We don't always have the luxury of knitting a pattern using the yarn it specifies. Whether for aesthetic, logistical, or financial reasons, we often substitute. But choosing a different yarn can often be a source of angst. Will it give us anything remotely resembling the sweater we saw in the picture?

This column was created with that dilemma in mind. I'll pull out one gorgeous pattern from each issue, strip it down to its most prominent design element, and then look at what other kinds of yarns would be suitable for that pattern. We'll talk not only in terms of brands but in broader terms of fibers, spins, and plies.

How fitting that we begin our first column in the first Twist Collective by talking about twist: not just the twist that goes into fiber and makes yarn, but the twist that can go into stitches when we manipulate them into cables... READ MORE