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Substitute for Butterfly cotton yarn?

I found a really neat vest pattern (locally designed) in the Loop Cafe & Crafts in Halifax, NS, and began grabbing skeins of Butterfly, only to see that it was $12/skein and the proprietor said I'd need seven skeins (two of two colors and three of the third). That was way above my cost-benefit ratio so I'm looking up Butterfly on the web. I"ve found it at $9.82 for 8 or more skeins, but that'd include S&H...so I"m wondering whether anyone would recommend a particular substitute. I love the incredible variety of Butterfly colors, but I can't bring myself to pay $84 for the yarn. I've noted the specs from

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Tension: 22 stitches and 30 rows over 4? on 4mm (US 6) needles or 20 stitches and 26 rows on 4½mm (US 7) needles

Yards/Metres: 250 yards / 230 meters per 125 gm skein DK / Worsted Weight

And have started to search for suitable substitutes, but has anyone here used Butterfly, is it worth it, or does anyone have a cotton yarn they've been happy with?

TIA!

Reply to
spampot
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On Sun, 03 Sep 2006 12:02:30 -0400, spampot spewed forth :

It looks like your standard fine-weight mercerized cabled cotton. I recall seeing something at Hobby Lobby called "Sinfonia" which would probably be suitable. You can also use the search features at yarndex.com and wiseneedle.com to find yarns of same and similar gauge and materials, which might be helpful.

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Reply to
Wooly

yarndex.com is a new one on me, so I'll pop right over. Thanks!

Reply to
spampot

On Sun, 03 Sep 2006 16:19:12 GMT, Wooly spun a fine yarn

I've gotten Sinorfora at Hobby Lobby, it stretches mercilessly! Noreen JM2C

Reply to
YarnWright

That would definitely be cheaper, and I like MicroSpun...in fact I have a few skeins sitting around doing nothing so maybe I'll give it a try. And hope that box from Halifax arrives soon...

Reply to
spampot

Lion's Microspun is similar to Sinfonia; I've heard of people subbing those for each other.

sue

Reply to
suzee

On Sun, 3 Sep 2006 12:34:03 -0500, YarnWright spewed forth :

I dislike cotton, I was basing my recommendation on it's visual similarity to the Butterfly (which I've only seen on the color card spampot linked to originally).

IME cotton loses it's shape quite easily during use/wear. It hurts my hands to work with it so that'snever been an issue for me...

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Reply to
Wooly

I used Butterfly for a lace tunic a couple of years ago -- I do recall it being pricey (I got it on a 10% off sale), but I have to say that the wear has been great. The colors stayed true and didn't fade or run (I used dark lime green with a navy trim!), it didn't stretch OR shrink, and I machine-wash it in cold water and dry it on low heat with no problems. It was also softer than I thought it would be.

That being said, I know that there were substitutes at the yarn shop for it -- NatureSpun (the folks that brought you LambsPride) made a comparable cotton, and it was either Crystal Palace or Cascade that made one that was called either Sierra or Sienna. But I don't recall how the prices compared.

Reply to
Karen in MN

Reply to
spampot

Oh, and Plymouth Fantasy Naturelle is a cotton that is right about that gauge as well, as is Berrocco Cotton Twist. I am not sure how those prices compare, but maybe at least one of them would be on sale somewhere.

Karen in MN

Reply to
Karen in MN

I have used and like Reynolds Saucy - it's also 100% cotton, 185 yards per ball, 5 sts/1 inch on size 7 needles. It's $4.75 at Patternworks and is available at lots of places I'm sure.

Alison

Reply to
Alison

Thanks, Alison, I'll look for that and at least try swatching it.

Reply to
spampot

One I really like that's easy to find is Diamond Yarns Contata:

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's the same weight as Super 10, and pretty similar in appearance.The ball size is about 110 yards, so you would need twice as manyballs. I live in B.C., and it sells in my lys shop for about $3.75 aball.

Elann sells the same yarn under their own label name (they call it S> I found a really neat vest pattern (locally designed) in the Loop Cafe &

Reply to
Alibee

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