Stitches

A crochet afghan pattern requires 4-ply yarn. I wish to use 'bulky' yarn. What would be the equivalent?

Public Comments

1. Not sure I understand your question, but here's what I think you're asking. If by '4-ply' you mean 'worsted weight', you're talking about a certain size of yarn, and 'bulky' is a different size of yarn, so there's no way they could be equivalent. If you're asking if you can use bulky yarn instead of worsted-weight to make an afghan pattern, you can, but your project will be significantly larger, have larger holes, and look more casual. Chances are, you'll need more skeins of yarn than the pattern called for, too. If you like the look and the size is ok, you could do it for an afghan (doesn't work with wearables, though). If you want to end up with the size the pattern gives, you'll need to recalculate the number of rows and stitches per row to use bulky yarn - not necessarily a simple job. If this isn't what you were asking, please edit your question to add more details, and someone will be able to help. http://knittingcrochet.suite101.com/article.cfm/yarnweight
2. 4 ply yarn is a fingering weight yarn 8 ply is a sport/dk weight yarn 10 ply is a worsted weight yarn 12 ply is a bulky weight yarn if you use a bulky weight yarn instead of a 4 ply, the blanket will come out gigantic about 10 times bigger then the patterns says.
3. If you do use bulky I would cut back on some rows or rounds depending on what kind of afghan you are making. I would also stop when the size satisfies me.
4. 4ply is an older term for worsted weight, which is an older term for the yarns in weight group 4. Got it? Bulky yarns are in weight group 5. Check the gauge given in the pattern. Make a swatch with the bulky yarn and the needles you want to use. Compare this to the given gauge in the pattern, and make your mathematical adjustments. For exapmle, if the given gauge is 4" = 16 stitches, and your swatch's gauge is 4" = 12 stitches, you'll want to lose 25% of the stitches called for. If it asks for 100, cast on 75. These are hypothetical numbers of course, rounded for my convenience; you'll probably need a caluclator to figure the real ones. I certainly do.