Using Jeans Yarn in Your Favorite Designs

There are over 2,000 free patterns on LionBrand.com that use CYC #4/Worsted Weight (medium) gauge yarn. That’s a lot of patterns to choose from! However, only 7 of those patterns and 15 kits are written specifically for Jeans® yarn. This doesn’t mean you need to feel restricted by only these projects.

Worsted weight is very versatile and Jeans®, being a smooth plied yarn, lends itself to being substituted in many of the patterns designed for this weight. You can get a good idea of if a yarn will work well as a substitution by determining the yards per gram. This isn’t a foolproof method as you will see some variance by fiber content, but it does provide a good place to start.

A Little Math

To determine the yards per gram you’ll need to do a bit of simple math. Divide the total yards of the skein by the total weight. For example, Jeans® yarn is 246 yards and 100 grams. You would then do:

246/100 = 2.46 (yards per gram)

Working with this information it is possible to determine patterns suggesting Vanna’s Choice might not make the transition between yarns (unless you wanted to tweak the design). Vanna’s Choice comes in at 170 yards per 100 grams (or 1.7 yards per gram), which means it is heavier than Jeans®.

Wool-Ease® yarn (solids and tonal) has approximately 2.3 yards per gram. This is a very close match, so you might consider checking patterns in this yarn for use with Jeans®.

On the Lighter Side

Jeans® yarn falls on the lighter weight end of the #4 scale, so you can compare some DK/#3 weight yarns as well. LB Collection Cotton Bamboo is near in yardage per gram coming in at 2.4 using the math outlined above. Browse pattern using Cotton Bamboo.

Swapping Yarns

The math discussed above is a handy calculation to remember for swapping yarn and can be applied to any weight. This information paired with knowledge of the texture and fiber content will have you changing yarns in patterns like a pro!