That's What You Get

I usually try to suggest several alternative yarn choices for each of my patterns.  In the case of the upcoming Lace Cable Rib Pullover pattern, I felt this was especially important given the very expensive Tilli Tomas Fil de la Mer yarn that I used.  Well, last week I realized that the Fil de la Mer has apparently been discontinued:  it no longer appears on the Tilli Tomas website, and any stores that I could find online that still carry it seem to have dwindling colors and amounts available.  

That's what I get for waiting so long to write up the pattern!  Darn it-- I do like this yarn a lot, in spite of its cost and the fact that the ball band gauge seems to be wildly inaccurate (18 sts to 4" in stockinette st on size US 5-7 needles??  I got 23 sts to 4" on US 6 needles!).  Well, it just makes the substitute yarns that much more important.

Here are the yarns I'm presently considering (I'm going to swatch with all of them):  Debbie Bliss Prima (80% bamboo, 20% merino wool); Debbie Bliss Amalfi (cotton, viscose, linen, silk); Patons Grace (100% mercerized cotton); Louet MerLin Sport (merino wool/linen); Frog Tree Picoboo (60% pima cotton, 40% bamboo); Misti Alpaca Tonos Pima Silk (87% pima cotton, 17% silk); and Classic Elite Verde Collection Allegoro (70% organic cotton, 30% linen).

If anyone has any personal experience (positive, negative or neutral) with any of these yarns, please let me know.  Any other yarn suggestions are also welcome:  they should have a ball band gauge of 22-24 sts per 4" (needle size doesn't matter).  

By the way, once I do settle on a few good substitutions, they should also work well for the Wakame Lace Tunic pattern, which also calls for the Fil de la Mer.

(The post title is also the name of one of my favorite Rock Band songs, by Paramore-- lots of fun for guitar and vocals!)