Yarn Weight Frustrations

I've had this frustration for a while now, but most recently with my latest cardigan design. Yarn labels that don't correctly label a yarn as the correct weight. What do I mean ....

Gorgeous Hazel Knits Lively DK in Frost

Here's a couple of examples:

Cascade 220 has 220 yards in 100g and is listed as worsted weight

Hazel Knits Lively DK has 275 yards in 130g and is listed as DK weight

Louet Gems Fingering weight has 185 yards in 50g and is listed as fingering weight

Quince & Co. Chickadee has 181 yards in 50g and is listed as sport weight

How do you then successfully substitute yarns in a pattern if the weights are all over the place?

Crafty Yarn Council yarn weight chart

You could look at this yarn weight chart found on the Crafty Yarn Council's website which looks a bit daunting to me or you could just go by the yards (or meters if you like metric) in a 50g ball.

Another example .... I used Hazel Knits DK Lively yarn which mentioned about has 275 yards in 130g. Doing the math this works out to be (275/130*50) 105 yards in 50g.

When substituting I look for something similar like maybe Cascade 220 which has 110 yards in 50g or Madelinetosh Vintage which has 100 yards in 50g or even Jo Sharp's Classic DK Wool with 107 yards in 50g. 

To me, looking at yards to figure out a substitution is much easier than looking at other options like stitches per inch or the yarn companies weight designation.

My latest knitting pattern, Strolling Cardigan can be purchased on Ravelry.

Strolling Cardigan Photo © KLM Photography

Happy Knitting!