Hi there! I hope it’s ok to ask this here. I’ve been wanting to crochet an almost floor length cardigan, so I would need a lot of yarn. The pattern said they used a Level 4/Worsted weight yarn and had a gauge of 8 stitches and 6 rows on 4"x4". Now, I can’t really find out what equals as worsted weight yarn here in Europe, and the ones I found all feel too thin to achieve that gauge. I’ve been to a local store where they recommended some cotton yarn and wool to me that should be equal to worsted weight. Now the thing is, they are quite expensive and I still can’t get close to that gauge, meaning I would need even more. However, what I found of WW yarn, they all seem to be acrylic and honestly not much cheaper.
So I’m currently a little stumped, am I looking for the wrong things or do I have to face the fact that this cardigan would cost me about 180€ of yarn?
Thanks for your question. Sure it is okay to ask here, this community needs more active members.
As for your question: I also haven’t got a clue about worsted weight yarn as I am from Europe myself. So what I do is look for a similar gauge and buy whatever I like. Works out fine most of the time.
Yarn is expensive in large amounts and wool even more so. So 180€ seems normal-ish for this amount of wool. I am sure you could do cheaper than that but not too much. I would consider making the cardigan from cotton yarn, which is still gonna be expensive but probably less than 180€
Hope I could help!
Thank you, this is extremely helpful! I’ve never made a piece of clothing before, so I have a hard time telling how much it would cost. Even just knowing that this is generally about how much I have to spend is worth a lot! I was looking at cotton before actually, but neither online nor at the store I could really find colors I liked. And since they weren’t a lot cheaper, I thought I might as well pay a little more and get a color I really like.
Only the gauge has me really confused. From what I’ve looked up, I feel like 8sts x 6rows is very little for 10x10cm, with the wool I got for testing I would need twice as much.
Google tells me that “#4 Worsted” yarn weight in America equals “Aran” weight in the UK and Europe. Is that helpful?
Also, cotton feels really nice, but it’s not going to have the same kind of drape that wool or even acrylic might have, or what I would want in a cardigan. (But you’re not me, so…) I’ve had good luck with superwash wool from Knitpicks. I’ve made a cardigan and a sweater with it. I spent about $100 US on a booty length cardigan amount of yarn (knit, not crochet, if it matters), so your price quote for floor length seems about comparable.
If you’re in the UK, knitpicks.com will ship to you. Doesn’t look like they go to Europe though. :(
I hope any of that helps some. Good luck on your cardigan adventure!
Thank you so much! Yea unfortunately they don’t ship to my place : ( that’s like my main problem, I can’t seem to get the recommended yarns here. But from what y’all tell me the wool price is about what I have to expect for this project! (and the aran yarn I found isn’t much cheaper really)
Tho I have to admit, I have decided to go for a different cardigan now, one that doesn’t need as much material 😅 I’ve used up the wool skein I had to see how much I can make with it, and it turns out I would probably need more like over ~210€ worth of yarn (damn that nice looking floor length hahah). I want to get back to it later tho, when I’m more confident in my crocheting knowledge and have a bit of money on the side!
Thank you for your good luck wishes! When I finish one of the cardigans, I’m happy to share here!
