We collect lots of different balls of yarn over the years and our yarn stashes can end up with some strange brands of yarn, discontinued yarns and yarns that we just don’t know what to do with. Finding patterns for these yarns can be difficult, knowing what other yarns they can be nicely paired with awkward. So how do you figure out what crochet patterns you can make with these odd balls of yarn? Fortunately I have a yarn substitution hack you’re going to love.
It’s a free online tool that matches your yarn with other brands of yarn so that you know what brands are similar to what you have and would make good substitutions. It’s called YarnSub.
What Is YarnSub.com?
YarnSub.com is your best friend when figuring out what to do with those weird, fancy and odd balls of yarn in your stash.
The site is free to use and has a huge database of yarns along with all of their properties like fibre type, gauge, weight, cost and more. This means that it can take the name and brand of the yarn you have and find you the closest match to other brands.
Once you know what other yarns are similar to the ones you have in your stash you can do 2 things with this information:
- Search for patterns made with the similar yarn, since these will also work well with the yarn you have.
- Know which yarns you can pair together so you can use up odd, small balls of yarn in the same project.
How Do I Use YarnSub?
I made the video below to show you how simple YarnSub is to use and what information it gives you and what ways you can search for different yarns.
How Many Yarn Brands Are Included?
There are literally hundreds of yarn brands included in YarnSubs database. Everything from the most popular and famous brands to the smaller, lesser known brands. In fact taking a look at the brand index page is a great way to discover new yarns that you haven’t heard of before.
Having this big of a database means that it’s going to be quite rare not to find a match for whatever weird and wonderful brands of yarn you have in your stash. Yarnsub also has discontinued yarns listed meaning you can find matches even if you have really old yarns hiding in your stash.
How Good Are The Yarn Matches?
In case you’re worried about the matches to your yarn not being good enough, YarnSub shows you how close the match is.
Even better YarnSub tells you WHY it’s a good match – or not.
It tells you about the yarn weight, quality, gauge, fibre and even cost range of the matched yarn versus the yarn you are searching against.
This means you have all the information you can possibly need for deciding which yarn in the list is going to be the closest and best one for you to choose.
Instead of wasting time and money trying to search yarn sites and yarn shop shelves for a yarn that is similar to what’s in your stash, you can find what you need at the click of a button. YarnSub is a fantastic little tool especially considering that it’s completely free to use.
So whether you are looking for patterns that would suit the yarn in your stash or need to find a yarn that you can pair with your stash yarn, YarnSub is a fantastic tool for every crocheter (or even knitters!)
Come on over to our Facebook group – Froggity Frog’s Ribbit And Stitch and show us what you’re making. I’d love to hear how you’ve been using YarnSub to make the most of your stash.
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