cakes of yarn in tweedy earth tones. They are on top of a white earthenware pot, with a white vase in the background.

Mohair is strong and warm, despite being a very lightweight fibre. It is fantastic for sweaters, as they will be very cosy yet not at all heavy to wear.

Mohair yarns usually offer plenty of yardage too, so they can be relatively affordable to work with in large designs.

Mohair is usually brushed to have a strong halo, so it is likely to hide any stitch textures in your design. It can be lovely to use in colourwork though, as it creates an abstract, painterly effect. It also shines when knitted in simple stockinette especially when paired with a beautiful sweater silhouette.

Yarns made from plant fibres are usually cool to wear, making them fantastic for warm weather designs. Common plant fibres are cotton, linen and bamboo, which are all soft and strong with great drape. Relaxed fitting t-shirts and tanks look wonderful in these yarns and are generally very affordable for makers, too.

The stitch definition is usually fantastic, so they suit designs with lots of texture. They don’t block well though, as the fibres lack elasticity, so the stitches tend to look less uniform than those knitted in animal fibres. 

Something important to note about linen, specifically, is that it has a tendency to bias, so it is best knitted flat rather than in the round. Keep that in mind for any sweater designs.

Yarns in synthetic fibres are much less warm and breathable, however, they are more affordable than natural fibres, so that’s something to consider if you want to design a very large project in an affordable yarn.

They are also easy to care for, as knitters can just chuck projects in the washing machine, so it can work well in designs for babies and children, who might get messy.

Unfortunately, synthetic yarn is not biodegradable, unlike natural fibre yarn, so consider ways to make your design long-lasting to avoid it potentially ending up in landfill.

Gauge

Looking at the suggested gauge of your yarn is a good way to see how heavy the yarn is compared to others you might have worked with in the past. I recommend doing this instead of looking at the weight category since categories are not standardised.

This weight chart on Ravelry can be quite helpful though if you’re interested in roughly seeing what category the yarn might fall into.

Whilst there are no set “rules” on which yarn weight is appropriate for which season, I tend to associate bulkier yarns with cold-weather designs and lighter yarns with warm weather designs, especially if you’re working with wool.

Additionally, you might need to consider what type of project is best suited to the yarn weight. Large projects, such as sweaters or blankets, can put off some knitters when they are designed in very lightweight yarns as they are a big time commitment.

Yarn Length

The length of your yarn will influence the total cost of the project for knitters. For this reason, you might be better off designing smaller projects for expensive yarns that don’t offer much yardage.

Additionally, if you are designing something in colourwork and will only use small amounts of a yarn that offers lots of yardage, this could be off-putting for some makers who don’t want to purchase the yarn, only to be left with lots of partially used skeins. Consider ways you can use the yarn more economically in your design.

Image description: Graphic with a photo of some purple cakes of single yarn coming out of a metal bucket with lavender and some bamboo knitting needles. Beneath it says “Knitting Pattern Design. How to Know What Your Yarn Wants to Be. www.sistermountain.com”

Skein

Once you’ve learned everything you can from your yarn’s ball band, it’s time to look at the skein, specifically focusing on the yarn’s ply, spin and colourway.

Ply and Spin

Take a look at your yarn and try to identify whether the yarn is a single yarn or a ply yarn. Single yarn is made from fibres that are directly twisted, whereas ply yarn is made from two or more single yarns, twisted together.

Single yarn has a roving-like quality to it, so it is often very soft and lofty. It isn’t very strong though, so be cautious about designing anything that will get worn down easily. You can expect this yarn to pill quite a bit, so I like this type of yarn for accessories (although not socks!!)

Singles usually have a bit of a halo, so they don’t have much stitch definition. You’ll need to be careful about what stitches you are using in your design so that they don’t get lost in the halo.

If your yarn has two or more plies, particularly if they are tightly spun, it will have much better stitch definition and will usually be able to stand more wear. Ply yarn is much more appropriate for sweaters than single yarn.

Colourway

You might be surprised to see colourway on this list, but the colourway of your yarn can have a strong influence on what direction you take your design in.

Solid colourways are extremely versatile and will work in any design, as long as they are not too dark for the pattern photography. However, multi-coloured yarns, whether they are variegated, self-striping or marled, can make designing a bit more difficult.

If your yarn has a lot going on with it, stitch patterns and textures will have a hard time showing up. In fact, stitch textures can almost entirely disappear in some variegated yarns.

For this reason, I suggest keeping your stitch patterns simple if you want to use a multi-colour yarn. This will make your yarn star of the show, rather than fighting against other design details.

Swatch

Despite all the information you can glean from analysing the ball band and the skein, there is nothing that can compare to swatching. After all, the yarn might behave in ways that you don’t anticipate!

Knit up a large swatch, washing and drying it using the method you intend to use for the final design. Once it’s ready, you can hold the swatch over your shoulder or arm to assess the drape and stitch definition. This is a trick I used all the time when I was working as a swatch designer in the knitwear industry and it really helps to visualise your design.

Drape

Drape describes the way that the fabric behaves when you hold it against the body.

If your swatch drapes heavily against the body and has a fluidity to the way it falls, it will look wonderful in designs that emphasise that drapey quality, such as shawls. However, it will just look shapeless if you attempt to use it in a more structured design because it’s not able to hold itself up.

If your swatch has structure and tends to stand away from the body, it is perfect for more structured designs, such as cable-knit sweaters. It is not well-suited to something like a shawl though, as the fabric will look stiff and won’t fold and drape nicely around the neck.

Stitch Definition

Take a look at the stitches in your swatch. Are they clearly defined or do they look a little fuzzy or uneven?

Yarns with clear stitch definition make cables and texture pop, so you could take your design in that direction to make the most of this quality.

If your yarn is a bit fuzzy, it is better used on simpler, bolder textures such as thick cables, or plain stockinette. Colourwork is very nice in yarns with less stitch definition, too!

Golden Rule: Work With Your Yarn, Not Against It

If you’re designing something with a specific yarn in mind, the best advice I can give you for a successful outcome is to work with your yarn rather than against it.

Take a look at the ball band, skein and swatch to identity the natural qualities of the yarn you are designing with. If you design against those natural qualities, the final design won’t be as successful as it could be. Design with those qualities in mind, and both the yarn and the pattern will be working together to create a beautiful outcome!

Ready to Design Your First Pullover?

If you dream of designing and releasing your very first sweater pattern, I’d love to invite you to my free on-demand workshop, How to Confidently Design Multi-Size Sweater Patterns - Without Worrying About Whether Your Ideas Are Unique Enough to Stand Out Amongst Other Designers.

In this workshop, I’ll be sharing 3 simple strategies you can use to generate countless stand-out sweater design ideas makers will want to knit, even if you are worried you don’t have enough experience or originality.

To grab your free ticket to the workshop, sign up here.